Category: Church in Mission

  • Seven Readings in Revelation (A Liberation Bible Study)

    I have had the opportunity from time to time to write for Barclay Press. They have recently updated their website and created author pages, making some previously unavailable writings available online. Therefore, I wanted to share the link to the .pdf of my upcoming series of reflections on the book of Revelation published in the…

  • The Possibilities and Challenges of Building a Participatory Church

    I love the word participation. It’s stem means “taking part” or to “partner.” The Quaker meeting of which I am the ‘released minister,’ Camas Friends, strives to be a participatory church. A partnering church. A church that welcomes the contributions, leadership, insights, resources, personalities and concerns of those who are in the meeting. As I…

  • When The Church Becomes a Department Store

    You can drive around most neighborhoods here in the suburbs and find at least some vacant buildings. Some of them are small, and if not historic, they at least have a history.  While others are just enormous squares, nondescript, no personality or history at all. “throwaway” buildings might be a way to think about it.…

  • Connecting with Poverty in Our Community

    A week or so ago the Oregonian published an article about poverty in our neck of the woods. The article profiles the “subtle shifts” of poverty taking place in Clark County, the county of which our meeting is a part. The city of Vancouver has worked to push poverty out towards the east parts of…

  • Creating Communities of “Artists”

    This morning I noticed a torn piece of paper with something I’d written on it from awhile back: How do we form a community that creates artists rather than just critics? Justice should always come first, justice is innovative. I am not sure what I was reading when I wrote these two thoughts down, but…