A Mary Oliver Kind of Day
Some days seem to know exactly what they are. Friday was one of those days. Lynette and I went to see the new Mary Oliver documentary at SIFF near Seattle Center. Before the film, we stopped by KEXP, where I
New Posts
...from Dwight's blog
“The Quilt We Make Together”
The Quilt We Make Together by Dwight J. Friesen No single squareever calls itself the quilt.It arrives offering what only it canits own beautiful history—a worn sleeve,a child’s Sunday dress,a farmer’s shirt softenedby seasons of weather and work.On their ownthey
Seattle… So Proud of Us
As the final FIFA World Cup crowds begin to drift home, I find myself feeling unexpectedly grateful. Not because Seattle was perfect. It wasn’t… we weren’t. Not because we solved homelessness, transportation, affordability, or the thousand complexities that come with
Thank You, Albany
There are some weekends that leave you tired. And there are weekends that leave you grateful. This was one of the latter. My sincere thanks to the beautiful people of Albany, OR and the community of Albany Mennonite Church for
Pride, Presence, & the Kin-dom of God
Today many people around the world celebrate Pride. For some, Pride is a parade, a festival, a public affirmation of identity and belonging. For others, it is a remembrance—a recognition of the long struggle for dignity, safety, visibility, and equal
Faith, Love, & Hope in the Futures Triangle
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” — 1 Corinthians 13:13 As I continue to engage conversations about cities, communities, leadership, ecological flourishing, and the future of faith, I find myself
Soul of the City
One of the most compelling descriptions of Christian identity outside the New Testament comes from an anonymous second-century letter known as The Epistle to Diognetus. Written sometime in the second century, the letter seeks to answer a simple question: Who
The Courage to Welcome
Today is World Refugee Day. A day set aside to remember more than 120 million people around the globe who have been displaced by war, violence, persecution, climate disruption, and political instability. Yet if we are not careful, the scale
“Breathwork”
Breathwork by Dwight J. Friesen Before you learned the names of things,before you called anything sacredor ordinary,you were breathing.The first sermonwas not spoken,it entered your lungs.Each inhale:receiving what you did not create.Each exhale:returning what was never yours to keep.The trees
Gathering with West Coast Anabaptists
Next week, I’ll have the privilege of joining the Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference Annual Meeting. As someone formed by the Mennonite tradition—while also finding a home among Lutherans, Episcopalians, emergents, evangelicals, urban practitioners, and ecumenical communities—these gatherings always feel a
Ecological Vision of Human Flourishing
Seeing the Forest, Not Just the Tree Many of us were taught to think about human development as something that happens inside an individual. When a child struggles in school, we ask what is wrong with the child. When a
Fun with Colleagues
Every so often I get to be part of a conversation that doesn’t offer easy answers, but instead opens new questions worth living into. This webinar was one of those gifts. Together with Joel Kiekintveld and psychologist Paul Hoard, we
WUF13 . Faith Pavilion Call to Action
As conversations from the 13th Session of the World Urban Forum continue to ripple outward, we are witnessing a growing global recognition that housing is far more than infrastructure or economics. Housing is about dignity, belonging, safety, community, resilience, and
Thank You Baku & WUF13
The 13th Session of the World Urban Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan felt like one of those moments when new possibilities were opening up. Over the course of WUF13, more than 53,000 participants from 176 countries gathered under the theme “Housing
Free Download from Faith for Cities
Participants gathering at World Urban Forum 13 know that the future of our cities will require more than policy, infrastructure, and technology alone. Sustainable urban futures also require meaning, moral imagination, community trust, and shared purpose. This is where faith
blog themes
...archived in six primary categories
Supporting Local Communities of Faith & Practice Toward a Better Urban Future for all and Everything
You are leading your local community of faith & practice through the waning days of Christendom, an epidemic of loneliness, amidst growing cultural fragmentation, eroding trust in institutions, and climate change. Dwight is available to support you as you seek to lead your organization with courage, imagination, & wisdom beyond mere survival and resilience, toward flourishing... even discovering a clearer sense of mission unto God's shalom. Your group needs you. Your place & all its residents need your group. We all need each other!
wisdom
...forming Shalomic imagination
‘...love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Jesus Christ
Jesus, properly understood as shalom, coming into the world from the shalom community of the Trinity, is the intention of God’s once-and-for-all mission. That is, the mission of birthing and restoring shalom to the world is in Christ, by Christ, and for the honor of Christ.”
Randy Woodley
Only by learning to live in harmony with your contradictions can you keep it all afloat."
Audre Lorde
I cannot be an optimist but I am a prisoner of hope.”
Cornel West
Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone."
Margaret J. Wheatley
You can't have unity without diversity."
Richard Twiss
While good theology does include academic debate, it never stops there. Good theologians discuss intellectual questions and concern themselves with academic debate because their chief concern is life. They want to know the truth not merely so that they might think properly, but so that they might live..."
Stanley J. Grenz
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
Martin Luther King Jr
Faith is not settled belief but living process. It is the very edge and opening of life in process. To live is to step with trust into the next moment: into the unpredictable."
Catherine Keller
If I sit next to a madman as he drives a car into a group of innocent bystanders, I can't, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe, then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Salvation fits into a unified view of the entire world, and yet it is also gritty, localized, and contextual. It is grounded in concrete experiences of the world. It must always look, feel, and taste like something."
Monica A. Coleman
They bound themselves covenantally to the yet-to-be-known, in their growing expertise, to invite its gracious disclosure of deeper meaning. They bound themselves to that as-yet-unknown reality in taking up such a journey. What they actually found surprisingly transformed their half-understood inquiries as reality swept in and swept them up.”
Esther Lightcap Meek
Contact Me
...looking forward to being in touch
Dwight is looking forward to hearing from you! He is available for Zoom conversations, in fact you can click here to schedule a conversation right now. Whether something came intrigued you as you perused this site and you'd appreciate more resources, or if you have a question or an idea, or if you'd like to explore collaborating in some way; or if you sense that he might be able to support your local community of faith & practice toward a better urban future for all and everything.
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