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
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
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
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
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
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
This year’s Inhabit Conference 2026, hosted by Lawndale Christian Community Church on Chicago’s West Side, felt less like a conference and more like a homecoming—an embodied reminder of what it means to live, love, and witness in the Way of
The Great Divide by Noah Kahan I can’t recall the last time that we talkedAbout anything but looking out for copsWe got cigarette burns in the same side of our hands, we ain’t friendsWe’re just morons, who broke skin in
A Confession for Such a Time as This We are living in a moment of rupture. Across our neighborhoods and nations, the fractures are visible—political, racial, ecological, ecclesial. Many who bear the name “Christian” are increasingly entangled with power, exclusion,
What if followers of Jesus were known not primarily for what we opposed, but for how we helped places flourish? What if churches, faith-based organizations, civic leaders, neighborhood associations, artists, planners, business owners, educators, and community organizers could discover a
I’m grateful to share the book launch party episode of a new podcast connected to a meaningful project—Urban Gems: Ministry Perspectives on the Global City and Its People, edited by my friend and colleague, Dr. Joel S. Kiekintveld. This book
The Scripture reading & sermon begins at 18:05. This morning I was thrilled to be back with the St Luke’s community in Bellevue. I had the gift of preaching on the first Sunday after Easter—a day when the Church turns
What does your faith tradition have to say about housing, homelessness, and the future of our cities? More than you might think — and there is now a global stage to say it. This May, I’ll be heading to Baku,
Sometimes the most meaningful ideas don’t begin as fully formed theories, but as quiet questions that linger after the “official” learning has ended. This little article, From Networks to Ecology, began that way. Toward the end of a class—after the
“The gospel of Jesus is about reconciliation—reconciliation with God and reconciliation with one another.”— John M. Perkins I am grieving the death of Dr. John Perkins. Dr. Perkins died on March 13, 2026, at the age of 95. My heart
There’s a conference I keep coming back to, and this year I want to invite you to come with me. On May 1–2, 2026, Parish Collective is hosting their annual Inhabit Conference at Lawndale Community Church in Chicago, IL —
‘...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
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.
