“The Spirit teaches us how to participate with God in the restoration of all things; maybe the more common term for this would be mission…[I]t’s a mission which connects our unique desires to the work of the Spirit to keep wooing creation back to the Creator.”
Morgan Schmidt
The feature story of Bend, Oregon’s The Source Weekly is a testament to the power and beauty of faithful presence. The article highlights the life and work of four leaders saying yes to neighborhood presence. Carrie McGuigan, a family nurse practitioner at Planned Parenthood who helped launch gender affirming care, Rya Hickey an LGBTQ & environment advocate, Kerstin Arias an artist and community activist, and Morgan Schmidt a Bend pastor and founder of Pandemic Partners. Each of these four women embody a form of leadership irreducible linked to listening deeply to the particularity of the place they are in, the uniqueness of who they are and and imagination for the common good that calls them forward.
I’ve known Morgan for a number of years and visited her in Bend just a few months before COVID-19 altered life on our planet, but I haven’t yet had opportunity to meet the other three leaders highlighted in the article. So as I watched this video and read this article I definitely held Morgan in my heart. It struck me that in some many ways her years of faithful service prior to the pandemic seemed to contribute to the flourishing of Pandemic Partners. Im struck by the power of faithfulness in the glorious mundane which builds relationships of trust rendering collaboration in moments of crisis more likely. I’ve watch this video three times… I love hearing Morgan talk about Bend, its people, and the possibility of presence together.
BTW – Morgan also published a wonderful book titled, Woo: Awakening Teenagers’ Desire to Follow in the Way of Jesus
Find out more about Pandemic Partners:
Peace, dwight
