Dwight J. Friesen • dwight j. friesen

UN-Habitat 2021 Annual Report

The 2021 annual report of UN-Habitat was recently released, so I’ve posted a link to the PDF below. The UN-Habitat website states: In 2021, conflict, pandemic and climate emergencies continued to shape the challenges faced by human settlements. UN-Habitat was

Dwight J. Friesen January 30, 2022December 19, 2022

Pastoring Again!

I am thrilled to announce that I am pastoring again! For approximately the next year and a half, I will be serving as the part-time pastor at St Luke’s Lutheran Church in Bellevue. While I will still be teaching at

Dwight J. Friesen January 21, 2022May 26, 2022

Racial Economic Inequity

The idea or dream that is the Untied States of America that cannot be realized without taking significant and meaningful action to make right the evils upon which this nation is founded… stealing land, genocide of its first inhabitants, and

Dwight J. Friesen January 17, 2022December 19, 2022

More People Feeling Lonely

According to the Barna Research Group, 31% of U.S.A. adults report feeling lonely at least some of each day. Their report – posted at the end of last 2021 – highlights that even before the pandemic, loneliness has been an

Dwight J. Friesen January 7, 2022September 26, 2022

The Missionary Church After Christendom

Each year the “Gathering of Leaders” invites a theologian to spend some time thinking alongside some leaders within the Episcopal Church, this year that honor falls to me. I get to spend some time in January and again in June

Dwight J. Friesen January 6, 2022December 19, 2022

New Book Review

The January-February 2022 issue of Canada’s “Faith Today” magazine includes a review of 2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change, in its recurring “Books + Culture” section. This title is the Fortress Press book

Dwight J. Friesen January 3, 2022August 31, 2022

2021 to 2022

Standing at the gateway to a new year – I went back to go forward – I went back to revisit my post at the end of 2020. Here’s the post. Last year my phrase was “Next Year in Jerusalem.”

Dwight J. Friesen December 31, 2021January 1, 2022

3 in 10 USA Adults Religiously Unaffiliated

According to a Pew Research study posted on December 14, 2021, approximately three in ten USA adults are now “religiously unaffiliated.” The study reveals that self-identified Christians make up 63% of U.S. population in 2021, down from 75% a decade

Dwight J. Friesen December 30, 2021December 19, 2022

Remembering bell hooks

“Genuine love is rarely an emotional space where needs are instantly gratified. To know love we have to invest time and commitment…’dreaming that love will save us, solve all our problems or provide a steady state of bliss or security

Dwight J. Friesen December 19, 2021December 19, 2022

Dwight’s Top Ten Books of 2021

Here’s my top ten list of books from 2021. Most years I try to pull together a list of the recently published books that have worked their way into my imagination in some important way. Surely more books could be

Dwight J. Friesen December 18, 2021October 28, 2022

Exquisite Mutuality

If you have just 3ish minutes to watch a video, I commend this glimpse into the heart and mind of Father Greg Boyle. Here, he briefly unpacks his beautiful phrase, “Exquisite Mutuality.” Have a great day… remember, you are not

Dwight J. Friesen December 12, 2021December 10, 2021

Podcast Interview

Markus Watson, host of the “Spiritual Life and leadership” Podcast recently interviewed Tom Sine and myself regarding our book, 2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change. The Podcast will be available December 21st. I

Dwight J. Friesen December 10, 2021December 10, 2021

How We Gather & Who We Become

I think its safe to say, that at no other time in church history has “gathering” been so contested. Do we meet in person or online? Health and safety needs bump into our traditioned liturgical practices. If online how? How

Dwight J. Friesen December 1, 2021December 2, 2021

Changing Cities & City Changers

I’m a City Changer is a worldwide campaign with the aim of sensitizing and creating awareness among citizens on urban issues to achieve better cities. It is promoted by UN-Habitat, the city agency of the United Nations, through the World

Dwight J. Friesen November 20, 2021September 26, 2022

Complexifying Indigenous Homelessness

The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness posted a profoundly wise complexification of indigenous homelessness. Indigenous peoples from across nations within Canada identified 12 dimensions of indigenous homelessness. These 12 dimensions expose a few realms inviting my deeper listening. One such realm,

Dwight J. Friesen November 12, 2021September 26, 2022

Collective Leadership by Petra Kuentel

My friend Forrest Inslee recently introduced me to the important work of Dr. Petra Kuenkel. Petra has amassed a very impressive CV investing her life as a leading strategic advisor to pioneering international multi-stakeholder initiatives tackling themes of local and

Dwight J. Friesen November 10, 2021November 6, 2022

Uncertain Times

Is it just me, or does the Jenga-like quality of life feel especially close to the surface these days. Precarious. Teetering. Unstable. Somehow just looking all that is changing can fill, even the heartiest of us with fear. “It could

Dwight J. Friesen November 8, 2021November 8, 2021

UN Climate Change AD & Human Extinction

Did you happen to catch the latest public awareness AD about climate change made by the United Nations. It is worth checking out. The UN has many very helpful resources for learning more or finding actionable practices postures for making

Dwight J. Friesen November 7, 2021November 7, 2021

Remembering Jack

Today was a very sad day. We had to put our beloved Jack down. One-eyed Jack. We think he was part Havanese and part Shih Tzu… but we’re sure he was all love. Not sure how he lost his eye

Dwight J. Friesen October 28, 2021April 24, 2024

Oscillating Between & Beyond Modern & Postmodern

It was in the 1990’s, toward the end of my grad school days when I first began to engage “postmodernity” to describe the cultural angst and cynicism in response to modern ascertains of certainty, knowledge, and such. By the time

Dwight J. Friesen October 16, 2021November 3, 2021

The Future of Seattle

This is worth checking out. Peace, dwight

Dwight J. Friesen October 12, 2021September 26, 2022

Seattle Gets Kraken, and . . .

Today is kinda a big day in Seattle…the new NHL season begins and the Seattle Kraken make their regular season debut. As a kid growing up in the parries of Canada, in my two room school house we slapped on

Dwight J. Friesen October 12, 2021November 3, 2021

The Truth Shall Set You Free

Jesus once proclaimed, “The truth shall set you free,” (John 8:32). His statement is in a section of the Gospel of John inviting us to feel the way Jesus’ identity was contested by his contemporaries. People were struggling to trust

Dwight J. Friesen October 11, 2021November 3, 2021

Becoming More Walkable

I stumbled across this article by David Malone highlighting some of the intentional steps – pardon the pun – that the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is taking to make it a more walkable city. Walkability is a vital to

Dwight J. Friesen October 7, 2021September 26, 2022

Discovering Your Mezzo Parish

Guiding your faith community into even greater faithful presence within its parish invites discernment of the collective. Where and how to focus time and energy is a vital and ongoing journey of listening and adapting. Sometimes we get sidetracked by

Dwight J. Friesen October 6, 2021November 12, 2021

You up for a Chat?

One of my great joys is engaging in conversation with leaders & groups seeking to discover the church that is emerging after Christendom. So many followers of the Jesus way can feel the many ways that our times are changing.

Dwight J. Friesen October 3, 2021November 3, 2021

Parish Collective, Inhabit/Connect 2021

Here are two great panel discussions from Parish Collective’s, 2021 Inhabit Connect. “Inhabit Connect” is the pandemic substitute for Parish Collective’s annual flagship event in Seattle, the Inhabit Conference. By the Way tickets for the 2022 in person Inhabit are

Dwight J. Friesen October 1, 2021November 4, 2021

“Listening” by William Stafford

Listening by William Stafford My father could hear a little animal step, or a moth in the dark against the screen, and every far sound called the listening out into places where the rest of us had never been. More

Dwight J. Friesen September 29, 2021December 14, 2021

Learning from Recent Church History

Mike Cosper and a talented team at Christianity Today’s CT Podcasts have produced series exploring “The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill.” As you likely know, Mars Hill Church was planted in 1996 and pastored by Mark Driscoll in Seattle

Dwight J. Friesen September 23, 2021November 4, 2021