Church • dwight j. friesen

Thanks Nashville

I am so grateful for the beautiful Spero Dei Church on Nashville’s west side. The church hosted the Post-Evangelical Collective’s second annual national gathering. This was my first time participating. For anyone who feels ecclesiologically homeless in the larger church

Dwight J. Friesen May 3, 2025May 3, 2025

Thank You Lawndale!

So grateful for the legendary Lawndale Christian Community Church on Chicago’s south side. The church hosted Parish Collective’s annual Inhabit Conference. This was the first time Inhabit wasn’t held in the Seattle area, and Lawndale hit it out of park.

Dwight J. Friesen April 27, 2025May 3, 2025

Pope Francis has Died

I was saddened to learn of the death of Pope Francis earlier today. He was 88 years old. Yet, I am grateful that he was able to participate in yesterday’s Easter service. Pope Francis was born in Argentina as Jorge

Dwight J. Friesen April 21, 2025April 21, 2025

Inhabit Conference . Chicago . April 25-26

Parish Collective’s annual Inhabit Conference is about two months away. The conference will be held in Chicago this year. Reserve your spot now. See you there! Peace, dwight

Dwight J. Friesen February 21, 2025April 21, 2025

Launching a Short Series

This weekend I get to preach at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Kent to launch a short series of midweek conversations about our evolving times and cultural context. My working title is: “What’s Going Here? Becoming St Columba’s in a

Dwight J. Friesen September 18, 2024September 18, 2024

Leadership as Convening

So I was poking around the interwebs and stumbled across a little conversation about “gathering” that I forgot about. Enjoy… Peace, dwight View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Seattle School (@theseattleschool)

Dwight J. Friesen July 13, 2024July 13, 2024

The Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future

I highly commend Sue Phillips’s recent essay, “The Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future: Stewards of Religious Assets Should Embrace Spiritual Innovators.” Sue is on the founding team of the Workshop for Emotional and Spiritual Technology, a tech startup working to

Dwight J. Friesen July 12, 2024July 12, 2024

Emerged Podcast . All Episodes

I am so, so, so grateful to Tripp, Tony, Josh, and all the funders of this podcast. What a gift! I can only imagine all the creative energy, conversations, and time invested… thank you! Emergent Village and the entire emerging

Dwight J. Friesen May 6, 2024May 7, 2024

Reserve Your Place for Inhabit 2024

It’s Inhabit time! As you may know the annual Inhabit Conference, is convened by Parish Collective, whose mission is to connect people to be the church in the neighborhood. Inhabit is a two-day event filled with stories, learning environments, music/art

Dwight J. Friesen April 24, 2024April 23, 2024

Conference . Vancouver BC

The Centre For Missional Leadership at St. Andrew’s Hall is hosting a conference exploring “Rhythms and Rituals: Christian Formation on the Edges of Western Culture. ” If you’re in or around Vancouver BC, May 2-4 I invite you to participate.

Dwight J. Friesen April 19, 2024April 19, 2024

Guest Preaching on Palm Sunday

This weekend I will be guest preaching at Evergreen Mennonite Church in Kirkland on Seattle’s Eastside. I’ve been handed a lot of narrative to cover, from Christ’s entry into Jerusalem to the his unjust execution. I’m very much looking forward

Dwight J. Friesen March 19, 2024March 19, 2024

Emerged… an oral history begins

So excited to share the launch of a new podcast co-hosted by Tripp Fuller & Tony Jones, and produced by Josh Gilbert. It’s titled, “Emerged: an oral history of the emerging church movement.” The podcast launched on January 1st, 2024

Dwight J. Friesen January 5, 2024January 8, 2024

Wowie, Wow, Wow!

Well, Sunday was my final Sunday serving at St Luke’s. And today was my final staff meeting. As challenging as transitions can be in the life of any community, this one was so beautiful and warm. It was filled with

Dwight J. Friesen August 29, 2023September 5, 2023

My Time @ St Luke’s Coming to a Close

If you’re a regular to my site you might recall that I have had the privilege of serving as the “substitute pastor” for an ELCA (Lutheran) community here in Bellevue since January 2022. Even though I am not ordained Lutheran

Dwight J. Friesen August 25, 2023August 25, 2023

C-TEN Interview

podcast interview “Church after Mars Hill” In this episode, I am hosted and interviewed by Dr Joel Kiekintveld.

Dwight J. Friesen July 18, 2023August 18, 2023

Thank you, Wilmington

I just returned from a great weekend Delaware. While it was a bit of a whirlwind, it was a rich time of imagining deeply with some very thoughtful leaders from St Barnabas’ Episcopal Church. The leadership retreat was held at

Dwight J. Friesen May 8, 2023May 8, 2023

Leadership Retreat Facilitation

Later this week I am heading out to Wilmington, Delaware… never been to Delaware before! I have been invited to guide the leadership of St Barnabas’ Episcopal Church into a conversation to exploring some of the many changes impacting and

Dwight J. Friesen May 1, 2023May 3, 2023

Nones, Dones & Ums

I recently facilitated a Community Forum conversation at St Luke’s, in which we were trying to listen to and learn from some of the research on people who claim to be done with church. Here is my slide deck. Peace,

Dwight J. Friesen March 13, 2023March 24, 2023

Church Post Christendom . Part 3

On Sunday I will be concluding a short, three week, Community Forum with my congregation about life after Christendom. I’ve titled the series: “Conversations After Church.” Below you will find my “week three” slide deck, followed by my church newsletter

Dwight J. Friesen February 3, 2023May 2, 2023

Church Post Christendom . Part 2

This weekend will be the second, in a three week conversation, I’m facilitating with my congregation about life after Christendom, during our Community Forum. I’ve titled the series: “Conversations After Church.” Below you will find my “week two” slide deck,

Dwight J. Friesen January 27, 2023February 3, 2023

Church Post Christendom . Part 1

Beginning this Sunday I will be facilitating a three week conversation with my congregation about life after Christendom, during our Community Forum. I’ve titled the series: “Conversations After Church.” Below you will find my “week one” slide deck, followed by

Dwight J. Friesen January 20, 2023February 3, 2023

Missionary Church After Christendom

This week I got to serve as the theologian in residence for the Episcopal Gathering of Leaders clergy event just outside of Portland, Oregon. What a great group of church leaders. It was so inspiring to be with other folks

Dwight J. Friesen October 20, 2022October 21, 2022

The Missionary Church After Christendom… take two

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 was supposed to have some time in January in the American South

Dwight J. Friesen September 20, 2022September 20, 2022

Five Signs of the Parish Movement

The parish movement has been growing and spreading all over the world. The parish movement is not an academic movement nor is it driven by any one culture, tradition, Christian denomination, etc. Rather this is grassroots followers of the Jesus

Dwight J. Friesen April 26, 2022December 19, 2022

Inhabit 2022

So grateful that Parish Collective’s annual flagship conference is back… live and in person. Inhabit 2022. Get your tickets today for this presence inspiring event will be held at The Seattle School’s campus on April 29-30. Part of me feels

Dwight J. Friesen April 19, 2022April 19, 2022

Co-Leading a Futuring Retreat

Tom Sine and I have the privilege and responsibility of working with a Presbyterian church in Enumclaw Washington who are seeking to prepare themselves for tomorrow. This congregation was founded in 1892, and like the majority of faith communities in

Dwight J. Friesen March 22, 2022March 22, 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

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

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

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