In just a few days – September 28, 2025 to be exact – this nation will observe National Good Neighbor Day. A real holiday signed in effect by none other than President Jimmy Carter. The idea is so simple. On
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
This weekend Today and tomorrow is a Parish Collective Learning Community. Can’t wait. To find out more about these learning communities, visit Parish Collective. Peace, dwight
UN-Habitat goes Local… putting SDGs in their rightful Place “Part of loving loving neighbor as oneself involves loving and serving one’s place, its peoples, & systems sustaining shared life.” – dwight j. friesen “My Neighbourhood” ‘MY Neighbourhood’ provides an extensive
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
This Sunday – March 20th, the third Sunday of Lent – is the 94th anniversary of the birth of Fred Rogers. Mr. Rogers wrote, produced, and hosted Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood for 33 years; an educational Public TV program focused on emotional,
I invite you to watch the above video with an open heart. Attend to your own curiosity as you watch it. Every one of us come to data dumps like this with our uniqueness and particular hermeneutics. This is is
How sad it is that we give up on people who are just like us. Fred Rogers Growing up in Canada when I did, I watched and loved the Mr. Dressup show. I’ve come to learn that Mr. Dressup was
Last fall Seattle’s legendary drive-in burger joint announced their intent to open a new restaurant location on the Eastside. Granted, I may be way too excited about this announcement, but yesterday I heard the news that Dick’s Drive-In will be
I love the opening scenes of the 1995 “Smoke” by film makers Wayne Wang and Paul Auster. Among others, the movie features Harvey Keitel, William Hurt, Stockard Channing, Harold Perrineau Jr., and very young Forest Whitaker. The story begins as a local business owner is
Today The Parliament of the World’s Religions is joining organizers and community leaders in Chicago as part of the City’s Together We Heal initiative by hosting a series of virtual programs to foster conversation and share tools on healing and
This 10 minute video put together by the Thriving Communities Group is a beautiful introduction to our vital need for a renewed Shalomic imagination for faithful presence within the ecosystem of relations that sustain life. The video is really good!
My friend, Tim Soerens of Parish Collective recently introduced me to the remarkable UK think-tank, THEOS, (follow THEOS on facebook). THEOS stimulates the debate about the place of religion in society, challenging and changing ideas through research, commentary and events.
In this pandemic era many of us find ourselves walking our neighborhoods more than ever. Many are also experiencing limitations in terms of gathering together with others. So doing things with your group or your church may not be available.
Immediately following the release of The New Parish, Paul Sparks, Tim Soerens, myself, and a number of artists who joined us for legs of the tour hit the road. Our travels – which were a purposeful blending of on the
Recently watched The World Before Your Feet, it’s a documentary film directed by Jeremy Workman and executive produced by Jesse Eisenberg . The film follows Matthew Green on his quest to walk every street, park, and beach in the five
My friend and colleague, Dr. Ron Ruthruff delivered a short talk at my school the other day drawing on some of the themes of his latest book. Ron’s new book is Closer to the Edge. He’s a good guy. A
In the revelation of this moment with COVID-19 and systemic racial injustice – is it too late to reorganize the church in the neighborhood for a more equitable future? For far too long, we as a society have ignored the
This online event brings two communities of Christians together, pastors and professional placemakers–that is architects, urban designers, planners, and developers–for a learning exchange. The purpose is to equip the church to better love and serve people by helping to design,
Here’s a little video The Seattle School put together, briefly talking about how our bodies placed in the real world is the primary means through which we discover what is real. Enjoy. Peace, dwight
Between the “Leadership in the New Parish” think tanks and the hundreds of parish walkabout Tim Soerens, Paul Sparks, and I have lucky enough to have engage over the last few years, we’ve identified 2 vital questions, and 10 practices
This year’s Inhabit Conference will be our fourth one, the first three all “Sold Out!” Hundreds of parish leaders gathered to celebrate the move toward a more embodied, participatory, and sustainable way of being the church. Our theme this year
Every December Christianity Today publishes its books of the year. This year in “The Church/Pastoral Leadership” CT awarded The New Parish: How Neighborhood Churches are Transforming Mission, Discipleship and Community its Award of Merit! Writing of our book for CT
You’ve got to check out this great video highlighting Portland’s “intersection repair” project. This is such a cool example of neighbors, literally, taking back the the streets such that the individuals, community and the built environment are transformed. This is
The return of the parish appears to be an ecclesial movement sweeping Western Christ-communities. I’ve been thinking of it as the parish corrective. I would characterize this corrective as a local church move to embody “full life” or embody the
Here’s another great TED talk delivered by Majora Carter. She talks about he power of people choosing to stay in their neighborhoods. But not just hunkering down… staying with intention to help the place and its people thrive. Peace, dwight
