Getting the Portland Vibe

by Tom Krattenmaker and Kevin Palau

If you want to see what the future of American social culture might look like, head west. This presentation brings to you ground zero of our post-Christian culture in the form of Portland, Oregon. Local Portlanders and good friends, Tom Krattenmaker and Kevin Palau, let you in on their private coffee conversations. How is God moving in Portland? What are the dynamics at play that movements in other cities might resemble? Most important, why must we all experience Portland to prepare for future cultural shifts?

Comments

Wade Sikes

How inspiring and hopeful! The whole idea truly models Jesus' authenticity. I loved the statement that when Luis Palau presented the Gospel, no one objected because everyone knew that they weren't the recipients of a bait and switch. When the Church truly becomes Jesus to the world, the world notices and responds.

Wolfgang Fernandez

The idea that one of America's most progressive cities may be "Jesus's favorite city" is a very exciting concept. I so glad to hear that followers of Jesus are connecting and seeing to serve the city and it's leaders.

I'm thrilled to hear of Luis Palau's group involvement in all of this for I have followed them for many years and I'm encouraged to hear how they are progressing and morphing to serve people today.

My son lives in Portland and I think he is in a great place. I'm excited for him!

Chris

Thank you!

Annie Heart

The Palau group falls short when it comes to really helping the poor and homeless people move out of their oppresive situations.

Personally I think they are the anti-Chist with their huge church village complexes complete with coffee bars and multi media video. They could be building low income housing and assisting homeless families get into housing a become self-sufficient. And the whole world isn't Christian.

I get the feeling that if people aren't "Christian - believers in Jesus" they won't fit into the Palau plan.

Walk the talk - financially support those agencies (like family shelters) that really do work with the common people - taking them in off the street and walking with them through the process from homelessness to housing with dignity. And we don't ask them to become Christians. We don't care what religion they are - or who they call God because belief in God doesn't have anything to do with whether you are rich or poor.

Families with children struggle the most because without jobs that pay family wages, day care (which often costs as much as rent), transportation, and acess to quality dental and health care - they can't afford a home. And being Christian isn't going to change that fact of life!

I'm the director of an Interfaith Shelter Network for families with children - that is supported by a group of congregations who actually house our families overnight in their church building with volunteers sleeping in the next room. I don't see the Palau churches opening their doors to homeless famlies with children and letting people sleep in their building.

Annie Heart

Executive Director

Family Bridge Shelter

Todd Smaka

Mrs. Heart, I respectfully disagree. Please consider Matthew 26:8-11. Perhaps Mr. Palau is worshiping in the way he feels led.

Your group's website would suggest you are indeed doing good work, yet by grouping Mr. Palau with the anti-Christ, you expose your prejudices on how one should worship. Such accusations serve only to diminish your own organization. So, if your organization does good, yet your comments serve to diminish it, then consider which one of you is the individual being influenced by the anti-Christ.

Matt Brown

Q,

The Northwest is my home and I'd like to draw some attention to a few other ministries that share many of the values of Q, but also are the embodiment of Portland's cultural climate.

Community of Adsideo: (www.communityofadsideo.com)

The Adsideo family are the epitome of how many institutional churches are changing their game of what it means to live and love in the way of Jesus. They are dedicated to SE Portland and serve both in the rescue mission and on the streets, they daily help their neighborhood by doing yard work, home fixes, and just being present. They run a bike corral for their neighborhood park events and they're involved in environmental and global needs. These folks love the Lord everyday and in every part of where they live.

Second Stories: (www.secondstories.org/blog)

Second Stories is an organization that works in their neighborhood and strives to train other believers to do the same.

Their values are

responding to poverty …motivated by Christ’s example we initiate compassionate responses toward the vulnerable

collaboration …the people within neighborhoods hold the keys to the best solutions

holistic gospel …transformation occurs when stories of people converge with a holistic gospel

neighborhood assets …we help discover and develop latent assets in dis-empowered neighborhoods

multiplication …we train churches and others in a community development process, enabling them to equip others.

Bread & Wine (www.breadandwine.org)

They are a group of small gospel communities meeting in homes all around Portland under the common goal of "introducing a city to a Person." They live, serve, and worship to the end of loving their God by being Christ to their neighbors. This is not house church like America knows it so far.

Please check out these groups for their hearts are strong and their vision is broad, loving and inspiring.

Trevor

The Pearl is the heart of Portland? It's one of the most expensive and exclusive districts of the whole town.

To second Matt, there's a lot of great ministries in Portland outside of the Imago Dei (which receives most of the attention), and lots of great church families, like Bread & Wine, The Bridge, Evergreen Community, Door of Hope, and others that are in solidarity with each other.

chris

I second Trevor, who is "seconding" Matt. I live in Portland (no, not on the West side) and this whole thing has got me thinking. Q has a "national" audience appeal to it (and that's cool - good dialog for sure) and Luis Palau, while they're doing some great work in Portland, still has a very "occasional" feel to their engagement. Again, good stuff for sure, but in light of Matts survey of local portland ministries it's got me wondering. Is there any conference on the horizon that would serve to bring awareness and build a co-laboritive spirit among these grass-roots ministries. I think someone should get on that.

Brian Godard

Just think it is important to make a correction to the video talking points and say that my church has a regular service in the Pearl District every Sunday morning at 11:00. City Bible Church has a thriving campus located on the corner of 10th and Northrup. We are a multi campus church with over 40 years of roots in PDX and know the challenges of breaking through the liberal culture of our great city!

Tom Krattenmaker would have a great resource for his dialogue about "Jesus Favorite City" in speaking with the leadership of this campus... www.citybiblechurch.org.

Roberta

"No church in the neighborhood??" You deliberately left out a Catholic church, Saint Mary's Cathedral on NW 17th. The Catholic Church has the largest number of charitable organizations in the world: Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities, St. Vincent de Paul, on and on.

I think you left out the Cathedral - located very close to the Pearl District, because you do not believe we're Christians. We are.

Thank God I'm Catholic, the true church with the Real Presence of Christ in all the Tabernacles of the world.

DeniseK

Coincidentally a number of Portland's missional church folk are speaking/gathering in Seattle April 28-29

www.inhabitconference.com

The Pacifica Northwest is a place of hope!!!

Kevin Palau

A lot of very good points made here... and makes me realize I need to do a better job when I talk about Portland.

First of all, the good being done in Portland in the name of Christ is being done all over the place, at all times, by hundreds of great churches and ministries, most unsung, including all those mentioned (Bread and Wine, Second Stories, etc). I love all those guys, serve on the Board of Second Stories... love them all.

I'm going to work harder in the future to deflect comments that imply too much credit to "Palau'. My intent has been to try to encourage more and more church collaboration around serving, and cheering on those that are doing well. It's just one small role for sure, and not nearly as important as those that are serving on the ground!

When working with the media or national deals like Q, it's hard to properly mention or give credit to all those doing such good work and so it too often gets boiled down to a few good stories, like what Imago Dei is doing, or the Southlake/Roosevelt story.

I love to see unity among churches and ministries, and am always looking to learn more about the great stuff happening. There is now a quarterly urban pastors gathering that Rick from Imago and T. Allen Bethel from AMA host, just be build relationships. There are more and more regional pastors gatherings taking place to pray, build relationships, and look for ways to serve better together.

In Beaverton, where we live and have our headquarters, we're seeing more than 20 churches working together long term with the Mayor and School Superintendant on an annual Compassion Clinic, church/school partnerships, and a new program with EMO to find host homes for homeless HS students. Encouraging stuff.

I'm too long winded here, and appreciate the comments that will hopefully help me express things better, and in ways that honor the Lord and build up the unsung work going on.

Kevin Palau

(If anyone wants to email me direct or talk about any of this...kevin.palau@palau.org)

Carol Fenton

Are you relating liberal and progressive to non-churched? That is what it sounds like to me.

Unfortunately, it is the church that has created and fuels many of the issues that are contributing to houselessness, and trafficking. For example, many churches do not have domestic violence as part of their pre-marital counseling, do not teach or support gender equality, and worst of all - do not educate their congregants on how to prevent child abuse - including physical, mental and sexual abuse.

The worst abuse of power is to cover up incidents of abuse against a child, and this is occurring in the evangelical church today. When transparency and truth reigns, then healing can begin - and only then can the church truly start assisting its congregants and the community.

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Getting the Portland Vibe

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