By: Jer Swigart on January 25, 2021
Immersions are experiences that move us beyond the realms of comfort, safety, and certainty. They are moments of displacement that generate within us theological and existential crises. If navigated humbly, these are the experiences that move us beyond “What do I do?” to the more important question: “Who must I become?” Immersions are the portals…
By: Chris Pollock on January 24, 2021
Time does not always provide healing. For some, time can be the medium whereupon trauma arrogantly dances and sadly increases in volume. When trauma-terror strikes, darkness imposes, is gripping and salvation can seem lost. When terror strikes, being in a safe place with loving people can be salvation enough. Jesus provided a safe place for…
By: Darcy Hansen on January 20, 2021
Over the winter break, I clicked upon Rick Steves’ “The Story of Fascism in Europe,” on PBS. Having never had much interest in history, I knew little of fascism. But in recent months, the term had been tossed around enough through various mediums that my interest was piqued. Ten minutes into the episode, Steves’ shares…
By: John McLarty on January 20, 2021
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Pulitzer Prize winning, “Leadership in Turbulent Times” explores the early lives, the formation, and the unique leadership circumstances of four US American presidents, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. Each of these presidents faced crises in American history. One of the questions she explores is “do the times make…
By: Greg Reich on January 20, 2021
“It was September 2006. Wooden was not quite ninety-six years old. Even at his advanced age, he was still a student of the world eager to collect one more crumb of wisdom that he could dispense to the next friend, interviewer, former player or stranger who came calling.”[1] John Wooden believed in the importance of…
By: Shawn Cramer on January 19, 2021
While reading biographies, the foes of presentism, bias, and reductionism lurk ever-present. Meanwhile, the muses of inspiration, understanding, and hope sing within the pages. As we consider the life of someone who is beautifully human, reverence is needed at the highest order. Studying history and its significant figures serve not simply as an understanding of…
By: Jer Swigart on January 18, 2021
Throughout the first half of this semester, my blogging will be in conversation with the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer as exposed in Eric Metaxes’ biography, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. I purchased the book years ago based on the recommendations of multiple friends and mentors and with the intention to get to it when the…
By: Chris Pollock on January 16, 2021
It’s a beautiful world we live in. The sound I’m hearing is so big. The waves crashing and the river is so full. The rocks are rolling from the river into the ocean only to be thrown by waves. No other sounds break through here, this storm of nature. Then, a raven speaks, and the…
By: John McLarty on January 14, 2021
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. – 1 Corinthians 12:12 (NIV) What does it mean to be an “deliberately developmental organization?” Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey’s “An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization” is an examination of…
By: Greg Reich on January 13, 2021
It appears that the average person spends 13 years and 2 months of their adult life at work. If they work consistent overtime, another 1 year and 2 months can be added to that number. On the other hand, it appears we spend only around 328 days in our lifetime socializing with friends.[1] When crunching…
By: Darcy Hansen on January 12, 2021
“Brake” “Braaaake” “Ian, BRAKE!” These are the words I spoke to my 15-year-old, newly permitted driver as he remained ever focused on the left and right lanes before him but failed to check his blind spot and see the semi-truck he was about to merge into as he drove on the I-205 to I-5 on…
By: Shawn Cramer on January 12, 2021
Culture eats strategy for breakfast (so the oft-used adage goes). In my personal research, Cru’s field staff unanimously point to culture as an impediment for innovating within their ministry. When asked how to make these changes, many shake their heads, throw up their arms, sigh, and relent, “I don’t know. Culture change is hard and…
By: Dylan Branson on January 11, 2021
Around the world, one can find proverbs and idioms that effectively speak the same message: “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” “The first bird that leaves the nest gets shot.” “Don’t go against the grain” “The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.” The primary message: Don’t stand…
By: Jer Swigart on January 11, 2021
A successful organization is not the one that consumes its employees in order to propel its mission. Rather, according to authors Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey in An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization, a successful organization is one that is proactive in providing meaning for its employees. The authors assert that the…
By: Chris Pollock on November 18, 2020
I left them there. It was ‘Norco’ and a younger friend, huddled in the freezing, out-of-the-wet, door-front area of our Market. Jumped into my little Trax and was about to get going but, couldn’t. Pulled up behind an RV that had pulled-in for the night, ran back into the Sanctuary, off-the-alarm for a couple bags…
By: Jer Swigart on November 17, 2020
Of the many conributions Renner & D’Souza have made to my leadership philosophy this semester, one stands out: the future is shaped by the leader’s response to the unknown. This past weekend, I took some time of silent reflection in the moutains of southwest Orgeon. There were three locations I wanted to explore as I…
By: Greg Reich on November 17, 2020
Steven D’Souza and Diana Renner, in their book Not Doing, discuss the idea that not doing is not necessarily a lack of activity. They bring in Carl Honore’s work on slow movement. Honore presents the premise that slow movement is all about pace; a pace that requires us to know the conditions in which we…
By: Darcy Hansen on November 16, 2020
My spiritual directee arrived ten minutes late.[1] I had already spent 20 minutes trying to settle my new puppy into her crate with treats and such but was unsuccessful. By the time the spiritual direction session began, my pup was still losing her puppy mind with separation anxiety, and I was super distracted. I just…
By: Shawn Cramer on November 16, 2020
Early on in the shelter-in-place days, I discovered some beautiful running trails just minutes from my house. Each morning in this refuge, I would watch the sunrise, wonder, think, and pray for the potential of a new day. Waist-high grass stood on either side of the single-track trails. Alternating between running and biking, this routine…
By: Chris Pollock on November 12, 2020
Darkness. I remember running in the darkness. Headlamps and heatwaves in the cold, striding down a mountain a few years ago. We rounded a corner, I recall and, coming quick with the gravity, we were stopped by eyes staring out at us from the dark. They seemed to be those of a fairly large mammal,…
