A Theology from Below (and Subterranean Book Review)

Year after year as my community seeks to live well in the unique soil of our little neighborhood, we discover how much our neighborhood has to teach us about ourselves, each other and the One we follow. Because real life is textured with both the beautiful and broken realities of humanity, we find ourselves formed and informed in new ways that we …

Why Neighborhood Matters: Christian Conferences, Consumption & Everyday Life

As I sat on my porch overlooking the streets of my urban neighborhood and the sparkling lights of downtown San Diego, I thought to myself, “There is no place I’d rather be. THIS is where life happens and where peace is made real.”   Just 30 minutes before, I had gotten off a plane from a 24 …

Pastoring in the New Parish

The longer we live in our neighborhood and enter into deeper relationships with a handful of the 13,000 people who live within the 10 X 7 blocks of Golden Hill, the more we become aware of the importance of the faithfulness of our little faith community in this place. We are discovering that the majority …

When Good News Looks Like Something: 5 Ways to Engage Your Neighborhood

I love my neighborhood. It’s not that it is all that glamorous or cool or “safe” or whatever. It’s that it is full of people who actually want to experience some kind of community together. There is a building sense that we all have some skin in the game and that our thriving is somehow …

Jesus’ Name is Alecia. Really??

Ruby and I were going for a long stroll as Janny put in one of her last long days of work before going on maternity leave.  Because I know that our time as a family of three is quickly coming to a close, I walked hand in hand with my little gal with a bit …