Our Story – Nate DeWard (7.14.28)
Our series continues as we learn about the journey of vocation for Nate DeWard.
Entries by Chris
Our Story
Sundays in July and August will feature the stories of different Branch folks – stories of challenge, hope, discovery and growth. As these stories are shared, we believe we’ll not only find the delight of learning new things about each other, but we’ll also see that each person’s story is a part of a larger […]
Podcasts for June
You may be wondering where June’s podcasts are. In June we are engaged in Group Sundays, which do not include a sermon — hence, no podcasts in June 🙂 We’ll be back in July with stories from the lives and experiences of Branch folks. If you want to learn more about Group Sundays, click here.
Time to Celebrate!
It’s time to celebrate! After months of discernment and work, we are celebrating becoming owners of the building at 973 28th St. SE! Join us on June 2 as we reflect on our nearly 20 years at this location (as renters), mark this important transition, and dream together about how we might leverage this facility […]
Labor Day Sunday – Meeting at Garfield Park
On Sunday, September 1, we’re meeting at Garfield Park for a morning of slowing down and reflection. We’ll begin our time near the parking lot off of Madison Ave. at 10am. Younger kids will be able to spend time with one of our staff, playing on playground equipment and considering a story from the Scriptures […]
Vision Sunday
On 5/19 we took a good part of the morning to have a conversation about our vision – breaking into groups, debriefing each other, and collectively identifying what it could look like if we worked together to see our vision become a reality. Because of the unique nature of the morning, we do not have […]
Transformation – Week 6 (5.12.24)
The spaces through which we are changed tend to be experiences of great love or great suffering. Peter’s life is an example of both.
Transformation – Week 5 (5.5.24)
It may seem like growing in our faith would mean that we would end up more certain. That may be true of some things (for example, God’s love for us). But an important part of transformation involves putting on humility; admitting that we don’t have all the answers (and may never have them); even embracing […]
Transformation – Week 4 (4.28.24)
God is always present. And it is in the present moment – no where else – that we experience God (and, each other). Growing, maturing, deepening our faith requires us, therefore, to be present – a very very difficult challenge for humans to believe and live.
Transformation – Week 3 (4.21.24)
The created world is a gift, teaching us things that are true about God and about ourselves. This week we consider what trees teach us about our growth and maturity.
Transformation – Week 2 (4.14.24)
Week 2: The end of the rope is a beginning. The story of Jacob and Esau points us to a number of important truths about growth and transformation: life is not all upward and onward we all will reach the end of our rope but the end of our skills, knowledge and willpower holds immense […]
Transformation – Week 1 (4.7.24)
We begin a new series in which we look at important principles related to our spiritual transformation (and transformation in general). Week 1 considers the truth that in order to grow we must learn to embrace BOTH death AND resurrection.
The Seventh Story – Week 7 – Easter
The six stories we’ve considered so far fall short of their promise. They give us something, but it is not what we really want. We need a seventh story. We see aspects of the seventh story in the hours before and after Christ’s death and resurrection — and we see it clearly in the resurrection […]
The Seventh Story – Week 6 (3.24.24)
The Story of Accumulation is everywhere. There isn’t a day that we’re not inundated with the message that we’ll find our happiness and security in more (fill in the blank). But does this story give us what it promises? What is the alternative?
A Conversation on Israel and Palestine
Sunday, March 24, 5:00-6:30pm Please invite anyone who might be interested. Please register by clicking here. After spending over a week in Palestine and Israel as part of a twenty three member, multi-denominational delegation, Chris and Josh Vis will share stories and reflections from their time in Palestine and Israel. The conflict between Israel and […]
The Seventh Story – Week 5 (3.17.24)
The Story of Victimization is a challenging one. It tells us that when we’ve been harmed we should let our pain define us. It’s a story that encourages us to get stuck in our pain — sometimes even fueling us to harm others while feeling righteous in doing so. But getting stuck in our pain […]
The Seventh Story – Week 4 (3.10.24)
Teresa leads us through the Story of Isolation.
The Seventh Story – Week 3 (3.3.24)
Teresa and Chris (from Palestine) share thoughts on the third story in our series — the Story of Purification.
The Seventh Story – Week 2 (2.25.24)
The second story is one of Revolution/Revenge. It is the belief that the only way we’ll be secure and ultimately happy is if we repay pain for pain, harm for harm.
The Seventh Story – Week 1 (2.18.24)
We begin a series for Lent that considers six stories we encounter regularly in our day to day lives — a series that ends on Easter, which is a seventh story of sorts. These six stories promise us happiness, security and fulfillment but rarely deliver. As we move through Lent we’ll be asking ourselves which […]
