‘Flannel panel’ talks about ministry on the margins at Stewardship Kaleidoscope conference

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As Stewardship Kaleidoscope 2024 opened in Portland, Oregon, Sept. 23, attendees had probably seen the “Keep Portland Weird” slogan in several places. The annual conference is presented by the Presbyterian Church (USA) and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

In the Pacific Northwest spirit of keeping life cutting edge, panelists in the opening plenary session discussed everything from the Portlandia TV series to trailblazing and naked bike riding (yes, it’s an event in Portland).

Or rather, they addressed questions inspired by those topics. Moderator Sy Hughes, a conference planning team member — wearing a flannel shirt and Portland rainbow T-shirt — drew each prompt out of his knit hat. Hughes is a Ministry Engagement Advisor who covers the Southeast for the PC(USA).

The panelists, also in flannel, are involved in ministries that blaze trails:

The Rev. Nikki Collins, national coordinator of PCUSA 1001 New Worshiping Communities. She previously founded Bare Bulb Coffee, which was “home to a diverse group of disciples committed to shedding light in the world.” Now she helps new faith communities in every context get started.

Kevin Riley, commissioned co-pastor with wife Danielle of Mount Baker Presbyterian Church in Concrete, Washington. Once mired in addiction and poverty, the couple experienced the care of church members in their community and are now extending it to others.

The Rev. Katy Cuthill Steinberg, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Daytona, Florida. She joined the church staff a couple of years ago; the congregation has since sold its property, found a host in a downtown nonprofit movie theater and developed a new identity statement.

The Rev. Emily Norris, lead pastor and founding developer of The Dwelling in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a Fully Federated Mission Community of the ELCA and Moravian Church in America. She has worked alongside people experiencing homelessness since 2013.

Here’s a sampling of their free-ranging conversation.

On risk taking

This was the naked bike riding prompt. The risks of being the church today involve more than sunburn, but are worth taking.

”The Gospel deserves our bravery,” said Norris, whose unhoused and other congregants live daily with risks others never face. “We get to tell this incredible story. The congregation I serve is filled with a lot of different identities. God is so present on the margins, and that’s a risky and dangerous story to tell.”

Steinberg said the word that came to mind was “radical.”

“We follow this revolutionary rabbi, right?” she said.

The century-old, super-traditional First Presbyterian brought her on initially as a coach with the stated need for change. However, they weren’t too sure about the changes, (say, Black Lives Matter and Pride flags out front) she suggested. The congregation had to figure out what their boundaries were. Following Jesus invites us into the margins, but in contextually appropriate ways, Steinberg said.

Added Norris: “Just because you are uncomfortable does not mean you are not safe.”

When the pandemic hit, Riley’s tiny congregation took the risk of investing its resources to help its community. Then, “More resources came in. More people started coming. More things started happening in the community. Now that congregation is transformed in ways I never thought imaginable.”

Threads that unite

Portland, of course, is the context for the sketch comedy show Portlandia. What are the threads of context, Hughes asked the panelists, that unite their ministries and communities?

Working at the denominational level, Collins admitted she had a different set of threads than the church leaders seated with her. But what she sees in common among the people starting churches in the PC(USA), a good many of them immigrant communities, is “incredible courage and faithfulness.

“They are scrappy and inventive and the MacGyvers — to pick a different TV show — of the PC(USA),” she said.

Showing up — and thereby finding hope — is where Steinberg finds those threads, because showing up is how we figure it out. Not all of it will work. Even when all hope seems to be lost (“We have a story about that; do you remember it? What happens three days later?”), it is found when we show up.

Riley, citing his background of addiction, homelessness and incarceration, said failure got him where he is today. Failure is our best teacher. If you fall on your face publicly, “get up and do it again. Because at the end of the day, your community depends on you to bring difference into your neighborhoods.”

Norris said the common thread is that there’s no playbook for a ministry such as hers, but the common answer is Jesus.

Blazing and sustaining new trails

Trail Blazers aren’t just a basketball team in Portland, Hughes said, and not just Lewis and Clark (the explorers or their namesake institutions). How do you proceed where there is no path?

Riley and his congregation built their ministry “brick by brick” during Covid.

Collins said that by beginning the denomination’s new church mission, “we set this vision for ourselves that was ridiculous, to start 1,001 new worshiping communities inside 10 years.” What has kept the mission creating those new routes despite the pandemic and other obstacles is the cooperation among different people and entities of the church.

Not all of us are trailblazers, Steinberg said; the supporters, advocates and judicial bodies are needed too.

“This is like a hipster Hogwarts,” Hughes commented between topics.

“A flannel panel,” Steinberg added.