Ken Loyd - Starting a church for people with no resources

Friday Nov 2nd - later that morning....

Ken Loyd led the next session I attended. Ken is not someone that first impressions would lead one to believe that he would be pleasant to meet in a dark alley. He's short, stocky, tattooed, and his hair is currently a gray, spiky, inconsistently sparse mohawk. (His picture on his website shows him billiard ball bald. Not sure which hairstyle is better. **GRIN**)

The session was about how to start a church for people with "nothing". I have to be completely honest. I misread the meaning. Anne and I are interested in starting a community of faith in our home, and WE have no money. Well for those of you reading this who know Ken already know where this is going...

Ken and his beautiful, dreadlocked wife, Deborah, started "The Bridge" in Portland, OR. This is a faith community for the homeless, dinsenfranchised, and marginalized poor in Portland. It sounds very rough around the edges, and absolutely wonderful.

The Bridge wasn't the focus, though. Ken had invited a handful of leaders from other communities to share.

First was Kathy Escobar and Karl Wheeler from "The Refuge" in Denver. They had left a leadership team at "a megachurch" to start this ministry to the marginalized. Why? Carl said, "We were tired of the power." They also inferred that they wanted more "community". Community brings people out of marginalization. I have added a link to "The Refuge" on this page. Please go and see some of the things these people are doing.

Then, Ken's wife Deborah, and Angie from "Agents of Future" (energetic music) talked about The Bridge. Check them out at: http://thebridge-pdx.org/. The most important things I got from their talk were these two things: Everyone has a voice; Everyone is involved in something outisde the church (i.e. a band, a mission, etc.).

The people in the community bring the energy from the community into the church.

WOW. Isn't that the exact reversal of the modern church today. The church today wants to take the energy of the church out into the community. Yes, there is question of what "energy" is right to be brought into the church....but I think God can control that. Don't put God in a box!!!!

Ken then stood again and shared about "Home", his latest outreach to the community of homeless in Portland, a true street ministry. The entire weekend seemed to be about acceptance. Ken pointed out that the homeless feel two things. They feel that they are "invisible" and moreover, they feel they are "defective". This just breaks my heart. All people are of value.

I was intrigued to hear about some of the innovations on the street. For instance, dental floss is the thread of choice for patching things. Also, the usage of Nalgene bottles for “controlled” drinking of really bad wine was interesting. There are some homeless with such an addiction to alcohol that they will die without it. By pouring the really cheap wine into a Nalgene and then sitting around and passing it from person to person talking, no one person takes any more than the others. Yes, they still get a buzz. But, they are controlling their intake. That’s awesome. Also, it keeps their addicted brothers alive one day more.

Next, Jeff Shaeffer from “Uffizi” in Santa Barbara got up to talk. Check them out at: http://www.freewebs.com/syncman/aboutus.htm. I loved his comments on keeping the homeless warm at night in Santa Barbara. Then he chuckled, “Well, it never actually gets cold in Santa Barbara”. There was a book recommended during his session called “Under the Overpass”. I’ve added it to my book list, but haven’t looked it up yet.

Ken made some final comments that meant a lot to me with regards to building community. It’s not a pastor/parishioner relationship. “These are my friends.”

Hmmm. A wise man once said something about nothing greater than laying down your life for your friends.