Echoes is Redefining "Church"

Few disagree that the Church needs to evolve as we face the social, ecological and spiritual challenges of our time. For six years, Echoes Bellingham has been committed to exploring the boundaries of what church "should be," letting go of what is no longer needed  and opening widely to new ways of expressing the ancient values of love, inclusion, and wholeness modeled by Jesus.   

Echoes is an evolving community of faith that promotes wholeness, practices radical welcome, and fosters relationship with each other, our neighbors, and our natural home.

www.EchoesBellingham.org for more info

Echoes is an evolving community of faith that practices:

WHOLENESS.  Living in a fragmented, domesticated society disconnects us from who we are meant to be. Holiness is a journey of becoming Whole again. We support one another as we become fully ourselves. As we companion one another, we discover new questions, old fears, and evolving perspectives on our lives. We allow room to grow and change. We evolve to embrace our current needs and new revelations. Echoes is a place of wholeness, not harm.

RADICAL WELCOME.  Many people, particularly those on the fringes of society, have been harmed by Church. Deep wounding from previous religious experiences are most often the norm for LGBTQ+ people. Our community doesn't just profess "tolerance" or "inclusivity," we build it into our core community practice. Echoes was founded at Bellingham’s Pride Festival and has continued to have a presence there ever since. We believe in the promise of radical welcome. We accept and honor you just as you were created. Just as you are. No exceptions. 

RELATIONSHIP.  We value, most of all:  Relationship...with one another, with our Neighbors in this Bellingham community, and with the more-than-human Others who share our mutual home.  

The Gatherings

We have launched six different gatherings, redefining the contours of a  traditional worship service to include conversation, creativity, and experiencing Beloved Community that reaches beyond our little group of regulars to include those who are often "othered" or ignored. Your contributions will support the continued evolution of this model. Every month we offer six different gatherings:

• CREATIVE CHURCH.  Venturing beyond our brains, creative expression taps into our hearts.  Through diverse mediums from watercolor to poetry to collage, we explore the many ways our innate creativity opens up our connection to Mystery.  This church experience is led by artist and Methodist minister, Emma Donohew.
• HAMSTER CHURCH.  We invite fascinating and wonderful Bellinghamsters from the wider community in for an intimate conversation which we record for a podcast, scheduled to launch in January 2020! These conversations are church, hosted with compassion, curiosity, and respect by Echoes founding Lutheran pastor, Charis Weathers.
• WILD CHURCH.  Gathering in different wild places in and near Bellingham, we develop spiritual practices to re-member ourselves back into sacred relationship with the rest of the natural world. This Church of the Wild is led by by Wild Church Network and Seminary of the Wild founder, independent church pastor, Victoria Loorz.
• INDOOR CHURCH.  The contemplative and communal beauty of a more traditional church service also happens once a month. Positioned in a circle, we include liturgies, songs, silence, and sermons with discussions. This more (and less) traditional church is led by Lutheran candidate for ministry, Jory Michelson.
• SERVICE CHURCH.  Inner transformation leads to outer transformation. We lend our hands, presence and time to support local non-profits that are committed to restoring the land, people, creatures and life of our community. Echoes has a deep commitment to the reality that vibrant faith must always seek to serve others.
• PUB CHURCH.  We hang out once a month in one of the many excellent breweries, cideries and pubs throughout Bellingham for good beverages & deep conversation.  This is church, too, led by Methodist pastor Emma, whose experience with the best beers and the finest conversation starters serve us all well.  

 

What you get for donating to this campaign!

• PERSONAL THANKS. From someone in the Echoes community especially for you, with so much gratitude.
• PERKS!  You are going to LOVE the perks! Especially the Silicone Pint (SilliPint!) in very lovely (and queer) rainbow colors. We also have a sticker, as well as the most stellar grape juice on the planet. This fall Echoes made our own communion juice from local Lynden blue grapes, which were grown on a local farm. We made extra for this campaign, and you won't believe that grape juice can taste this good. Feel free to use it for communion, too.
• GIFT BASKET LOTTERY!  And at the end of the campaign, there's a super awesome, freaking amazing gift basket full of cool stuff that represent each of the boundary-bending "churches" Echoes embodies. One lucky contributor will win this super duper awesome basket; the drawing will be completely at random, there is no minimum donation required.
• TAX DEDUCTIBILITY.  Echoes is a registered religious 501c3. All your contributions will offset your tax payments.  So, that's cool too.
• A SENSE OF DOING GOOD:  Funds will help us cover our annual operating expenses, which are minimal since we don't define church around maintaining a building. We focus on building relationships with those who are in the most need of our attention, love and acceptance. We began to wonder:  is this vision bigger than us? Are there others in the world who could join us in helping to evolve the Church and the practice of spiritual formation in a new way? We started this campaign because we were thinking, "yah. there are."  

Other Ways You Can Help

Even if you can't contribute today, you can still be part of this emerging vision!  

• If you could share this campaign on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, email, omg that would be AMAZINGLY helpful!
• There are some cool Indiegogo share tools to forward this campaign to friends of your's who may be looking for the perfect year-end donation!