And now a word from our sponsor:

At Keystone we speak of the Christian faith in a way unfamiliar to many. We focus our faith as an alternative to the ways of domination that have defined human civilization. Domination utilizes carrot and stick forms of control to get humans to conform to the norms set by those who have most of this sort of power.

Standing in stark contrast to this idea of power is the power of agape or self-giving love. Agape power utterly undermines Domination forms of power.

Everywhere in our culture dominators are extolled and fawned upon. In subtle ways we are called upon to emulate the richest, the strongest, and the most popular. Domination proclaims that those who have such power have it because they are blessed or have earned their privileges.

Agape calls on humans to seek out the needs of those who are most vulnerable and in their name challenge systems that allow wealth and power to accumulate in the hands of a few and misery to befall all others.

Most churches go so far as to define their God in terms of domination (all powerful, King, Judge) and their faith by the cosmic carrot and stick of heaven and hell.

There is another way, another understanding of the scriptures, another way of understanding God, another way of building human community.

Come by and join in. Changing the world is a big job and we could use your help.

The View

From the window in my office I can see the street in front of the church. This morning I watched the people coming into the pancake breakfast fundraiser for Nickelsville the homeless community of people who are homeless. As people from the neighborhood came and went from Keystone, I saw a group from the Taiwanese church which shares our building, gather and depart for some common adventure and I remembered all the people who came last night for the movies. Keystone is sacred space. Not because we have a cross on the front. It is sacred because of the people who gather here and the reasons they gather. Keystone is sacred space because a community of people have, for many years, quietly kept it as such.

On days like today, I wish you could all see what I see.

Pancakes!

Our friends at Nickelsville will be holding a Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser on Saturday, June 19th at Keystone Church (5019 Keystone Place N., Seattle 98103).

The flapjacks will be hot off the griddle starting at 8:00a until 11:00a.

The Nickelodeons are hoping to raise funds to cover the cost of the Waste Management and Honey Bucket bills.

Come early for hot cakes and coffee and help out our friends at Nickelsville.

25 out of 21

Keystone members moved forward on the plan to share meals with those in need. Recently the Keystone community cooked a meal for the residents of Sacred Heart Shelter. There was so much food left over that a second shelter, St Martin de Porres, benefited from all the food.

In the process of cooking, shopping, and sharing the meal, 25 people from Keystone were involved. Considering our active membership is 21 members, that is a percentage of participation (119%) that is hard to beat.

More adventures in compassion are in the planning stages. Stay tuned.