Books, Bikes, and Beneficence: Keeping Portland Weird and Igniting Generosity

By: Stefanie Marsden, TPF Relationship Manager

This September, Stewardship Kaleidoscope will be held in Portland, OR whose unofficial city motto is actually “Keep Portland Weird.” While Portland is officially known as “The City That Works,” it is the offbeat culture and flavor of this famous city that truly inspired Stewardship Kaleidoscope leaders to take a “weird” or unconventional approach to stewardship while organizing the event for this year.

An annual conference full of excellent plenary speakers, informative workshops, and impactful worship experiences, Stewardship Kaleidoscope strives to ignite generosity, provide practical tools to congregations for cultivating generosity, expand stewardship leadership capacity, and develop adaptive approaches for funding Christ’s mission.

It’s time to embrace the weird! As part of the Stewardship Kaleidoscope planning team, I am pleased to announce that this year, we are excited to have a Plenary Panel that includes four pastors from all around the country who are doing church differently, or what some people may call “weird.”

These pastors share their stories of suffering and resurrection, they lead meditation services on Facebook Live, they share gifts of organization systems, and some even began a worship service in a coffee shop. Initially, these types of initiatives might feel weird, but guess what? It’s been proven that they work. There are many examples of how, with open minds and open hearts, people are doing God’s work in innovative and unconventional ways.

The best example? We all know everyone thought Jesus was weird. He performed many miracles that demonstrated his power over nature and people, such as calming a storm, walking on water, and healing the blind. Clearly uncommon events for any time.  In John 9:6-7, Jesus heals a blind man by mixing mud from saliva and dirt and anointing the man’s eyes with it. This was controversial at the time because Jesus did it on a Sabbath day, which religious leaders considered unlawful work.

Let’s keep Portland weird, get to work, and increase our impact on mission together in September. There are both virtual and in-person attendance options. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

If you are unable to attend the 2024 Stewardship Kaleidoscope conference in Portland this year, my hope is that you search for new and innovative ways to continue to give generously. You can always learn more HERE at our TPF Legacy Builder website.