What is The Orchard?

An orchard is a collection of trees, intentionally planted by The Orchard Master, as an expression of beauty, and as a source of healthy nutritious fruit.

We are a community of people trying to model ourselves in The Way of Jesus, The Master. Like trees in His orchard, we want to bear fruit in our lives which offers sustenance to others around us, and join with God in fulfilling His dreams of beauty in all we are and do.

We're friends of God, relying on Him as our source, relating to Him intimately, looking to Him continually, and honoring Him fully.

We love all those He brings our way: walking beside them, encouraging them, and championing them; sharing our life with them -- inspiring them on their journey toward God.

We endeavor to impact others with the Love of God in practical, purposeful ways so as they experience God's love through us, they come fully alive in Him and find their place in His family -- in His Orchard.

A Life Community

If you came here wondering

"What time do you meet on Sunday mornings?"

or

"Where is your church building located?"

then I'm sorry to disappoint you by telling you we're not that kind of church. If you are looking for that type of a Vineyard experience, there is a fantastic Vineyard church right here in Salem, and you can visit them online here.

Don't get me wrong -- we love churches that meet on Sunday mornings in a rented space or in their own building and explore together what it means to love God and love each other. We just see ourselves living a life a bit different than that. We were a part of that type of church community for many years and as you'll read in various posts here, we've felt pulled to start something a bit different. It used to be that we were so busy in church activities we were never able to rest. Now we want to live a quiet life and love God and love people in the midst of that rest

Before, it was a problem if
we had no normal life outside of church.

Now, we're actually trying to have
no church outside our normal life.

So what does church look like to us? Well, it is somewhat hard to put into words on a blog like this. Probably the best way to begin to explain it is to say this: how about you eMail us, and we can talk about it over a glass of wine and a good meal?

One day we'll have had enough meals and hung out with enough people that it will make sense to start having larger gatherings of folks where we all eat a meal together and spend time exploring Christian Spirituality. Or maybe we'll go do something to impact our local community in a positive way, and then hang out at a coffee shop together and share with one another what we saw God doing in our midst. Along the way we'll be following Jesus and loving Him, each other, and anyone else we encounter along the way.

Sound good to you?

More Reading? You Want MORE Reading?

You've read through a bunch of posts and still have questions; you still want to read more about what it is we're trying to do; who it is we're trying to become, but you're not ready to eMail us and start a conversation just yet. That's OK -- you asked for it!

Probably the best thing you could do is go to my other blog The Can Opener Boy Translations and read through the posts with the labels "church" and "following Jesus"

You can also read these four foundational posts:

1. What is church?
2. What is your role in receiving from the church?
3. What is your role in giving to the church?
4. What is your role in participating in the missional nature of the church?

Also good for you to read would be this post I did about how we view other churches and our relation to them.

Happy reading!

~ Keith

Autumn Beginnings

Autumn is here with its crisp cool mornings and early twilight.

I think of Autumn as a season of nesting and readying for hibernation; of pruning back and storing up. In order to store, one must harvest. Autumn is about bringing in the fruits of the year's labors, to sustain one's family through the winter. Autumn is for gently removing bulbs from the ground and placing them in warm safe pots so they can be replanted and bloom again next spring. Outwardly, autumn seems a dormant time. Inwardly, preparation work teems at the cellular level.

Recently we received our official release paperwork, affiliating us with the Association of Vineyard Churches. We'll be applying for our non-profit status in Oregon, and Federal 501(c)(3) status, speaking with potential board members, figuring out by-laws, State & Federal regulations, trademark agreements and liability insurance.

All of this is necessary work, but it is also secondary -- the deep, cellular work of formation is continuing right on schedule. We're not driven onward by goals and agendas and two-year plans. We're drawn forward gently by the Voice of The Master Who speaks to us of purpose and potential; of hearth and home.

Autumn is here with its golden-leaved changes, layered-warmth walkings, and hope-filled ponderings.

Roots of The Orchard

In the original post on this blog, I discussed the unique distinctions of The Orchard as compared to The Vineyard, and why this led to us choosing a different, but similar name.

Despite these distinctions in form and practice, our values and character; indeed who we are today, is very much influenced by our roots in The Vineyard movement of which we've been a part for the last 20+ years. Here is a great (18 min) video of the heritage there:
Vineyard USA 25th Anniversary from Vineyard USA on Vimeo.

We're Not Doing Anything

Recently I read this quote by Thomas Merton on Inward/Outward:

Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny…. This means to say that we should not passively exist, but actively participate in God’s creative freedom, in our own lives, and in the lives of others, by choosing the truth. To put it better, we are even called to share with God the work of creating the truth of our identity. We can evade this responsibility by playing with masks, and this pleases us because it can appear at times to be a free and creative way of living. It is quite easy, it seems, to please everyone. But in the long run the cost and the sorrow come very high. To work out our own identity in God, which the Bible calls ‘working out our salvation,’ is a labor that requires sacrifice and anguish, risk and many tears. It demands close attention to reality at every moment, and great fidelity to God as God is revealed, obscurely, in the mystery of each new situation.

It was a timely thought for me to read, you see, because I've been reflecting on having been here in Oregon over a year now. Moving here from the Bay Area of California has been a big culture change, and we have enjoyed this much slower and much more restful lifestyle!

But I was wondering "what do we have to show for ourselves, in the spiritual realm? What have we really done since moving here? In California it felt like we were always doing something. Should we be doing more here?" The answer I sensed in my spirit to that question was a strong "No" but I couldn't figure out why. The best I could come up with is "Maybe we just need to detox more from the busyness of the Bay Area?"

And then I read this, also by Merton, in Seeds, on pg 14 and it all made sense:

There are times, then, when in order to keep ourselves in existence at all we simply have to sit back for awhile and do nothing. And for [people] who [have let themselves] be drawn completely out of [themselves] by activity, nothing is more difficult than to sit still and rest, doing nothing at all. The very act of resting is the hardest and most courageous act [they] can perform: and quite often it is beyond [their] power.

Don't get me wrong: I understand that there is an insoluble link between faith and action (I even blogged about it here). So mark me: if God said "Do this." or "Do that." we would -- but He's not saying that. Instead God is saying:

"Don't do anything -- just rest and let Me restore and refresh you and continue to craft you into who I've made you to be as individuals and as a couple. That way, in this new unique situation, you'll be able to naturally, properly reflect my image within your context, without striving."

So we're being intentional about not doing anything right now -- and that is the best thing for us.

Filling In

On the 1 year anniversary of our arrival in Oregon, I had the privilege of being a guest speaker for my friend Jon Nethers at the Sunset Vineyard in Hillsboro. If you'd like you can check out the audio link here: