Q Finds Chilly Portland Surprisingly Warm

by Q Ideas

If you live in Portland and read The Oregonian this week, you would know that Q had come to town. The city Rush Limbaugh once dubbed “Lib Land” ranks as one of the nation’s top three “least churched” cities and has a long-standing aversion for anything that smacks of religion. When more than 600 attendees arrived in Portland, the city undoubtedly didn’t know what to expect.

[STATS: Check out the list of America’s other unchurched cities.]

“Moving to the Northwest still has something of the pioneer dynamic," Kurt Neilson, an Episcopal priest in Portland remarked. "One always leaves something behind in order to make the journey. ... Often it is 'church' as we knew it that is left behind."

Yet Q found this chilly town to be a surprisingly warm city to host its annual gathering. Multnomah County Commissioner Diane McKeel and Portland Mayor Sam Adams participated in the event to share how happy they’ve been with the way the Church has engaged the city. Portland author Donald Miller co-hosted the event, joining other local leaders including pastor Rick McKinley and evangelist Luis Palau.

However, the event was not without some controversy. Several demonstrators showed up to protest Gabe Lyons’ interview with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf of the “Ground Zero Mosque.” Their presence was short-lived as the rain seemed to wash them away, while a lively and civil conversation took place on the future of Muslim and Christian relations in the West.

[READ: “Why I Invited Imam Feisal to be Interviewed at Q” by Gabe Lyons]

Imam Feisal and the consortium of Portland natives joined a list of respected voices on a participant list that included Kevin Kelly of Wired magazine, NASA scientist Jennifer Wiseman, Oscar-nominated actor Mark Ruffalo and Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle. As in year’s past, this Q gathering featured speakers from every channel of culture and a touch of local flair.

Though each participant shared a unique idea, the connector remained how Christians could engage culture through living out the Gospel and promoting the common good. "It's about helping the average disciple see themselves as sent into the city," McKinley told The Oregonian, "and to help them imagine they can shape the place God has sent them for a kingdom good."

The combination of engaging presentations and a common thematic connector made this year’s Q gathering as successful as previous years, a somewhat surprising fact given the city’s reputation. In the end, Q and Portland made for unlikely companions, but companions nonetheless.

“Only evangelicals who confess they don't have all the answers would gather, 600 strong, in the Crystal Ballroom under the banner of ‘Q,’” wrote The Oregonian's Steve Duin. “And only in "unchurched" Portland could this unorthodox approach to Christianity and culture yield such unexpected and powerful results.”

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Comments

Dennis Tuuri

I was a Q PDX participant and am a long-time Portland area pastor committed to city transformation. I enjoyed the gathering, and learned from it. However, Q's seeming commitment to some kind of morality or goodness without a solid biblical basis makes it an acceptable partner with Portland, the city that is wierd (read twisted) and wants to stay that way.

Karen Mulder's comments in the Oregonian piece are telling. She likes the way Q has taught her how to care for people, and not argue about what's right. How do we care for people if we don't know what's right?

Q assumes a common good, a common morality, which simply does not exist. Q can get by with this in the present because we are still primarily post-christian and not yet pre-christian (pagan). But without a commitment to figuring out the Biblical way to do cities, to argue about what is right, Q will likely not be able to stem the regress to paganism, and will, in its present state, have little to offer to defending historic Christianity, let alone spreading it.

Dennis Tuuri

Jonathan Merritt

Dennis,

I appreciate that you took the time to comment and give us your feedback on your experience at Q. I'm sorry you had a mixed experience there, but I'm afraid you've missed what Q is all about. Did you attend the entire time?

We don't promote disconnected acts of goodness, but rather goodness, truth and beauty that ultimately flow from lives that are rooted in the Gospel. That's why we selected presentations such as "The Restorer-Minded Church" by Rick McKinley, "The Cross in Culture" by Jon Tyson and "Inoculating a Generation" by Skye Jethani, to name a few. I'd also recommend reading The Next Christians for further explanation of these ideas and more insight into our founder's thoughts on Christians' in a post-Christian society. I think you may find it helpful.

Also, I think you misunderstand what we mean by "common good." You've used it interchangeably with "common morality," which is almost certainly not what we mean. The common good is defined as "the most good for all people" and is something that has been held throughout, what you called, "historic Christianity." It's the kind of thing Jesus talks about in Matthew 5:13 and explicitly promoted by Christian thinkers from Thomas Aquinas to Tim Keller.

We absolutely support Biblical paradigms for being Christian--are there any other ways to be Christian?--and we are very much interested in what is right and true. I'm sorry you didn't feel like we communicated it well enough during the gathering. We take all feedback seriously and appreciate you voicing your concerns.

Jonathan

Dennis Tuuri

Thanks for the feedback, Jonathan. Yes, I attended the entire gathering, including the learning community. I have not read Gabe's book yet, but did watch the webcast with him and Tim Keller. Additionally, I have watched a number of videos on the qideas site.

Let me give an example of my concerns. At the NYC 2008 gathering, one of the business presenters advovated adding 28 words to the civil government's definition of corporation. While the motivation may be sound, the means (statist eurosocialism) are antithetical to biblical freedom and property rights established in the Ten Words. This 28 word change would, I believe, produce increasing poverty, economic disaster and the loss of freedom. Because the man is seeking a common good without turning to the Bible to see what it says about private property, the role of the state, etc., his actions would damage citites, not t restore them.

We need Biblical, not common, foundaitons of justice, safety, spiritual quest and beauty relaid in our cities (see Tim Keller's Gospel ij Life DVD). I think Q has some great potential for helping us do this, and hope a more focused biblical reasoning emerges in future gatherings.

Hope this helps.

,

Karen Mulder

I am the Karen Mulder who was quoted in the Oregonian news article about Q and used as evidence to support a point of view contrary to what Q is about. I asked myself if I should, or if I even wanted to, respond and have concluded that I would like to, for two reasons. The first reason is that my quote was only part of what I said and did not express my heart. The second is because I believe Q is pivotal in helping believers look at themselves and evaluate "how am I doing" and "what am I doing" to engage my community and my culture.

I have been a believer for 40 years and a pastor's wife for 30. I did not say that truth is not vital but that I am choosing not to argue. I don’t believe God has called us to “be right” but to do good. I have seen the beautiful side of the "church" and the ugly side. I have seen believers argue about what is right and not care about the heart and wounds of the person they were arguing with. I have participated in evangelism where I know that the only reason a person prayed the prayer of salvation was to get us out of their home, and while the group rejoiced over this person’s salvation, I knew that they were most likely still lost and that it would be much harder for them to trust a "Christian" again. I have been part of a pro-life organization where I heard a counselor complain that she “spent all this time with a girl and she went and had an abortion anyway.” I knew that this woman did not care about that girl. I have also listened to church members complain about music style and sermon style and not consider what the unchurched would hear.

I have watched my own children struggle in their faith - and I have struggled with mine. I have more questions than I have answers but what I do know is that when I live from the place in my heart that God has fashioned as a result of my surrendering to him, the place of knowing his deep love for me, the place of knowing his forgiveness and restoration, that it is from this place that I am able to care about and love others - for who they are, no matter where they are. It is not up to me to convince them but to show Christ's love for them through me. It is from this place that they have a chance to see Christ, and it is this kind of church community I want to be part of.

Jonathan Merritt

Dennis,

Perhaps a better strategy for understanding Q would not be using the exception to prove the rule, as in the case of one presenter from one gathering, but rather looking at our entire offerings over the years. We invite presenters from time to time that we may not totally agree with. (See Imam Feisal from Portland), and of course, we don't always know what a particular presenter will say in the course of his or her talk. But we believe that exposing our community to a broad range ideas that are influencing a culture that Christians are called to shape while providing a solid Biblical framework (See Tim Keller, Scot McKnight, Jon Tyson, Rick McKinley, Alister McGrath, Phyllis Tickle, Chris Seay, Os Guinness, Andy Stanley, Rick Warren, James Emery White, etc) by which to evaluate these ideas is healthy and necessary.

Jm

dennis tuuri

Karen,

Thanks very much for your labors to bring Christ's love to people. I resonate and support most of what you say. I have pastored for 28 years in the greater Portland area. we have also labored much, starting a Love INC in our area, being an active support of a local ministry called Oregon City Congregational Emergency Relief Fund, supporting and participating in the work of the PRC and its previous incarnations for decades, etc. I have arranged to have Kevin Palau come to our next OC Pastors meeting, so that he can see what we are doing in Oregon City, and for him to share how we might be more involved in his efforts in Portland. We will also be talking about setting up an annual free medical and dental clinic, etc.

I don't want to argue either, but I do want us to think when we act, so that our efforts don't actually do more harm than good. Truth must be part of effecting goodness that results in beauty. A good current book on this is When Helping Hurts. The Great Society programs of President Johnson resulted in the break-down of families, the increase of poverty and dependency, and less empowerment, rather than more. ASt least, that's how I see it.

Jonathan,

I was not using the Corporate Code talk to say that all of Q is that. I mentioned earlier my appreciation for the gathering, and I heard some truly wonderful talks (Ann Voskamp, for instance) and made some important contacts. But it did seem to me from the gathering and the various videos I have watched, that social justice is more likely thought of in social gospel terms than in defending the unborn, or, for instance, encouraging biblical marriage as the basic building block of societal and individual success and well-being. But you are right, these are prima facie thoughts on my part. I look forward to staying in touch.

BTW, I thought the Imam Feisal interview you referenced was a bit of a lost opportunity. I would have loved for Gabe to have thrown a few hardballs and followed up on some of the softball opportunities he gave the Imam. Gabe's setup, starting with the Crusades instead of the warrior Mohammed and his violent followers was a strange choice to frame the conversation. To begin to talk about Christian Muslim relations by staring with 1056 rather than 710 certainly did not help to bring clarity to the gatherers.

Mike Oviedo

Portland was awesome. If I could get a job at Imago Dei I would move there. This was my first Q conference and I have to say that it changed me profoundly. It revolutionized the way I view church and its mission in the world. I left wanting to live a better story. I've started two different ministries to the homeless since my return. I have created teams and procured funding for these missions and I am very excited about connecting with the inner city. Portland taught me about engagement and God's true vision for community. Thank you so much to everyone who made this conference possible. I am looking forward to next year's conference in D.C. I have one concern though. I purchased the conference and next year's tickets by turning in the slip of paper but the monies have not yet cleared my bank. I hope my paperwork didn't get lost in the shuffle. Keep up the good work. See you next year.

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