We are a group of four collaborative Long Beach churches. While going to church is still important to us, we've opened our doors wider - to welcome you in AND to let the spirit out. Maybe we're spirit wranglers?

What we do starts with experience: yours, ours, each other's. What do we mean by "each other?" It's often people who have felt "other" within the traditional church community.

• Spiritual seekers, agnostics, atheists and humanists who want to be in a community that does good in the world. Belief is not required. Questions and challenges are encouraged.

• The LGBTQIA+ community and their friends, family, advocates and community activists.

• Parents of all types - single, coupled, grandparents, uncles & aunts, fosters and friends.

• Persons of all ages: children, teens and young adults who need a safe, supportive, community-oriented space to grow.

• People who trust that we're better together than apart. Folx who have experienced the isolation, anxiety, loneliness and lack of meaning and purpose that COVID and digital culture have instilled.

What are we doing when we are "being the church?" It's always changing and evolving because new people bring new needs, ideas and creativity. But, here's where the spirit has taken us so far.

• It's taken us to the front door of other non-profits that make Long Beach better. We work and learn together, support each other and share human, financial & material resources.

• It's taken us to the unhoused along the LA River, where Jumpstart Ministries helps feed, support and acknowledge folks for whom "communion" might mean simply being "seen."

• It's taken us to Christian Outreach in Action where we helped organize clothing donations, and to Food Finders where we have sorted and packed Thanksgiving meals for the hungry in our neighborhoods.

• It's taken us to interfaith and secular action groups that focus on justice; stand against racism; support reproductive dignity and choice; respect diversity; and work with the poor and underserved.

• It's taken us to the Orange County and Long Beach Pride Parades, and helped us raise money for the Youth and Family Services at the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach.

• It's taken us to the beach where we clean up one of our city's great natural resources. We've done the same thing at Long Beach local and city parks. We've weeded and seeded at urban farms (Farm Lot 59 & the Giving Farm); and helped out at the Shoestring City Ranch animal sanctuary. We partner with nature.

• It's taken us to Groundlings Day Camp, where kids make friends and learn about the joy of helping each other, and the people around them.

• It's taken us to the heart of family life, where we come together to laugh, play, learn and support each other in camping trips. The spirit is always adventurous!

• It's taken us outside our comfort zone where we engage the Eastern practice of Yoga and challenge our body and minds with meditation and flexibility training. "Being" takes work.

And it's taken us to emotional places, where we experience the importance of being in community - laughing and crying in community - and feeling the spirit when it's out and wild in the world.

That's "Being the Church."

And, we're still listening to hear where God is leading us as we wrangle the spirit.

But most of all, we're listening to hear where you lead us. And to where Long Beach leads us, because we trust that is the spirit at work ? in you and in us together.

The future has open arms, and so far, we have learned that spirit wrangling together with you - is "being the church."