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March 2024- When the “Not Yet” Becomes “Yes” it’s Beautiful
by Sam Skillern | March 22, 2024 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
The phone call was a surprise. An old chum from school days in Salem. “Sam, I’m going to be in Seattle next week, can we catch breakfast somewhere?” I picked a spot down the hill from our rental house in Montlake, across the canal from Husky Stadium. We’d sent the...
February 2024 – “It was Just the Right Time”
by Kyle Dickinson | February 19, 2024 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
My family moved to Salem in January of 2012. One of our top priorities was to find a church with a group of people in a similar life stage – couples with young children. We quickly found the Synergy community group at Salem Alliance, which at that time was being led...
January 2024- We Are Pleased to Announce…
by Sam Skillern | January 19, 2024 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
Usually a mentor is someone older than you. Most of mine have been. But I can cite a couple cases where someone younger has blessed me with their expertise and experience. One person in particular. And now he’s my successor! (We sent the news in an email right...
December 2023- Hope for the Nations and the Neighborhoods
by Sam Skillern | December 12, 2023 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
We live in challenging times. But that could be said of just about any era in history. War. Hunger. Immorality. Crime. Greed. Poverty. Two thousand years ago things were pretty rough in the Middle East. The Roman Empire was in charge, and it was brutal. Even...
November 2023- Not for College Days Alone
by Sam Skillern | November 8, 2023 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
Last month we had our annual reunion of ‘Fijis’ at the OSU-UCLA football game. It’s a loyal group of fraternity brothers who gather to regale old stories and catch up on families. We all lived in the Phi Gamma Delta house in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, and it’s...
October 2023- After 27 Years, a Few Guiding Axioms
by Sam Skillern | October 12, 2023 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
Words are wonderful. Language is a huge part of the human experience in biology, sociology, anthropology, history, and culture. Not to mention theology: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made...
September 2023- Dwayne’s Invitation to Engage Tables
by webmaster | September 14, 2023 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
AN INVITATION: Some people talk about creating belonging and making more room at the table for others. And then there are those who create belonging in how they live and actively invite others to join in. This past July, on one of our family trips, I witnessed the...
July/August 2023: Succession Planning is Healthy for Organizations
by Sam Skillern | August 3, 2023 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
OK, it’s official. It actually shouldn’t be a surprise because we’ve been working on it for a couple years. By the end of 2024, there will be a new leader at the helm of SLF. (Thank you for not bursting into roars of applause like several tables did at the Fancy...
June FNL- City as Playground or … ?
by Sam Skillern | June 30, 2023 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
What a blast we had last Friday, June 16, at the Salem Convention Center downtown! We had fun with our City as Playground? theme and explored the contrast between the hard things happening in Salem-Keizer and the way people, churches, partners, and programs are...
May 2023- To All the Silent Giants out There …
by Sam Skillern | May 30, 2023 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
This one goes out to all the people who have an incredible impact but are below the radar. Take a moment to think of these saints in your life. They are beloved to those who know them … generous beyond measure with their time, talent, and treasure … always...
April 2023- Old-fashioned Decency: Embraceable or Obsolete?
by Sam Skillern | April 26, 2023 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
Lotta people making fun of Theodore Cleaver these days. In fact, some folks downright loathe him and the iconic 1957-63 television show Leave it to Beaver. The knock is that the Cleaver family and mid-century America represented harmful values. The parents of...
March 2023- Music to an Old Shortstop’s Ear
by Sam Skillern | March 20, 2023 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
I’m an old shortstop. Baseball was my thing. It started with my 4th-grade pal Jim Goodwin and the old City League, where we played in sneakers, blue jeans and a white t-shirt with “Wolverines” spray-painted across the front. I started varsity all three years at...
February 2023- People Can Overcome Homelessness … with Friends
by Sam Skillern | February 15, 2023 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
I've never seen a warmer smile. Tracey Sargent was a successful restaurant cook and kitchen manager. Then, in the space of 40 months, he lost his mom and five siblings to drugs and/or heart attacks. Devastated, he went off the grid. He lost his job, his car, his...
January 2023-Saluting a Friend and Brother, DJ Vincent
by Sam Skillern | January 17, 2023 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
Our mutual friend Carrie Maheu introduced us. He was a young pastor in the Free Methodist tradition, planting a church at Leslie Middle School. I could see the fire in his eyes for loving neighbor as self. Little did I know how far DJ Vincent would extend that fire...
December 2022- Think “One” and “In Person” this Holiday Season
by Sam Skillern | December 5, 2022 | Blog, Fancy Newsletter | 0 Comments
In a season where everything is busy, festive (hectic), and sometimes overwhelming … what if we focused on “One.” In a culture where everything is fast, digital (virtual), and distant …what if we focused on “In Person.” During Christmas and the holiday season, the...
