Fancy Newsletters
March 2023- Music to an Old Shortstop’s Ear
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
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
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
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...
November 2022- With Thanksgiving!
gra-ti-tude – the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for, and return, kindness. By the time you read this, the mid-term elections will be over. I don’t know whom all will have won or lost … but I suspect that tensions are...
October 2022-The Power of Friendship
Dwayne Hilty here, SLF’s CaN (Churches as Neighborhood) Centers Director. I’ve worked with SLF since 2015, first as a West Salem Lightning Rod and, for the past year, leading the CaN Centers Network. I’ve had the opportunity to meet many of you, but for those of...
Sam’s Blog
March 2023- Music to an Old Shortstop’s Ear
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
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
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
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...
November 2022- With Thanksgiving!
gra-ti-tude – the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for, and return, kindness. By the time you read this, the mid-term elections will be over. I don’t know whom all will have won or lost … but I suspect that tensions are...
October 2022-The Power of Friendship
Dwayne Hilty here, SLF’s CaN (Churches as Neighborhood) Centers Director. I’ve worked with SLF since 2015, first as a West Salem Lightning Rod and, for the past year, leading the CaN Centers Network. I’ve had the opportunity to meet many of you, but for those of...
September 2022- What is a Lightning Rod, Anyway?
Hello neighbor, and greetings from the east side of town! Rian Rasubala here, your McKay-area Lightning Rod. In light of Sam’s sabbatical, I’ll be taking over the newsletter this month. And since I’m taking over, I decided to make a few changes. For those of you who...
Summer 2022 – Interns
SALUTING THE SLF SUMMER INTERNS. Like many nonprofits and ministries, SLF has a summer-internship program to engage promising young professionals and provide meaningful work experience. The program is facilitated by Rian Rasubala, our McKay-area Lightning Rod,...
August 2022- Street Mural in Grant- “The Rest of the Story”
Thanks to extensive publicity in the newspapers and social media, it seems everyone’s heard about the “street-painting art project” in the Grant Neighborhood. Over the July 4 weekend, a battalion of neighbors, young and old, converged at the intersection of Belmont...
July 2022 – Fancy Friday edition
What a great feeling to be back in the Salem Convention Center June 24! Our last live Fancy Friday was in 2019, and while the Lord met our needs via two online events during the pandemic, it was good to be in person! We had fun with our “building” theme, featuring...
