Rooted & Reoriented
Theology for life in Portland. An eight-month journey through the great doctrines of the Christian faith.
Portland is a city that believes in something. It believes in community, in justice, in authenticity, in the city itself. It is spiritually curious and morally earnest. It has simply, for the most part, decided it can do all of this without the God of the Bible.
This class is designed for Christians who want to think clearly about their faith in that environment — and for honest seekers who sense something is missing but aren’t sure what. Over eight months, we will work through eight of the great doctrines of historic Christian theology, asking a single orienting question at each session: What does this belief change about how we live in this city?
Eight Classes. Eight Doctrines. One City.
The Word Holds
Portland lives in epistemological fog. Truth is personal, fluid, tribal. Scripture is the lighthouse.
Who God Actually Is
Portland worships a therapeutic deity. Packer shows a holy, loving, immutable God far more demanding and beautiful.
The Scandal We Preach
Portland accepts Jesus as teacher and reformer. The cross as substitutionary sacrifice changes everything.
Image-Bearers in a Deconstructed World
High on dignity, low on depravity. Portland cannot account for evil or offer real redemption.
Born Again in a City of Seekers
Portland prizes the seeking. Sovereign grace and justification offer what no spiritual practice can: a verdict.
You Are Not Alone
Portland distrusts institutions. The resurrection-gathered community is itself a witness.
Living as Exiles
Pursue holiness without legalism; engage moral culture without capitulating.
The City to Come
Portland hopes in human progress. Christians hope in the return of the King and the resurrection of the body.
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 3:18, ESVThree Movements. 90 Minutes.
The Foundation
A tightly structured lecture presenting the doctrinal content drawn from Packer and Scripture. A careful presentation of what the church has always believed and why it matters.
Cultural Application
Open teaching that brings the doctrine into direct contact with Portland’s specific cultural assumptions — its epistemology, its anthropology, its ethics, its spirituality.
Discussion & Close
Small group discussion using provided questions, followed by a brief corporate prayer and a creedal confession read together.
J.I. Packer — Concise Theology
A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs — a compact, rigorous, and deeply readable guide to the permanent essentials of the faith. Packer describes his aim as producing theology for “doxology and devotion — the praise of God and the practice of godliness.”
No theological training is assumed. Only a willingness to think carefully and honestly.
Think deeply. Live faithfully.
No registration required. Join us on the second Sunday of each month at 12:30 PM. All are welcome — believers and honest seekers alike.