4. The Gospel According to Two Shirts, with Jason Coker

Jason Coker, pastor of First Christian Church in Oceanside, California, shares about a ministry called Two Shirts. Even though it doesn’t exist anymore, it beautifully captures what God wants to do in the world—healing and wholeness for the whole world. Jason and I discuss this very creative ministry, Jason’s journey of discovering the gospel in a much bigger way than he had ever understood it before, and what it’s like to serve a congregation that includes homeless brothers and sisters.

THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Brief description of the Oceanside, CA, community where Jason Coker serves as the lead pastor of First Christian Church.
•  Jason shares how he came up with the idea for the Two Shirts ministry.  It started in Columbus, OH.
• The Two Shirts concept is based on John the Baptist’s words in Luke 3:11:  “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
• Jason Coker was convicted by the idea that the gospel is more than an idea.  The gospel must be embodied.
• Two Shirts was a website where you could give things away or ask for something you need.
• An amazing story of a woman who posted that she needed a grandmother for her children.
• Unfortunately, Two Shirts never really took off in Southern California.  It was hard to build the critical mass.
• Jason describes the gospel he grew up with–a gospel that is more about disembodied doctrines and ideas.
• Jason Coker came to the understanding that the gospel is about the restoration of all things and the fulfillment of shalom.
• First Christian Church in Oceanside includes homeless people in their congregation.
• “Embodying the gospel means to serve the least in our midst.”
• Someone described Jason’s church as having “quite the cast of characters.”
• FCC’s new mission statement:  “To make disciples for the sake of the city who practice radical hospitality, create new expressions of faith, and minister wholeness in a fragmented world.”
• Jason Coker describes the “ordinariness” of his work as a pastor.  The majority of the church’s work is “unglamorous.”

RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:

• Jason Coker 
  • Twitter:  @jasonacoker
• First Christian Church Oceanside 
  • Website: https://fccoceanside.org/
  • Twitter:  @fccoceanside
• Disciples of Christ denomination 
  • Website:  https://disciples.org/

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