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
- First Christian Church Oceanside
- Disciples of Christ denomination
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