Doug has been a minister a long time. Which is surprising given that he …

… has been excommunicated once,

… was fired from his first minister gig,

… is deeply disillusioned with organized religion,

… cusses from time to time.

Doug moved to Raleigh in 1995 from a megachurch in L.A., gathered a bunch of also-disillusioned folks, and started Common Thread. They spent years, not being a church, but a lab, trying to figure church out. They tried new ideas, new practices, tweaked stuff, then did it all again. Then Doug wrote a book about what they’d learned—which got him excommunicated, and our building taken away.

But, we do have a healthy way to be spiritual community.

It’s not perfect. But we love what we have.

And now Doug’s old.

At the age when old men plant trees they’ll never sit under.

He’s working to ensure Common Thread’s future.

And to give away what we’ve learned.