Christ & Cascadia is a collaborative online journal, which explores the challenges, opportunities, and responsibilities for the Christian faith in Cascadia. Our mission is to equip Christians to better understand and engage the culture of Cascadia. The journal is committed to cultivating thoughtful conversations that are contextually aware, theologically rich, and culturally creative.
Conquered and kidnapped by the Babylonians, the ancient Israelites were commanded by Yahweh to seek the “shalom” of the city where they had been exiled (Jeremiah 29). Rather than pine after their lost home of Jerusalem, the Israelites were commanded to “settle down, build houses, and plant gardens” in the place where they had been called. The Hebrew word “shalom” was meant to describe the holistic flourishing of the economic, political, cultural, and spiritual life of a community. Though culturally defeated and marginalized, the Israelites were called to seek Babylon’s holistic restoration, to pray for its welfare.
The writers and readers of Christ & Cascadia will undoubtedly disagree on many theological, cultural, and political issues. That said, C&C will hold to one common conviction: that Christians who have been called to Cascadia are obligated to pray and work for it’s spiritual and cultural flourishing (its shalom). They are called to settle down and invest in this place.
This journal, therefore, is a discursive space in which thoughtful readers can explore what it means to know, love, critique, explore, develop, mourn, create, and care for Cascadia.
To that end Christ & Cascadia is interested in publishing the work of committed and thoughtful Christian leaders in the arts, academy, marketplace, church, and greater public square. Broadly speaking, there are two types of articles that we are interested in publishing, articles of Christian reflection and articles of Christian action.
- Reflection
The first set of articles will reflect thoughtfully on a particular aspect of life in Cascadia. These articles will examine specific cultural trends, artifacts, or issues that have a prominent place in the life of Cascadia. We welcome reflections on Cascadian cities, politics, arts, technology, literature, religion, the environment, economics, technology, and more.
- Action
Cascadia is full of creative Christian artists, entrepreneurs, politicians, activists, and pastors who are deeply committed to the restoration and flourishing of the region. This second set of articles will highlight and explore the imaginative and redemptive work of Christian individuals and organizations who call Cascadia home.
Together we hope that these two sets of articles will help us fulfill our two-fold mission to better know and love the region to which we have been called.
