Hear from Lauren Goldbloom, Director of the Grounded Faith Initiative
Connecting young adults and churches for the good of the neighborhood
With the Grounded Faith Initiative, we aim to connect established neighborhood congregations with young adults who feel a vested interest in the same neighborhoods. As these relationships provide vocational discernment and mentorship to young adults, we hope innovative ministries will emerge to serve communities.
Over the next 5 years, we will focus on 5 distinct city regions in the United States, working with several congregations in each region. While our efforts will be focused on particular cities and neighborhood-focused congregations, we will share our learnings and stories with our broader network of churches and communities.
This is a collaborative project with the Whitworth Office of Church Engagement, made possible by the Lilly Endowment.
Meet the Grounded Faith Team
Lauren Goldbloom
Director of the Grounded Faith Initiative
Cliff Cannon | Spokane, WA
Lauren Goldbloom serves on the Parish Collective staff as the Director of the new Grounded Faith Initiative, a collaborative project with the Whitworth Office of Church Engagement made possible by the Lilly Endowment. Grounded Faith seeks to connect young adults and parish-focused churches for the sake of the common good of their neighborhoods.
Lauren lives in Spokane, Washington, where she and her husband Matt and their six kids have embedded their lives in the fabric of the Cliff-Cannon neighborhood. She pastors Common Well, a hyper-local community of neighbors learning to follow Jesus in their everyday lives, and teaches as a substitute in the local schools.
Stasi McAteer
Grounded Faith San Diego Area Convener
Ocean Beach | San Diego, CA
Stasi has lived in and served the community of Ocean Beach, San Diego, since 2014. She’s a founding admin of Buy Nothing groups, an avid volunteer in local schools, and has been a storyteller at SD's library. She hosted Friday Family Meal, a weekly community dinner, from 2014-2018.
Stasi holds an MDiv with a concentration in Worship, Theology, and the Arts from Fuller Seminary, and went on to do doctoral work in liturgy at the GTU. She especially loves creative preaching and curating meaningful rituals.
Stasi's family includes kids Maggie & Kieran with her philosopher husband John. You'll usually find them engaged in discussion (about movies, theology, or the Trolley Problem), playing (in the ocean, around a board game, or with their pet Cleocatra), or entertaining (friends, neighbors, & visiting angels).
Ken Alvarado
Grounded Faith Chicago Area Convener Little Village | Chicago, IL
Ken Alvarado is a community engagement leader passionate about place-based transformation and cross-sector collaboration. Ken is dedicated to developing strategies that connect people to purpose through grassroots initiatives. Bilingual and mission-driven, he fosters equity, trust, and sustainable impact in communities— rooted in Christ's hope and promises.
From Costa Rican parents, Ken was born and raised in Chicago's southwest side. He enjoys playing in the fire hydrants in the summer with his beautiful wife Danielle and 2 small daughters - Jhalina and Micaela.
Eunice Lin-Sawyer
Grounded Faith Seattle Area Convener Queen Anne | Seattle, WA
Eunice Lin-Sawyer is the Seattle Area convener for the Grounded Faith Initiative. Prior to moving to Seattle, she spent 7 years as a social worker before entering full-time ministry in her home church in Singapore where she led the young adult ministry and set up her church’s local outreach and justice ministry. She loves being able to pioneer new work, bridge differences, challenge the status quo, and be a tad subversive in all she does – which is why she’s really excited to be part of the Grounded Faith Initiative team! She also spends much time reflecting on how to root deeply despite feeling transient and being a foreigner in this country. Since 2020, she has had the privilege of working alongside Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil to train and consult churches and Christian organizations in racial justice and reconciliation. She’s very much looking forward to completing her Master of Divinity and MA in Reconciliation & Intercultural Studies at Seattle Pacific Seminary this year.
Nate Tubbs
Grounded Faith Chicago Area Convener
The Island | Chicago, IL
natetubbs.com
Nate Tubbs is a communications professional, organizer, and entrepreneur with a passion for his neighborhood and partnership in the city of Chicago and beyond. He has worked in the non-profit sector for many years in design, marketing, consulting, and community organizing. You will find Nate at neighborhood meetings, his local school council, his block’s community garden, or playing with his kids. Nate and his wife, Jamie, and their three children live in The Island neighborhood on Chicago’s west side.
Claire Strunk
Grounded Faith Spokane Area Convener Cliff Cannon | Spokane, WA
Claire Strunk is the Spokane Area convener for the Grounded Faith Initiative. She's worked in large churches and tiny churches, new church plants and long established congregations, traditional liturgy and contemporary, theologically conservative and theologically liberal churches. She's served as a pastor to college students and young adults, as a pastor to young families, and as a pastor to a congregation of seniors. But she is most interested in thinking about how churches can thrive where they are; how they can best love their actual neighbors.
Claire lives in the Cliff-Canon neighborhood on the lower south hill of Spokane with her husband Bill, and their kids, Jude and Greta.
Meet the Grounded Faith Team
Lauren Goldbloom
Director of the Grounded Faith Initiative Cliff Cannon | Spokane, WA
-
Lauren Goldbloom serves on the Parish Collective staff as the Director of the new Grounded Faith Initiative, a collaborative project with the Whitworth Office of Church Engagement made possible by the Lilly Endowment. Grounded Faith seeks to connect young adults and parish-focused churches for the sake of the common good of their neighborhoods. Lauren lives in Spokane, Washington, where she and her husband Matt and their six kids have embedded their lives in the fabric of the Cliff-Cannon neighborhood. She pastors Common Well, a hyper-local community of neighbors learning to follow Jesus in their everyday lives, and teaches as a substitute in the local schools.
Eunice Lin-Sawyer
Grounded Faith Seattle Area Convener
Queen Anne | Seattle, WA
-
Eunice Lin-Sawyer is the Seattle Area convener for the Grounded Faith Initiative. Prior to moving to Seattle, she spent 7 years as a social worker before entering full-time ministry in her home church in Singapore where she led the young adult ministry and set up her church’s local outreach and justice ministry. She loves being able to pioneer new work, bridge differences, challenge the status quo, and be a tad subversive in all she does – which is why she’s really excited to be part of the Grounded Faith Initiative team! She also spends much time reflecting on how to root deeply despite feeling transient and being a foreigner in this country. Since 2020, she has had the privilege of working alongside Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil to train and consult churches and Christian organizations in racial justice and reconciliation. She’s very much looking forward to completing her Master of Divinity and MA in Reconciliation & Intercultural Studies at Seattle Pacific Seminary this year.
Ken Alvarado
Grounded Faith Chicago Area Convener
Little Village | Chicago, IL
-
Ken Alvarado is a community engagement leader passionate about place-based transformation and cross-sector collaboration. Ken is dedicated to developing strategies that connect people to purpose through grassroots initiatives. Bilingual and mission-driven, he fosters equity, trust, and sustainable impact in communities— rooted in Christ's hope and promises.
From Costa Rican parents, Ken was born and raised in Chicago's southwest side. He enjoys playing in the fire hydrants in the summer with his beautiful wife Danielle and 2 small daughters - Jhalina and Micaela.
Claire Strunk
Grounded Faith Spokane Area Convener
Cliff Cannon | Spokane, WA
-
Claire Strunk is the Spokane Area convener for the Grounded Faith Initiative. She's worked in large churches and tiny churches, new church plants and long established congregations, traditional liturgy and contemporary, theologically conservative and theologically liberal churches. She's served as a pastor to college students and young adults, as a pastor to young families, and as a pastor to a congregation of seniors. But she is most interested in thinking about how churches can thrive where they are; how they can best love their actual neighbors.
Claire lives in the Cliff-Canon neighborhood on the lower south hill of Spokane with her husband Bill, and their kids, Jude and Greta.
Nate Tubbs
Grounded Faith Chicago Area Convener
The Island | Chicago, IL
natetubbs.com
-
Nate Tubbs is a communications professional, organizer, and entrepreneur with a passion for his neighborhood and partnership in the city of Chicago and beyond. He has worked in the non-profit sector for many years in design, marketing, consulting, and community organizing. You will find Nate at neighborhood meetings, his local school council, his block’s community garden, or playing with his kids. Nate and his wife, Jamie, and their three children live in The Island neighborhood on Chicago’s west side.
Stasi McAteer
Grounded Faith San Diego Area Convener
Ocean Beach | San Diego, CA
-
Stasi has lived in and served the community of Ocean Beach, San Diego, since 2014. She’s a founding admin of Buy Nothing groups, an avid volunteer in local schools, and has been a storyteller at SD's library. She hosted Friday Family Meal, a weekly community dinner, from 2014-2018.
Stasi holds an MDiv with a concentration in Worship, Theology, and the Arts from Fuller Seminary, and went on to do doctoral work in liturgy at the GTU. She especially loves creative preaching and curating meaningful rituals.
Stasi's family includes kids Maggie & Kieran with her philosopher husband John. You'll usually find them engaged in discussion (about movies, theology, or the Trolley Problem), playing (in the ocean, around a board game, or with their pet Cleocatra), or entertaining (friends, neighbors, & visiting angels).
Year 1 | Listen Deeply: The first year will be focused on carefully attending to the contexts, leaders, congregations, and young adults in each of our five regions.
Year 2 | Imagine Possibilities: In our second year the focus will be on creating meaningful environments and experiences of shared learning at the intersection of Christian faith, neighborhood presence, and vocation.
Year 3 | Launch New Ventures: These years will involve working closely with the coaches and congregations to test and launch new neighborhood ventures or new partnerships with existing neighborhood organizations.
Year 4 | Continue and Deepen Praxis: As ventures continue and young adults reflect on their praxis, they will share their learning with peers and congregations to further expand their reach in the neighborhood.
Year 5 | Proliferate the Network: While continuing to create ongoing opportunities for learning communities and new ventures, the final year will focus on growing the network.
