EVERETT — The purpose of the Labyrinth Walk is to listen.
The Rev. Rebecca Sumner took walks after moving back to her hometown of Everett. She liked to listen to her neighborhood. She thought about the spiritual practice of walking a labyrinth, which involves letting go and listening.
Such walks “help pull us into a disembodied God,” she said. “I realized that labyrinths could be on the streets of our neighborhoods.”
Sumner and her husband, Luke, also a pastor, plan a series of monthly Labyrinth Walks this summer in north Everett. The second one starts at 10:30 a.m. June 6 at Wall Street and Oakes Avenue and will run about an hour. Afterward, participants will share lunch and talk about the experience.
The Sumners are forming a new congregation, temporarily named the Everett Christian Church. They don’t have a building or Sunday services yet. Instead, they have people over for dinner and also organize Theology Pub Nights at The Irishmen downtown. The next pub night is 7:30 p.m. June 24.
Rebecca Sumner graduated from Jackson High School and Everett Community College before she left for university and graduate school. She worked as a pastor in Sacramento for three years.
“I felt a call to come home and start a church back home,” she said.
On that drive in 2011, she stopped in Portland with a U-Haul for the night. She met Luke, an Oregon native, and ended up staying a few years.
Her childhood church discouraged women from leading, she said. Together, she and Luke explored their faiths and joined the Disciples of Christ movement.
In Oregon, she still felt the pull from Everett, she said.
The Sumners, both in their early 30s, want a church where everyone is welcome, including people who are gay or lesbian. They also want to work closely with those who are homeless or struggling with addiction.
“We’ve been here for five months now,” she said. “For us, the most important thing to do at the beginning of a church-start is listen.”
People also are welcome to join the Sumners from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Monday at the Firewheel Community Coffeehouse, 2727 Colby Ave., to make cards for undocumented immigrants who have been detained by authorities.
They’re learning with time what the new church will look like and sound like, she said.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
For more information, visit www.everettchristianchurch.org or call 425-750-8002.
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