The community called Mission of the Atonement was started over 20 years ago by a small group of individuals and families who believed that conversation and prayer across religious lines was worth the struggle. Through the sharing of thoughts, hopes and lives, these early leaders quickly discovered the beauty of the other tradition, and surprised themselves by encountering gifts in their own tradition they hadn’t seen before. The power and depth of those early months left some describing the time as an “Acts of Apostles” experience, and today that fire continues to flame.

See our history page for a more complete account of MoTA's genesis.

• We believe that what unites us as Christians and children of one God is greater than the theological differences that separate us.
• We believe we are called by Christ to be on this journey together.
• We believe we often learn the most by listening.
• We believe that we are called to attend to not just what Jesus died for, but what he lived for.
• We believe centuries of misunderstandings and violence can be best undone by sitting and praying and living and serving the world side by side.
• We believe that the best theologies emerge by the challenge of taking each others’ stories seriously.
• We believe, along with St. Augustine, that we haven’t read the Bible correctly if it doesn’t impel us to go out to love and serve our neighbor.
• We believe that Jesus invites both personal transformation and cultural transformation – into God’s peaceable kindom of non-violence, inclusion, healing and wholeness.

At Mission of the Atonement we consider ourselves one community that worships, celebrates, prays, and learns together. We worship as one body of Christ, with songs, homily, prayers of the people and the kiss of peace all together, then and only then separating for Holy Communion. We come together again afterward for coffee, children’s education and adult forums.

On the final Sunday of each month we hold a lay-lead service of the Word and remain together for the entire service. There is no communion on the final Sunday. Instead, we break bread together in a potluck brunch.

In this way, we make visible both our unity, that has yet to be healed in our larger denominations, and our yearning and prayer for more complete unity in Christ. Finally we return to our homes and our daily lives, knowing that through our hands, God's work continues.

Our members gather from all over the Portland metro area to work, worship and play together here at Mission Of The Atonement. We were brought together via many different roads and we all have a story to tell.

Some of our members have distilled their life stories down to six words. Think you're up to the challenge? Register for an account and create your own.

Meet some or our members and read their six word biographies here.

Arms open wide
Moving with the spirit
Grounded in prayer
On the road to justice
Weaving the tapestry of our lives together
With the word,
Knowing that God’s kindom is Now.