Faculty for Leadership in the New Parish

Dr. Dwight Friesen

Dr. Friesen brings more than a dozen years of pastoral experience to The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. Dwight was the community-curate of an Eastside emerging simple church for more than eleven years; he is licensed and ordained by the Christian & Missionary Alliance. Dwight earned his Doctor of Ministry degree at George Fox University, where his dissertation research focused on the development of a relational hermeneutic toward connective church leadership and structure. He earned his masters degree from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois and his undergraduate degree from Ambrose University College in Calgary, Alberta. He is active locally and internationally with missional and emerging church movements, serves on the “Faith & Order Commission” of the National Council of Churches and blogs irregularly at dwightfriesen.com. Dwight, his wife Lynette and their son Pascal live in Bellevue, Washington.

Tim Soerens

Tim Soerens is a church planter, social entrepreneur, and co-founding director of the Parish Collective. As co-director of the Parish Collective he convenes ministry leaders, teaches, and consults with organizations seeking human flourishing in particular neighborhoods while also working collaboratively across the city. Previously, he was founding pastor of Cascade Neighborhood Church where he also served as vice-president of the Cascade Neighborhood Council, founding member of Lake Union Opportunity Alliance, and co-founder of the Cascade Farmer’s Market. He is working towards a new church community in the Wallingford neighborhood, while also coaching multiple neighborhood churches. As a social entrepreneur, he is the founding adviser launching the Hub-Seattle, an innovative co-working space for change makers in both non-profit and business sectors. Tim earned a B.A. in Rhetorical Sciences from theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Masters of Divinity from The Seattle School. He lives in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle with his wife Maria-Jose Soerens and their son Lukas.

Paul Sparks

Paul is the Co-Founding Director and a Lead Consultant for the Parish Collective, a network of over 200 Churches and Faith Communities that are rooted in particular neighborhoods, and linked across the United States and Canada. As a recognized grassroots leader and organizer, he is a frequent speaker and consultant around themes of incarnational church planting and neighborhood placemaking. Paul is also the Co-Founder and President of Local Life Tacoma, a non-profit group which catalyzes identifiable human-scale neighborhoods through grassroots collaboration. He is an ordained pastor with over 22 years of ministry and community development experience. He has served on staff with a number of churches and community organizations including, most recently, as Project Director for the Northwest Leadership Foundation. Paul lives in an urban neighborhood at the heart of Downtown Tacoma, Washington with his co-conspiring wife Elizabeth. They curate a growing faith community comprised of friends, artists, and entrepreneurs seeking a common life together with their neighbors.