The Restoration Project

08/30/2026

"Get behind me, Satan."

We'll talk about it.

11:15am. 1401 Camden Ave. Mackey Room.

08/25/2026

Hey TRP. Here is the info on the march we mentioned in service.

Pastor Chelsea & members of Asbury will be at this community event as we say ICE out of Salisbury! We hope to see you there.

08/23/2026

"Who do people say I am?"

"Who do you say I am?"

We'll be taking our cues from the Gospel according to Matthew this morning to ask some big questions about Jesus.

Join us. 11:15am. 1401 Camden Ave. Mackey Room.

08/15/2026

If you thought Jesus was a little "spicy" last week, well, just you wait ...

Woman with a sick kid: "Lord, have mercy on me, my kid is really sick."

Jesus: ...

Woman with a sick kid: "Lord, help me!"

Jesus: "It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs."

Yikes.

Let's talk about it.

Sunday. 11:15am. Mackey Room.

(Artwork:

“Christ and the Canaanite Woman”, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn’s, c. 1650

“Blessed Are The Meek” (The Syrophoenecian), Elspeth C. Young, 2017

"Christ Heals the Daughter of the Canaanite Woman", 14th century fresco)

08/11/2026

Sometimes the miracle is the miracle, and sometimes we can be the miracle.

08/07/2026

Welp. I can't fight it. I know we've been in Genesis most of the summer, and that's great ... but we'll be back in the Gospel of Matthew this week. Jesus is walking on water, which, I mean, is just too good to pass up. Right?! I think it's definitely worth a conversation.

Mackey Room (because it's blazing hot). 1401 Camden Ave. 11:15am.

08/02/2026

Hey folks! It's the first Sunday of the month, and it's as humid as ever. We'll be in the Mackey Room for our family service. 11:15am.

Because Genesis is weird, we'll be talking about Jesus feeding the (in the words of Matthew Skinner, "many more than") 5000. You know, because that's not weird.

Join us!

If you're new (or on the fence), here's what to expect: you will walk into a small community of people, many of whom have been going to TRP for a while. I hope they say hi and make you feel welcomed and safe. Crossing the threshold of a church can be difficult. We know that, and we hope to honor your trust in us.

We talk a good bit during the service, whether we are sharing our life experiences in a time we call "heavy and light" or asking questions during a sermon conversation. It feels more like a Bible study than a sermon. It can be a bit of a nerdfest. (I'm convinced, you'll hear more about Greek and Hebrew here than most places. Today is no different.)

We sing songs that other churches sing, but we don't plug in our instruments. We have no smoke machine and cool lights. It's simple, and we hope, authentic.

We hold space each week for silent contemplative meditation. For some of us, it's the only few minutes of intentional "silence" we have.

We also share communion each week. This meal is a millennia old Christian ritual that we believe helps us to remember who Jesus was, what he did, and how we might be more like him. Everyone is welcome to partake.

TRP isn't for everyone. We know that. We don't try to compete with the well-programmed church. (We can't.) And some folks need that, so we say, go! Sit. Soak. And then serve.

But for others ... we are here. And maybe, we are what you need. (We hope.)

07/26/2026

If ever there was a day to be outside, it's today! So we'll be out in front of Asbury for our normal Sunday service at 11:15.

We'll be continuing our series on Genesis, and today, we are talking about Jacob's Ladder.

(I'll tell you, this series is super weird. It really pushes against a "go and do likewise" sort of approach to Scripture.)

Art: Jacob's Ladder, School of Avignon

07/18/2026

I used to watch a show called, “Parenthood.” (It’s so good. 5/5.) Beyond the writing and the character development and the drama, I was often taken by the size of the family. In the show’s opening, there was a shot of a well lit, outdoor table, where the whole family—parents, kids, their partners and their kids—would sit down for a meal in the beauty of a southern California night sky as Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young” played in the background.

I wanted that.

Kate and I watched the show pre-kids. You know, when you made big claims about all sorts of things that you “would do” or “not do.” (I remember making a lot of statements about travel sports back then. Haha. Whoops.) We talked a lot about having “at least” 4 kids, I think partly, with the goal of one day being old and sitting at a big table flanked by all of our kids and grandkids.

I think mostly of my (not quite 6 person) family when I hear “Crowded Table” by The Highwomen. I want to have the type of relationship with Kate and the kids that allows for a crowded table. It’s a laudable goal, I think.

At other times, I pick up on the Jesus-y/church-y undertones in the song.

In the church, we talk a lot about God’s table, and how there has been a chair pulled out for us. Together, we make an unlikely dinner table, but as the song says, “everyone belongs.”

In my mind, when this meal is being served, we are definitely outside, definitely in Southern California, definitely surrounded by tasteful lights and good beverages, and definitely deeply content.

-Josh

07/16/2026

We will be BACK TO BUSINESS AS USUAL this Sunday in the Mackey Room (because it's going to be hot).

We've missed a few weeks in our Genesis series, so I will be going back in (lectionary) time to talk about Isaac and Rebekah.

Genesis 24 is a good old fashioned, Netflix-style love story where your dad sends the head of his household a few hundred miles away to his homeland to find a wife for his son ... hopefully a cousin or something. I won't spoil it for you.

11:15am. 1401 Camden Ave.