Community and Place

Gathering Places for Solid Rock Sunset: 

 Branches Church: We use Branches’ warehouse space in a business park for our weekly gatherings and a couple more times a month, for prayer meetings, classes and trainings. There is a lease agreement between the two churches. We have to do set-up and tear-down of all of our gear every Sunday.

Above: Weekly Sunday Gathering at Branches

Above: Summer time dinner after a Sunday Gathering at Branches

An Apartment in West Beaverton: My friend’s apartment is where we meet biweekly in a group called a Missional Community. There are several of these groups throughout the church. Their purpose is to encourage and support each other as we reach out to those around us.

Hillsboro Stadium: All three Solid Rock Campuses come together for an all church gathering each summer at the stadium. In the afternoon there are kids games and a barbeque, then there’s a worship service and a concert.

Above: People from all three Solid Rock Campuses at our annual picnic aka ONE

Above: Kid’s games during the BBQ at Hillsboro Stadium


Imbrie Hall McMenamins: This restaurant is less than half a mile from Branches, so every week there is at least a small group that heads over for dinner or drinks after the gathering. Many of the Sunday evening servers now know my friends and I.

Above: Gathering of our Missional Community at Imbrie Hall

Above: Front Entrance to the restraint (Courtesy of McMenamins)

 Place in the traditional sense of the word does not appear to be of much consequence to the community of Solid Rock Sunset. The roots of the church are that it started by meeting in a middle school, moved into converted warehouse space, started a new campus that meets in another church in the heart of Portland, then partnered with another church to use their space for the Sunset campus to meet in. The campuses that I have been a part of both gather at different churches. Despite the fact that it feels like home while we’re there, there is a distinct knowledge that we only occupy that space temporarily. If someone were to come by on a Tuesday or a Friday, it wouldn’t quite feel like Solid Rock.

 Because of this we can really relate to the Chinese merchants who take up residence on Toronto’s street corners. They set up and tear down with each day much like we do for each gathering. We do our best to make the place look like we were never there because we know that as temporary users, it is our job to maintain the facility for its principal users.