Early this year, Andru Morgan floated the idea of working on a podcast together to me, and we started brainstorming and scheduling our first guest. Then Covid came, and I naively thought, “let’s postpone a week.” Several months later and we made it happen with an awesome list of guests for our first episodes!
I met Andru because he helped us make a promotional video for Rocky Butte Coffee Roasters, and we got closer talking about the neighborhood. When his family moved to Portland, he was working on his business Seeing God’s Beauty Media and then connected with Leroy Barber (who went on to start Grinds and Vines in Gateway). That relationship led to Andru and his wife Regina pastoring Parkrose United Methodist Church in Parkrose Heights, and they have already connected with a lot of community members relationally. Regina operates the Naturally Beautiful Project from a renovated room in the church space, offering free African American natural hair care through teaching and experiencing braiding and natural hair styling.
Andru shares what it’s been like relating to people as an African American in a predominately white congregation and neighborhood. His experiences as a homeless youth and serving homeless people give him a unique perspective in our community and have helped him to recognize the real needs and provide creative solutions. We end the show by discussing how we’re better together than isolating ourselves in our default groups.
You can listen to the Parkrose Life podcast on Apple, Spotify, many other podcast places, or right here by pressing the play button below!
Excellent first episode! Production is great. Love the music between breaks. Love the transparency and great interview questions. Looking forward to the next one!