For congregations · Bloom Swap
A swap in your parish hall. Two days. No committee.
There are fifty-five congregations, plus Bloom, in an informal network that calls itself the Progressive Pastors of the Pacific Northwest. Bloom Swap is offered to them first, starting in Portland and Salem, and to any congregation in Oregon or Washington that asks. Bloom brings the clothing, the racks and the playbook, and takes everything away after.
Why a congregation
A church clothing swap in Oregon asks for a hall and two days.
A swap is a concrete act of welcome that asks nothing of the guest. The hall it needs is one you already have.
Welcome is easy to say from a pulpit and harder to show on a Saturday. A swap shows it. People who need clothes that fit who they are walk into your hall, find racks sorted by size and style rather than by gender, take what they need and leave, and nobody asks them anything. For many trans and nonbinary people, a church building is not a place they expect to be welcomed. A swap says otherwise without a word.
The hall already exists. What it lacks for a swap is clothing, racks, sorting, laundering, a van and a plan, and those are Bloom’s. Bloom owns the inventory, sorts and launders it, delivers it the day before and removes it the day after. The load on your congregation is the two days the hall is in use, a contact who answers email, and dates agreed at least sixty days ahead.
No committee is needed. How your congregation decides to host is a matter for your own polity; what Bloom needs is one contact and a yes to the playbook.
On the day
What your people can do, and what they must not. Hands, not questions.
Members of a host congregation are welcome to help. The rules they keep are the rules every Bloom volunteer keeps.
Your people can
- Greet inside the entrance and hand out bags and the rack map.
- Help on a sort day before the swap, folding and sizing.
- Drive racks the day before and the day after, with a license.
- Re-hang what has been tried, and fetch or carry for anyone who asks.
- Give clothes of their own, sorted like everything else.
Your people must not
- Ask a guest why they came, who the clothes are for, or anything about their life.
- Photograph anyone, for any reason, including for the parish newsletter.
- Comment on a guest’s body or on what they choose.
Every volunteer, a host’s members included, agrees to the conduct rules before the day. The playbook has them in full, with the room plan and the sixty-day calendar.
What happens after you write
From your hall to the first swap.
Nothing is booked until you have talked with Bloom and said yes to the playbook.
You tell us about your hall
The host form asks about the room, your city and when you might host.
The Chancery replies
Within two business days, to set up a call.
A look at the room
Photos or a visit, so the room plan fits the hall you have.
Dates are set
Together, at least sixty days ahead of the swap weekend.
The kit arrives
At T-45: the banner, table tents, intake sheets and the accessibility card.
FAQ
Questions pastors and councils ask
Still asking? Write to swap@bloomministries.org and a person answers.
Do we have to be affirming in our statements to host?
No statement is required. A swap host agrees to the playbook’s conduct rules for the two days of the swap, and that is the whole test. What your congregation says the rest of the year is for your congregation to decide.
Does our council or vestry need to vote?
That depends on your own polity, and Bloom does not ask for a vote. Bloom asks for one contact who answers email and a yes to the playbook.
What does it cost us?
Nothing. Bloom supplies the clothing, racks, signage, kit and van, and nothing at a Bloom Swap has a fee, for guests or for hosts. What you give is the hall for two days.
Will our congregation be named?
Only as far as you agree. No host is named on this site without its consent, and the swap’s own listing, which guests need to find you, is agreed with you first.
Can our members give clothes?
Yes. They can bring clothes to the swap itself or follow the give clothes page. Everything given is sorted and laundered before it reaches a rack.
For congregations
Tell us about your hall.
One form, a reply within two business days, and a call before anything is set. Nothing is booked until you have said yes to the playbook.
If your congregation needs support rather than a project Bloom’s pastoral care is free