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We will All Become Pilgrims: 2022 Newsletter Summary


December 19th, 2022

By Paul Engler Whenever I write my newsletter, I am afraid a subtle or not-so-subtle repetition will be noticed—I fear I write the same thing over and over again! Generally the theme has something to do with change, uncertainty, and … Continue reading



Liminality is a Recipe for Navigating Winter: Becoming a Pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago


December 19th, 2022

Whether you’re in a midlife, quarter life, or general life crisis, the proverbial crap hits the wall. You break up with your girlfriend, your community starts falling apart, your movement dies, your organization goes bankrupt, you lose the political campaign. … Continue reading



2022 House Journal


December 19th, 2022

I’m happy to report that our community has stabilized at the Center for the Working Poor house. We haven’t had one person leave in the past year! A welcome contrast to 2021, when we had so many people come and … Continue reading



2021 CWP Newsletter Summary


December 15th, 2021

There is a big debate among economists about a curious phenomenon unfolding right now called “The Great Resignation”. We have an immense labor shortage because people are not returning to work as the experts expected (common after a recession). There … Continue reading



2021 Center Update: Ring the Bell of Hope… Again, and Again


December 15th, 2021

This fall, in one of my first trips to visit my coworkers from the Ayni Institute in Boston, I stopped by New York City to visit one of my closest friends, Eric Stoner. And I was sitting on his couch, … Continue reading



2021 House Journal


December 15th, 2021

The Center for the Working Poor was founded in 2006, but we didn’t move into our large Victorian house until 2007. Therefore, we have been in the house for 14 years now; and throughout this time, only Paul Engler has … Continue reading



The Story of Community Counseling


December 15th, 2021

Over the last year, we have started beta groups for a new model of mutual aid counseling, called Community Counseling that has engaged dozens in weekly small group counseling practice and training. In November, I went to Boston to lead … Continue reading



2020 Center Update: Surrender and Become Attentive


December 17th, 2020

“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die …” — Ecclesiastes 3:1 “Surrender to what is dying, and become attentive to what is emerging.”  — … Continue reading



Monasticism, Indigenous Cultures, Burning Man, and/or Kingdom of God?: My trip to Taize.


December 27th, 2019

After being invited to Barcelona, Spain this fall for a chaotic tour of book talks, TV appearances, and radio interviews, I needed a place to recover from all the activity. And one of the greatest realizations of my life has … Continue reading



Are We Cells in a Mystical Body? Center Update 2018


December 24th, 2018

As many of you know, I am a social justice geek. I compulsively read and think about social movements, and have been doing this for a long time, and am now considered a specialist in the field commonly referred to … Continue reading



CENTER UPDATE 2017


January 18th, 2018

The election of Trump was like somebody threw a political bomb into the middle of a crowded room. For undocumented people, it meant fear of losing DACA and being deported. For labor unions and the working poor, it meant losing … Continue reading



CENTER UPDATE 2016: STILL OTHER SEEDS FELL ON GOOD SOIL


January 9th, 2017

Many have asked how I am feeling after Trump was elected to President of the US. The largest natural disaster in my lifetime just hit my community. It reminds me of both the day after my father died in my … Continue reading



Plan For the Revolution, But Keep Everyone Washing the Dishes: A New Year’s Update


December 31st, 2014

Dear Friends, I started the Center for the Working Poor in 2006. I donated all my money and my car, and slept on the floor of my shared, cramped apartment with our first full time volunteer, Clayton Perry. We ate … Continue reading



Christmas Update From Paul Engler & The Center


December 17th, 2012

The Center for the Working Poor, (aka the Burning Bush Community), continues to share in the wonderful mix of serving the poor, communal living, prayer and meditation, and nonviolent movement organizing that distinguishes our beautiful home. In addition to delivering … Continue reading



A Moment of Hope for a New Movement: Update from the Center for the Working Poor


December 15th, 2011

By Paul Engler Every once in a while, a rare and special moment comes when you realize that you are doing more than turning out for just another protest. Instead, you realize that you are in the middle of true … Continue reading



The First Letter from a Spiritual Director: Ears to Hear. By Paul Engler


December 17th, 2010

I have been providing some spiritual direction in the Christian Contemplative Tradition to a few people from my church. One of my directees really wanted me to write some of my lessons to him in a letter. He thought it … Continue reading



Paul Engler Update: The Story Which Needs To Be Told


December 23rd, 2009

I apologize for the long wait for an update about myself and the Center for the Working Poor, the Burning Bush community. We have been very busy. This year we are serving more families than ever due to the economy, … Continue reading



A Vision of Nonviolent Resistance


December 13th, 2008

One morning this past summer I was seated on the back porch of our house, meeting with the nonviolent discussion group for the Center for the Working Poor, when I was seized by a vision of nonviolent resistance that resonated … Continue reading



The Fast for Our Future and the Future of Our Center


December 13th, 2008

I know it has been a full year since you last received a copy of The Burning Bush, and many of our readers may have been wondering just what we at the Center for the Working Poor have been doing. … Continue reading



Climate Change and the Crisis for the Poor: Why I am Going to Jail


September 23rd, 2008

In a few days, Sam Pullen and I will be going to jail in Washington DC. We are participating in a civil disobedience designed to pressure the government to change from coal to renewable energy. But when I mention to supporters … Continue reading



Dumpster Diving Interview with Paul Engler


March 20th, 2008

This is a updated video short with a commentary by Paul Engler, founder of Center for the Working Poor. We dubbed his radio interview with 89.3 KPCC FM into the footage that Faith/Activism Collective took at our recent dumpster dive. … Continue reading



Living Large at the Center for the Working Poor (aka the Burning Bush Community)


December 6th, 2007

Summary: I am still living in an intentional community called the Center for the Working Poor, or the Burning Bush community. Over a year ago, when I said that I was starting a community and a “non-profit organization”–and then started … Continue reading



Trent’s Burning Bush Article


November 27th, 2007

11/19/07 I was walking down the street the other day here in Los Angeles, and I saw a billboard that stopped me in my tracks. On the bottom was the familiar image of a half-naked couple in an embrace. Above … Continue reading



Clayton Update


September 5th, 2007

Hi everyone, On the advice of a great friend I’ve decided to start sending out email updates about my life. If you’ve received this email it means that I like you and that I want to get these updates. Congratulations! … Continue reading



Looking For Flowers In The Dumpster


May 17th, 2007

I am still running the Center for the Working Poor (aka the Burning Bush Community), delivering food to families of the working poor, writing and speaking about issues of poverty, and supporting local living wage and immigrant rights campaigns. In the last seven months, there have been some big changes at “the Center.” Then again, the whole journey thus far has been a whirlwind. Continue reading



Starting The Center for the Working Poor: Don’t Mess With God’s Crazy Plan


November 22nd, 2006

By Paul Engler The Summary I still run the Center for the Working Poor, delivering food to impoverished workers, writing, speaking at churches, and supporting living wage boycotts. While doing this, the House of Representatives passed a law designed to … Continue reading



The Birth of The Burning Bush: The Center for the Working Poor


May 12th, 2006

BY PAUL ENGLER Our project is called The Burning Bush: Center for the Working Poor, and has a fancy new website which can be reached at: centerfortheworkingpoor.org. We take our biblical name from the unexpected signal God gave Moses to … Continue reading



The Catholic Worker Movement


March 29th, 2006

This essay was written by Jim Forest on the Catholic Worker Movement for The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History to be published by the Liturgical Press. Jim Forest, once a managing editor of The Catholic Worker, is the author of … Continue reading



Wal-Mart, Largest Employer of the Working poor, is losing Public Support


March 29th, 2006

Wal-Mart has been closely watched by many corporate leaders that see it as a model for the new Economy: rapid growth, poverty wages, few health benefits, no unions, race and gender discrimination, and the destruction of small family businesses. In … Continue reading







We will All Become Pilgrims: 2022 Newsletter Summary

December 19th, 2022

By Paul Engler Whenever I write my newsletter, I am afraid a subtle or not-so-subtle repetition will be noticed—I fear I write the same thing over and over again! Generally the theme has something to do with change, uncertainty, and … Continue reading

Liminality is a Recipe for Navigating Winter: Becoming a Pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago

December 19th, 2022

Whether you’re in a midlife, quarter life, or general life crisis, the proverbial crap hits the wall. You break up with your girlfriend, your community starts falling apart, your movement dies, your organization goes bankrupt, you lose the political campaign. … Continue reading

2022 House Journal

December 19th, 2022

I’m happy to report that our community has stabilized at the Center for the Working Poor house. We haven’t had one person leave in the past year! A welcome contrast to 2021, when we had so many people come and … Continue reading

2021 CWP Newsletter Summary

December 15th, 2021

There is a big debate among economists about a curious phenomenon unfolding right now called “The Great Resignation”. We have an immense labor shortage because people are not returning to work as the experts expected (common after a recession). There … Continue reading

2021 Center Update: Ring the Bell of Hope… Again, and Again

December 15th, 2021

This fall, in one of my first trips to visit my coworkers from the Ayni Institute in Boston, I stopped by New York City to visit one of my closest friends, Eric Stoner. And I was sitting on his couch, … Continue reading

2021 House Journal

December 15th, 2021

The Center for the Working Poor was founded in 2006, but we didn’t move into our large Victorian house until 2007. Therefore, we have been in the house for 14 years now; and throughout this time, only Paul Engler has … Continue reading

The Story of Community Counseling

December 15th, 2021

Over the last year, we have started beta groups for a new model of mutual aid counseling, called Community Counseling that has engaged dozens in weekly small group counseling practice and training. In November, I went to Boston to lead … Continue reading

2020 Center Update: Surrender and Become Attentive

December 17th, 2020

“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die …” — Ecclesiastes 3:1 “Surrender to what is dying, and become attentive to what is emerging.”  — … Continue reading