Top Ten Marks of a Missional Congregation
Posted: September 28, 2015By David E. Sprang 1) Always Listening – to God, each other and the community. Creates space and hospitality for others to tell their story 2) Mentors and Trains Leaders […]
Read more →A Grand Rapids church chooses people over historic space
Posted: August 30, 2015Eight years ago, a Grand Rapids congregation left its stately but deteriorating church for a plain, empty building in a tough part of town. Today, the risk has paid off […]
Read more →What It Takes to Revitalize the Mainline
Posted: July 26, 2015By Bishop Bruce Ough and Rev. Susan Nienaber It is possible to revitalize our mainline congregations and denominational structures. And it is happening all around us, in spite of the […]
Read more →Community Organizing
Posted: July 14, 2015Community organizing has become one of the chief skills that pastors and church leaders need for current and future outreach in communities. It is a way of connecting with the […]
Read more →Stop Doing Ministry to Young People
Posted: June 3, 2015By Tom Schmidt I don’t like having things done to me. Like my dentist who wants to drill into my teeth with the most annoying sounding drill ever created. […]
Read more →Faith Practices and Stewardship
Posted: May 26, 2015Great article reproductions from The Lutheran. The format for print out is a bit odd – but it works! View and download the booklet
Read more →Want millennials back in the pews? Stop trying to make church ‘cool.’
Posted: May 10, 2015By Rachel Held Evans Bass reverberates through the auditorium floor as a heavily bearded worship leader pauses to invite the congregation, bathed in the light of two giant screens, to […]
Read more →Seven Reasons Some Church Members Don’t Want Their Churches to Grow
Posted: May 2, 2015By Thom Rainer It is highly unusual to hear church members say that they don’t desire their churches to be obedient to the Great Commission. Indeed, it is common […]
Read more →Shut up and learn
Posted: March 22, 2015By Carol Howard Merritt At a meeting of ecumenical leaders working on church planting and evangelism, I noticed that the room collectively leaned in and listened carefully whenever the […]
Read more →Reflections on My First Year
Posted: March 11, 2015By Pastor David Sprang As I write this essay, I am reflecting on my first year as Assistant to the Bishop and Director of Evangelical Mission for the North/West Lower […]
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