Blessing of the Animals as Community Outreach
How can a Blessing of the Animals reach new people in your community? Jessica Anschutz shares tips to engage pet owners and community partners as…
Browsing: Taking Church to the Community
Articles
10 Tips for Building Genuine Connections with Your Neighbors
Kay Kotan says we can no longer wait for people to come to church. The church must go out into the community and meet its…
Helping People Connect with God through Nature
The natural world is our first way of knowing God, says Beth Norcross, an expert in spirituality and nature. Finding God in nature can reconnect…
Rebuilding Communities with Hope: An In-depth Interview with Glorymar Rivera Báez
How can churches partner with other organizations to effectively and comprehensively meet the needs of their community? Jessica Anschutz of the Lewis Center staff speaks…
“Rebuilding Communities with Hope” featuring Glorymar Rivera Báez
Podcast Episode 120 How can churches partner with other organizations to effectively and comprehensively meet the needs of their community? We speak with Glorymar Rivera…
A Way Out of No Way: An In-Depth Interview with Kimberly Daniel
How can Christian innovation address the needs of people who are under-resourced and undervalued? Jessica Anschutz of the Lewis Center staff interviews Kimberly Daniel about…
“A Way Out of No Way” featuring Kimberly Daniel
Podcast Episode 113 How can Christian innovation address the needs of people who are under-resourced and undervalued? Kimberly Daniel shares how Christian innovation can begin…
Moving Beyond a Congregational Identity Crisis
Asking “Who are we?” helps congregations gain clarity in the midst of an identity crisis. Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe Jr. offers three priorities…
Evangelism Insights from The Methodist Church in Britain: An In-Depth Interview with Trey Hall
What can we learn about congregational revitalization, Fresh Expressions, and evangelism from the Methodist Church in Britain? Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe Jr. interviews…
“Evangelism Insights From The Methodist Church in Britain” featuring Trey Hall
What can we learn about congregational revitalization, Fresh Expressions, and evangelism from the Methodist Church in Britain? Trey Hall shares insights on these subjects drawing from his experience in the United States and Great Britain.
Doing Planning Differently
What if you focused on making already-planned ministry events better rather than creating new events? Olu Brown offers three planning strategies for Doing Church Differently™…
Church on the Move
How can your church reorient its posture toward its neighbors and neighborhood? Ann Michel of the Lewis Center Staff interviews Minnesota pastor Travis Norvell on…
“Church on the Move” featuring Travis Norvell
How can your church reorient its posture toward its neighbors and neighborhood? Minnesota Pastor Travis Norvell decided to conduct his ministry by bike, on foot, and on public transportation. He shares how this revealed new people, new partners, and new possibilities for ministry.
Lessons from the Fresh Expressions Movement: In-depth Interview with Luke Edwards
What can we learn from the Fresh Expression movement’s novel approach to forming new faith communities? Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff interviews Luke…
“Lessons from the Fresh Expressions Movement” featuring Luke Edwards
What can we learn from the Fresh Expression movement’s novel approach to reaching people unlikely to attend church on Sunday mornings? Luke Edwards discusses a process of listen, building relationships, and forming community that can lead to deepening discipleship and the formation of new, nontraditional worshipping communities.
Youth Ministry by Any Other Name
Kenda Creasy Dean writes that today ministry with young people often means finding young people where they live and work and embedding the church beside…
Listening to Your Community
It’s easy to lose sight of the ways God is alive and at work in our communities without intentional efforts to know and understand our…
Creatively Engaging Your Community While Remaining True to Who You Are
Vital churches find new and creative ways to engage their neighbors. But that doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning the best of what your church has always…
Making Your Ministry Present in Its Physical Space
Does your church building express your congregation’s values and invite others to explore what you do? Does it communicate the gospel? Travis Norvell explains how…
Building Vibrant Community Connections in Digital and Physical Spaces
How can your congregation connect with new people in both physical and digital spaces? Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe Jr. interviews Jordana Wright on…
“Building Vibrant Community Connections in Digital and Physical Spaces” featuring Jordana Wright
How can your congregation connect with new people in both physical and digital spaces? Jordana Wright shares creative strategies for transforming congregations into vibrant community hubs.
How a Creative, Justice-Oriented Stations of the Cross Called a Community to Action
Jessica L. Anschutz of the Lewis Center staff reports on one congregation’s unique approach to sharing the Stations of the Cross and the Stations of…
How One-to-One Conversations Reintroduced a Church to its Neighbors
Travis Norvell, pastor of Judson Church in Minneapolis, describes the blessing and insight that flowed from his decision to schedule 110 one-on-one conversations with neighbors…
10 Tips for Hosting A Live Nativity
A live Nativity can be an engaging, heart-warming event not only for church members but for the entire community as well. One Houston-area church has…
9 Strategies for Meeting People and Learning Their Needs
Elizabeth Mae Magill sought to create a food ministry that wasn’t a charity but a demonstration of Christ’s radical welcome. She did months of street…
Episode 73: “Discovering God in Nature” featuring Beth Norcross
Why do we feel comforted, healed, and enlivened in nature? Beth Norcross explains it is because God is so present there. In this episode we discuss how nature is our first way of knowing God and how individuals and churches can connect with this deep wellspring of spiritual meaning.
Becoming a Church Without Walls
Andrew Ponder Williams says that these trying times provide an opportunity to advance a new way of being church. He offers ideas on how digital…
Episode 53: “Developing Effective Leaders” featuring Bishop Yehiel Curry
How can we more effectively develop leaders? In this episode, Bishop Yehiel Curry of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, offers his insights on leadership development.
Worship Under the Bridge
Bishop Robert Schnase tells the story of a Texas congregation sharing worship with its homeless neighbors in relational and empowering ways. This powerful example of…
The Bright Promise of Alternative Faith Communities
A new type of congregation is emerging that combines religious practice with a distinctive element of local culture or community identity, such as artistic expression,…
