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…
Browsing: Taking Church to the Community
Articles
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,…
Episode 14: “Divergent Church” featuring Tim Shapiro and Kara Faris
Does your church have the “church plus” factor? Listen as Lewis Center Director Doug Powe speaks with Tim Shapiro and Kara Faris about their book Divergent Church. They examine innovative, alternative faith communities that combine religious practice with a “church plus” factor — a dedicated focus on some unique aspect of their church’s cultural DNA like gardening, table fellowship, artistic expression, and more.
9 Top Trends Impacting Church Leadership
Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe and Associate Director Ann A. Michel outline some of the major trends evident in their research and interactions with…
Moving Beyond Church in A Box
Pastor Carey Nieuwhof says congregations need to break free of the mentality that people need to come to church at a set time and place…
Episode 1: “The Possibilities of Fresh Expressions” featuring Ken Carter and Audrey Warren
What can church look like in your neighborhood? Listen as Lewis Center Associate Director Ann Michel speaks with Bishop Ken Carter and Reverend Audrey…
Networks and Third Places are Today’s Mission Field
Where is community discovered in our time? In their book Fresh Expressions, Ken Carter and Audrey Warren argue that people today are less likely to…
Staying Attuned to Your Community
Lovett H. Weems, Jr., writes that congregations all start not for themselves, but to serve other people. But with the passage of time, they tend…
The Good Neighbor Church
Sue Nilson Kibbey, who works with missional church initiatives in Ohio, shares the story of a church that engaged the mission field immediately around its…
6 Ways to Turn Your Church Inside-Out
To connect with people, you need to meet them where they are, says Ben Ingebretson, the director of new church development for the Dakotas and…
Blessing of the Bikes
Pastor Daniel Kerlin’s Pennsylvania congregation wanted to reach people who wouldn’t normally come to church. They came up with a novel idea — a motorcyclist worship…
Coffee Shop Conversations
Scott Chrostek, pastor of Resurrection Downtown, visited thirty-three coffee shops during his first month in Kansas City with a daily goal of having thirty-five conversations…
Easter Vigil Brings the Story of Salvation to a City in Need
The Easter Vigil service is all about remembering and reliving our story of salvation. Usually we do this within the confines of a sanctuary. But…
Putting Ourselves in the Places Where Life Happens
Keith Anderson says our churches must get outside of our buildings, both digitally and physically, and claim a broader understanding of where faith happens. I’m…
Taking Prayer to the Community
Several recent research efforts addressing the spiritual practices of those not connected to religious communities have found that prayer is a practice that those inside…
The Power of Laity in Connecting to the Community
For much of my ministry, I had a recurring fantasy each time I was moving to a new church as pastor. I would imagine myself…
What if Your Church Had No Building?
On the weekend of my first Easter as a church planter in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, I made the drive from my house to a local…
Taking Church to the Community
How can everyday places in your neighborhood become sanctuaries where people receive blessing? Increasingly, churches find they can extend their spiritual presence beyond their own…
Drive Thru Ashes
There are certain times of year when people — even those who rarely step foot inside a church — feel a spiritual longing for the…
50 Ways to Take Church to the Community
Churches can no longer open their doors and expect that people will come in. Effective congregations go into the world to encounter those in need…
Why Community Engagement Matters
This five-minute video by Lewis Center Director Lovett H. Weems, Jr., provides an overview of the importance of community engagement to the church. Download this…
Engaging your Mission Field
Perhaps there was a time when inspiring worship and great music brought people to church. Today, however, in an increasing number of places, the quality…
Lattes, Ashes, Prayer, and Conversation
Traditionally, the Ash Wednesday service in my church has been in the evening. People come for confession and repentance, carry the sign of the cross…
Add Off-Site Christmas Eve Services This Year
Rev. Mack Strange suggests conducting off-site Christmas Eve services at restaurants, nursing homes, prisons, and even bars to connect with the community. Many churches know…
Host Bridge Events to Reach New People
One of the disciplines of a disciple of Jesus Christ is to establish relationships with people we do not know — the unconnected — therefore…
The Go-To Church
The church can no longer fling open the doors and expect the crowds to rush in. We are no longer a “come here” organization as…
