Rev. Amie Vanderford has experienced trauma.
She knows what it’s like to distrust others; how damaging isolation can be to recovery. That’s why she and her husband, Thaddeus Shelton, launched The LabOratory Church. This new Indianapolis church offers safe space for those with mental illness to worship, cultivate strong connections and seek healing.
Continue reading “The LabOratory Church provides a safe space for health, healing, and hope in Indianapolis”
In 2001 the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada embraced a bold vision: to start 1,000 new churches in 1,000 different ways by the year 2020. And we did it! We started 1,000 new churches… and counting!
Today, we have welcomed more than 1,034 new faith communities into the Church. The Table around which we gather has grown in language, diversity, and life experience. Our church has been transformed by the movement of the Holy Spirit and an audacious vision to start new churches.
Courageous leaders have answered the call to grow the Disciples family through the new church movement. They have given their hearts to reaching the underserved, welcoming new neighbors, and creating communities of love. And we, as a church, have committed to supporting those who have stepped out in faith to start new churches.
We celebrate these brave leaders and recommit to continuing to support their call. Because, together, we started 1,000 new churches… and counting!
Participate in the 2020 Pentecost Offering. Express your gratitude for what God has done and contribute to the continued work of starting more churches. Each year, half of what you give stays in your Region or Area to support and sustain new churches near you. The second half helps train, equip, assist, and nurture leaders across the U.S. and Canada through New Church Ministry programs. Your gift to this Special Day Offering will help the movement continue.
Faith leaders have their hands full trying to figure out new ways of being church together in this season of social distancing. Congregations may also be looking for safe, innovative ways to respond to unprecedented needs in the community.
This episode of New Church Hacks offers suggestions for how places of worship can foster a feeling of community and care for their neighbors when they literally can’t be close to them. Many of these ideas for reaching out beyond the congregation may help the church care for its own members more effectively as well. The discussion will help participants:
Heidi Unruh (Coauthor of Churches That Make a Difference; Hope for Children in Poverty; and The Salt & Light Guidebook), Joy Skjegstad (Author of Seven Creative Models for Community Ministry, Starting a Nonprofit at Your Church, and Winning Grants to Strengthen Your Ministry) and Katy E. Valentine (Coach at katyvalentine.com and founder of Creative Christian Spirituality, LLC).
In a New Church Hacks first, our guests, host, AND Associate Minister Jose got together and continued the conversation in an after-show.
Hosted by Terrell L. McTyer, Minister of New Church Strategies, New Church Hacks provides practical (and sometimes peculiar) prompts for churches from start to restart. This webinar series is jam-packed with clever solutions to tricky problems and empowers courageous leaders with the tools, tips and how-tos to start, sustain and strengthen congregations. Stay social with us using #NewChurchHacks!
Every episode is archived and available for viewing on the Webinar page.
The religious landscape of North America is changing rapidly, with church membership and attendance on an accelerated decline. According to the Pew Research Center, the number of adults in the United States who self-identify as Christian has fallen by more than 10% during the last decade, and in Canada, that trend has followed the same downward trajectory. With statistics like those, it’s easy to feel discouraged.
But is it hopeless? Let’s look at the numbers.
During the same ten-year time period, hundreds of Disciples have launched churches become affiliated with our denomination. 519 new church leaders attended Leadership Academy, where they received cutting-edge training on how to start and sustain young faith communities. More than 300 church planters were nurtured by 56 skilled coaches, as they walked together through the early years of their new church. These bold church leaders refused to let national trends stand in the way of sharing the Good News in their communities, and are inspiring hope across the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
You can join these new church planters in their faith (and action!) by making a gift to the New Church Ministry Annual Fund today. Your contribution will ensure that more leaders will receive the innovative training and expert coaching they need to start and sustain the next decade of new Disciples congregations. New Church Ministry is developing new programs and resources every day, like New Church Hacks, a webinar series that helps pastors solve their new church problems with tools, tips and how-tos.
To help start the next generation of new churches and bring even more believers into the Disciples family, make a secure donation online by clicking here.
Thank you for your faithful support of our courageous new church leaders.
P.S. Did you know that we surpassed our goal to start 1,000 Disciples churches in the first two decades of the 21stCentury? We did! And there’s still more to do…
During the month of October, we have an opportunity to honor the ones we so often take for granted.
The ones that we desperately seek out for advice before making a major decision; the ones we long to see in times of sorrow, bereavement or illness; the ones who encourage us and/or correct us with a heart of love and concern; the ones who celebrate our achievements – no matter the magnitude; the ones who cast a vision and work diligently to bring it to fruition; the ones who teach us God’s Word not only through preaching behind a pulpit on Sundays, but also through their lives lived before us Monday through Friday; the ones who bombard Heaven for mercy, grace and blessings to be added to our heavenly accounts.
Pastors, we honor you! From our General Minister and President Terri Hord Owens, to our thirty-two Regional Ministers, to each and every Commissioned and Ordained pastor – THANK YOU!! For your tireless sacrifice to walk with us through all kinds of trials and tribulations at a time that is RARELY, IF EVER convenient for you – THANK YOU!! For being an instrument used for peace and reconciliation in a time of such turmoil and angst – THANK YOU!! We value and appreciate you for giving of yourselves so that Colossians 1:9-10 may be evident:
“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
Happy Pastor’s Appreciation Month!! Know that Your Labor is Not in Vain! God’s Choicest Blessings Upon You!
– Rev. Dr. Joi Robinson, Minister of New Church Ministry Coaching
Rev. Dr. Joi Robinson oversees our Coaching program. In this capacity, she recruits and trains coaches that reflect the demand of New Church Ministry and the diversity of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to walk alongside New Church pastors and leaders as they move through the various stages of the new church process. To help them remain on track and accountable for the goals they have set for themselves and their new church plant, Robinson matches New Church pastors and leaders with experienced coaches who – through prayer, encouragement, active listening and strategic questioning – provide support to New Church pastors and leaders as they encounter the various aspects of church planting.
