2023 Pentecost Offering

May 21 @ 8:00 am May 28 @ 5:00 pm EDT

We are a Movement for Wholeness in a Fragmented World

In the beginning, every church was new.

It’s right there in the Book of Acts. Early disciples came together, sharing all things in common, breaking bread with glad and generous hearts. God was doing a new thing:  creating a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.

In the beginning, Jesus sent out disciples, two by two, not to “plant” churches, but to proclaim good news, to experience the hospitality and wisdom of neighbors all around.

At New Church Ministry, we believe God is calling the whole Church back to becoming new… back to becoming who we are: a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.


Your gifts to the 2023 Pentecost Offering, received this year in most congregations on Sundays, May 21 and May 28, help ensure our movement continues to embody the Disciples of Christ vision: to be and to share the Good News, witnessing, loving and serving from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth.

Half of your gift supports the local new church movement through your region’s ministry. The other half supports New Church Ministry efforts across the United States and Canada to train, equip, assist, and multiply new leaders and their communities of faith. 

So, thank you. For participating in the new thing God is still doing — just as in the beginning.

Special days in the life of the church often allow us to focus our worship, celebrations and fellowship around moments that are central to our faith.

Disciples Mission Fund (DMF) Special Day Offerings provide an opportunity to highlight specific ministries as part of our faith celebrations. Congregations can receive these offerings during worship or budget for a special gift, and individuals can always designate their gift to DMF for any of these offerings.

Asian Heritage Month: Of memory, belonging, and personhood 

This past weekend, my parents visited me for Mother’s Day. I live in Toronto’s Little Portugal neighborhood, and while we were exploring its local restaurants and shops, we came across a mural depicting Portuguese “cleaning ladies” and their Cleaners’ Action movement from the 1970s-80s. Now what does this have to do with Asian Heritage Month (also known as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the U.S.)?

Continue reading “Asian Heritage Month: Of memory, belonging, and personhood “

Aging Florida Congregation Reignites with Merger

When Pastor Drake Cromer-Moore became pastor of First Christian Church of Gainesville, FL in 2021, he faced a daunting challenge.

The church, founded in 1921, was down to eight active members – average age 75 – trying to support a costly campus in Gainesville. Still, Pastor Drake knew that God was not quite finished with the congregation. He hired musicians to replace the canned YouTube music on offer during worship, and membership increased to 30 people. And yet this was not substantial enough to save the church.

Continue reading “Aging Florida Congregation Reignites with Merger”

Veteran New Church Leader Named Minister for New Church Strategies

INDIANAPOLIS — A veteran leader of new church efforts will assume the full-time leadership role for New Church Ministry after serving a year in a transitional role, according to an announcement by Disciples Church Extension Fund (DCEF). DCEF oversees New Church Ministry (NCM) on behalf of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Continue reading “Veteran New Church Leader Named Minister for New Church Strategies”