2024 Pentecost Offering Instagram Post
Nadine Compton Pentecost Offering

Restore and Rewind

When it comes to church, we have a lot of negative tapes playing in our heads:

“Church is judgmental.”
“Church is hypocritical.”
“They think they’re better than everyone else.”

It’s time for restoration. Time to rewind the tape.

New Church Ministry is dedicated to fostering faithful communities marked by deep Christian spirituality and a passion for God’s love and justice.

Like our ancestors, we’re going back to the beginning, when new Christian communities gathered together and shared all they had, organizing everything around the Spirit’s dreams for their lives and their communities.

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, God is singing a new song: not a song of judgment, but of welcome and forgiveness; not a song of superiority, but of humility and grace; not a song of hoarding, but of sharing everything we have!

God’s movement for wholeness is already underway. Our job is to listen, and learn, and follow – supporting leaders and communities as the Spirit calls them into being, laying down a new song for a new generation.

Church as a place of generosity and justice. Church as a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.

Your gifts to the 2024 Pentecost Offering, received in most congregations on Sunday, May 12, and Sunday, May 19, are divided equally between your regional ministry, which supports local new churches, and New Church Ministry, which trains, equips, and assists emerging leaders to be “movement initiators.”

Please give generously to the Pentecost Offering.

Resources

Printable Resources

Graphics

Stories to share

Video resources

Song

  • One Heart chart (PDF)
  • One Heart sheet music (PDF)
  • One Heart instrumental (MP3)
  • One Heart mix (MP3)
  • One Heart lyric video (streaming)
  • Music Disclaimer: The song One Heart, One Mind in all its material forms is being provided to you free of charge through the end of 2024. If you utilize these resources beyond 2024, additional permission and compensation may be needed. Connect with the creators Wesley King (wesleykingmusic@gmail.com) and Andra Moran (andra@andramoran.com) to seek out these approvals. After 2024, Disciples Church Extension Fund is not to be held liable for usage of materials freely provided to the public.
Nadine Compton Pentecost Offering

You never know what’s going to happen with Kesh ‘Oved Faith Ministries

What makes a new church unique? How can Disciples do church the new way?

The answers are as diverse as the congregations in formation across the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada.

But one thing is common: launching a new place of worship is difficult. It’s especially difficult in the middle of a global health crisis, when gathering in an intimate space with fellow congregants is made next to impossible. So why would someone take this leap of faith?

Continue reading “You never know what’s going to happen with Kesh ‘Oved Faith Ministries” →
Nadine Compton Pentecost Offering, Stories

Doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly together in Des Moines

The New Church Ministry team met Rev. Debbie Griffin, the Senior Minister of Downtown Disciples, last summer at General Assembly (GA). Since the pastor’s congregation is based in Des Moines, IA, it offered worship services, hosted pre-assembly activities for general ministries, prepared a meal for regional ministers, and chaired the local GA mission committee.

All of that as a new church planted in 2015.

To celebrate the culmination of the 2020 Vision goal to form 1,000 congregations within the first two decades of the 21st Century, we spoke with Rev. Debbie about Downtown Disciples.

Continue reading “Doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly together in Des Moines” →
Nadine Compton Pentecost Offering, Stories

“We walk with our community:” How new church planters are doing ministry

UrbanMission, a joint congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC) and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), lies at the intersection of White Avenue and Ninth Street in Pomona, CA.

The city sits just north of a men’s prison, and is one of the areas in which formerly incarcerated individuals are released. South Pomona struggles with gang violence and drug abuse.

None of that was a deal-breaker for Rev. Al Lopez, the congregation’s Lead Pastor. He felt called to plant a new church where folks could be themselves and still belong. 

Continue reading ““We walk with our community:” How new church planters are doing ministry” →