Innovation

Five years after the start of the COVID pandemic, here are three ways congregations continue to be affected

The emergence of COVID changed our lives. Professor and researcher Scott Thumma highlights how congregations have changed.

By Leslie Quander Wooldridge Journalist

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Failure as faithfulness

The parable of the sower and modern-day design thinkers challenge us to take risks rather than fear failure, writes an associate director for Leadership Education at Duke Divinity’s Thriving Congregations Coordination Program.

By Sarah E. Forsyth Associate Director, Thriving Congregations Coordination Program

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Podcast: ‘Tod Bolsinger: Navigating Change’

Leading through change is a unique and crucial skill

It’s time to reclaim creativity

Christians should embrace creativity as a way to make space for God and to imagine things beyond their own capabilities, writes a pastor and denominational leader.

By Chris Aho Director, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Thriving Congregations Initiative

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When songs become sermons — a different way of preaching

No longer able to sustain a choral program and facing clergy overload, members of a Maryland congregation now tell the old, old story by leaning into music, their pastor writes.

By McKenna Wallen Pastor, Maryland Presbyterian Church

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Don’t miss the significance of congregational toads in your church’s ecosystem

If we pay attention, the presence or absence of certain indicators can help us assess the vitality of our faith communities, writes a director of grants for Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.

By Victoria Atkinson White Director of Grants, Leadership Education at Duke Divinity

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What happens when the church is turned upside down?

Encountering a sculpture in a public square prompts a church innovator to reflect on the changes in our institutions — and how to react to them.

By Shannon Hopkins Co-founder & lead cultivator, RootedGood

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A Chicago church where discipleship begins with one person and emanates throughout the community

Lawndale Christian Community Church invests in its neighborhood with an “ecosystem” of programs, services and discipleship opportunities intended to help everyone who lives there thrive.

By Alison Bowen Journalist

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Anna Robbins: What happens when a seminary course is AI-generated?

Acadia Divinity College is experimenting with a course created entirely by AI, part of a project to understand and reflect on the impact of this emerging technology on theological education.

A food ministry in a tiny, rural town has helped hold a United Methodist church together across denominational divides

Volunteers from a small North Carolina church feed their neighbors each week with a hot meal and companionship in an outsize effort to the community.

By Yonat Shimron Journalist

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Barbie’s dream houses

A presbytery in the American Northwest gave property to an Indigenous nonprofit to build tiny homes and establish a community center, but the process was difficult work.

By Cheston Knapp Writer

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