Congregational innovation

Long-term adoption of hybrid services represents a major shift from the traditional church model

The pandemic has drastically changed congregational leaders’ attitudes about virtual services, experts say.

By Shari Finnell Journalist

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People in the pews: Who’s missing, who’s hiding, who’s comfortable on the couch?

Almost three years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, pastors mourn the faces they no longer see and figure out how to serve those they’ve yet to meet in person.

By Edie Gross Journalist

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Pastors were not prepared for the digital demands of the pandemic. What does that teach us about the next crisis?

Of all the new things they were asked to take on during the pandemic, it was technology work and decision making that pastors felt the least prepared for, according to a two-year study from Texas A&M University.

By Heidi A. Campbell Professor, Texas A&M University

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Jonathan Brooks: How engaged is your church in your neighborhood?

A free online quiz offered by the Parish Collective helps congregations discern their current level of engagement in their communities and offers resources to deepen that connection, says the organization’s board chair.

To expand your imagination, get curious

Learning to be inquisitive and openhearted can make way for all sorts of possibilities, writes the director of the Thriving Congregations Coordination Program at Duke Divinity.

By Kelly Ryan Director, Thriving Congregations Coordination Program

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How do I know whether my church is ready to innovate?

Creative churches don’t panic when things go wrong. They pivot. But how do you know whether your church is prepared for it? writes an innovation consultant.

By Carmelle Beaugelin Innovation consultant and visual artist

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A faith-based design lab teaches churches how to help their communities flourish

With the help of The Impact Guild design lab, a church in San Antonio is able to dream big and start small as it leverages little-used assets for the neighborhood.

By Emily Starbuck Gerson Journalist

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Incubator for discipleship

Rather than investing in a single, institutionally driven project, an Austin church is inviting parishioners to come up with innovative ways to serve their city — and providing initial funding.

By Edie Gross Journalist

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How our pandemic experience might help the church engage “nones” and “dones”

Let’s leverage a year of forced innovation to be church in a way that attracts people who really are done with religion, writes a minister at a Greenwich Village church.

By Alexis Lillie Minister, The Church of the Village

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Let's re-envision "normal"

Along with the hard lessons of the pandemic, churches have learned things that can make them healthier for clergy and congregants, a pastor writes.

By Alex Shea Will Associate Pastor, South Church

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Eat. Pray. Skate: A skateboarding ministry offers unconditional love to teens

Serious JuJu is a ministry that meets young people where they are -- in a skate park.

By Katie Cantrell Journalist

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