Composting the church offers flourishing in the shadow of decline
As with a garden, so with the church — the remnants at the end of one season enrich growth for new opportunities in the next, writes a Presbyterian pastor.
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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.
Link to author Leslie Quander Wooldridge
By
Leslie Quander Wooldridge
Journalist
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.
Link to author Sarah E. Forsyth
By
Sarah E. Forsyth
Associate Director, Thriving Congregations Coordination Program
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.
Link to author Chris Aho
By
Chris Aho
Director, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Thriving Congregations Initiative
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.
Link to author McKenna Wallen
By
McKenna Wallen
Pastor, Maryland Presbyterian Church
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.
Link to author Victoria Atkinson White
By
Victoria Atkinson White
Director of Grants, Leadership Education at Duke Divinity
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.
Link to author Shannon Hopkins
By
Shannon Hopkins
Co-founder & lead cultivator, RootedGood
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.
Link to author Alison Bowen
By
Alison Bowen
Journalist
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.
Link to author Yonat Shimron
By
Yonat Shimron
Journalist
