Congregational innovation

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Artists Caleb Clark, Christopher Holt and Jill Hooper compare a tracing of preliminary drawings to the final composition of the fresco at Haywood Street Congregation. Holt is an artist trained in making frescoes; Clark and Hooper assisted him in the two-year-long project. Photos by John Warner/Warner Photography

Arts & Culture, Visual arts, Congregations, Innovation, Congregational innovation

A church's fresco project shows that everyone has sacred worth

A church dedicated to radical hospitality and welcome creates a fresco that permanently enshrines those values and the faces of those it serves.

Steven and Harriet Gaither, a retired couple who benefited from one of Eastern Star Church's programs, stand in front of their first home. Photo courtesy of Eastern Star Church

Money, Budget & financial management, Stewardship & fundraising, Innovation, Congregational innovation

Church's money management lessons lead to transformation in an impoverished neighborhood

Eastern Star Church is helping bring hope to the 46218 ZIP code in Indianapolis through housing initiatives, social services, a grocery store, financial coaching and more.

The Rev. Audra Abt presides over the Spanish "Misa," or Mass, at a home service in Greensboro, North Carolina. Photos by Alex Maness

Congregations, New forms of church, Innovation, Congregational innovation

A multilingual priest connects her congregation and its community through language and listening

The Rev. Audra Abt started a Spanish-language Mass and a health access ministry, meeting neighbors’ needs and rejuvenating a small church in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Dr. Jon Kocmond looks at photos of his family in his home office in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kocmond lost his 16-year-old son, Nathan, to suicide in the fall of 2017. He has since been active in the suicide support group at Christ Episcopal Church. Photos by Wendy Yang

Health & Well-being, Emotional health, Congregations, Congregational innovation

A church invests in mental health in response to parishioners' suffering

A 6,400-member congregation in North Carolina has created a “wellness director” position after experiencing six suicides in five years.

Windsor Jones and Country pause for a moment at the Common Soles clinic hosted by Church of the Common Ground, where Jones washed Country's feet. Photos by Branden Camp

Congregations, New forms of church, Innovation, Congregational innovation

A church without walls offers unconditional acceptance to people who are homeless

Church of the Common Ground, an Episcopal congregation in Atlanta, avoids the usual attempts to “fix” people who are living on the streets. Instead, it seeks to be a living witness of love and compassion.

At dinner table churches like Simple Church, simple meals and breadmaking facilitate deep conversations and communal friendship. Photo courtesy of Simple Church

Health & Well-being, Emotional health, Innovation, Congregational innovation

Kendall Vanderslice: Feasting brings people together in community

The hope of the church lies in a commitment to feast with one another, writes the author of the new book, “We Will Feast.”

Illustration by Jessamyn Rubio

Innovation, Congregational innovation

Matt Overton: A new partnership helps a social enterprise create 'networked impact'

Helping another social enterprise get off the ground offered an existing organization a chance to magnify the impact of its own programs to help teens and young adults.

Innovation, Congregational innovation

Excerpt: 'Having Nothing, Possessing Everything'

How do you learn to see abundance where others see only poverty? In this excerpt from his new book, the Rev. Michael Mather writes about how his congregation shifted its focus from paying people’s bills to cultivating their talents and gifts.

The Kusanya Cafe in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago was established five years ago by a partnership that included Canaan Community Church. Photo courtesy of Kusanya Cafe

Innovation, Congregational innovation, Congregations, New forms of church

Jonathan Brooks: Sometimes the church needs to follow and partner with others

The pastor of an inner-city Chicago church shares how he and his congregation have changed the way they work in their neighborhood -- and how that has changed the community itself.

With Malcolm Smith on banjo and Mac Traynham on guitar, Appalachian music is a central part of worship at Wild Goose Christian Community Church in Floyd County, Virginia. Photos by Stephanie Klein-Davis

Innovation, Congregational innovation, Congregations, New forms of church

PCUSA faith community takes flight, celebrating Appalachian music and culture

Tuesday services, rockers for pews, a Mason jar chalice and mountain music -- Wild Goose Christian Community is an alternative faith community that celebrates local Appalachian culture.

A learning resource for Christian leaders and their institutions from Leadership Education at Duke Divinity