Adjusting to a new normal
One significant trend within church life is the changing nature of congregating. That makes it increasingly important for congregations to experiment with new models and share what they are learning.
One significant trend within church life is the changing nature of congregating. That makes it increasingly important for congregations to experiment with new models and share what they are learning.
Drive is a social club where people can gather to play table tennis, eat, drink and meet people. Photo courtesy of Drive
Diallo and Jameel Smith have used their entrepreneurial talent in Detroit to both plant Awakenings Movement -- a nondenominational church -- and open a table tennis social club called Drive.
An interactive Web television program features meditation, jazz, chat-room conversations and weekly communion.
The head of a Dallas coffeehouse/church urges the church to reclaim its role as an agent of social change, joining with social entrepreneurs to give new life to the world.
Worshippers gather for Cathedral in the Night, one of the alternative ministries of the Clearstory Collective. Photo courtesy of Clearstory Collective
In western Massachusetts, a network of ministries is drawing on ancient and modern traditions to attract young people who might not otherwise be interested in church.
Mike and Jane Lyon, Antioch Baptist Church and “the Brotherhood” show why innovation isn’t only the domain of urbanites.
Social media gives pastors a new ability to point out the presence of God in the day-to-day of people’s lives, says the co-author of a new book on digital ministry.
A church burns, but its treasures endure.
To become more diverse, younger, sustainable and innovative, denominations need to nurture the creative communities that spring up within the larger church.
Networked, relational and incarnational, digital ministry is a good fit for the mainline, a chance to make the privatized practice of faith public and visible in the world again, says the author and scholar.