Ezra Brewster emerges out of the baptismal waters at Trinity Presbyterian Church. He is flanked by his father, Jed, on the left, and the Rev. Matthew Robbins-Ghormley, right. Photo by Rachel Boisen
Through a modest tutoring program, a congregation discovered its calling in mission to the community. And then it started to grow.
The Rev. Melinda Bobo and parishioner Kerry Sprouse share a hug before Sunday services at St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Photos by John Slaughter
Continuing a long tradition of service and good works, St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Dubois, Wyoming, is an essential part of the town’s religious life -- and its community life as well.
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An effective learning process almost always begins with comprehensively yet succinctly naming the challenge at hand, the president of the Indianapolis Center for Congregations says in this interview about his new book.
In this excerpt from a new book, the president of the Center for Congregations describes how accomplishing new things requires organizational learning.
The centerpiece of Simple Church, a United Methodist congregation, is a Thursday night dinner when 30 to 40 share the Lord's Supper. Photos courtesy of Simple Church
Congregants gather for a sacred weekly meal where the conversation serves as the sermon and freshly baked bread provides nourishment, communion and income. Other churches are using their template to replicate the experience.
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Many rural communities face decline. The church has a unique ability to stand in the hard realities and still preach hope, writes a rural pastor.
Televangelist Robert Schuller in the Crystal Cathedral. Photo by Alamy / Zuma Press, Inc.
The chilly relationship between mainline Protestantism and the popular marketplace has become a stable feature of the former’s self-understanding, writes an assistant professor of church history.
The Abundant Harvest food truck is one of the many parts of St. Isidore Episcopal Church and its "offensively generous" approach to ministry. Photos courtesy of St. Isidore Episcopal Church
One body with many parts, a Houston “church without walls” brings together house churches, a food truck, pub theology, a laundry ministry and more. Its priest isn’t trying to do something old in a new way – he’s trying to do something brand-new in the old way.
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Stop thinking about single people as something apart from the norm, writes a single Christian. We are simply beloved children of God.
The style of worship at Munger Place falls under the “contemporary” category, with rock-style worship and video and casual dress. The building has a traditional feel, so the style seems much more traditional than the typical megachurch in Dallas. Photo courtesy of Munger Place
Struggling congregations tend to chase after popular strategies rather than do what Jesus commanded -- make disciples, says the United Methodist pastor of a replanted church in Dallas.