Wednesday, January 18, 2023

1001 New Worshiping Communities News - January 2023

Sometimes we talk about new worshiping community leaders as “church planters,” and they are, but they are also Bridge Builders. Across the denomination, new communities are springing up and spanning the gap between the church that is and has been and the church that is becoming.

They are covering the distance between the faith-filled devout and the curious seekers, between the ways we have always done things and the ways the Spirit is calling us to new life. Bridge building is risky business requiring careful calculations and a solid system for support. And it takes time and resources to get us to places we have only glimpsed from a distance. But when the bridge is complete, traffic begins to flow - in both directions. People and ideas come and go and life on either side of the bridge becomes richer, more complex, full of gifts we didn’t know to expect when we began crafting the plans.
Whether the structure is simple and utilitarian or a grand statement of creativity and connection, the work of building bridges is a work of hope, a confession of faith and trust in possibilities yet unseen.

Here’s to our Bridge Builders!

Nikki Collins, Director
Office of 1001 New Worshiping Communities

2023 Mission Development Resource Grants

The Mission Development Resource Committee will meet 6 times in 2023 to receive and review applications for new worshiping community grants.

Apply Here

An Interview with Ann Steigerwald

The creator of our Discerning Missional Leadership assessment reflects on a decade of evaluating and equipping new worshiping community leaders in the PC(USA).

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74 New Worshiping Leaders Receive Sabbath Grants

It is vital for innovative leaders to find time and space to rest and reflect. Our grantees share how they practiced sabbath and what changed for them.

Noel Musicha and Jeremiah Lester have been working with neighbors in Linda Vista, California, for the past six years to start a church called Ebenezer where the goal is to be a people's cathedral: a church of the community, by the community, and for the community. In two episodes, they share how they became friends and partners in ministry from California to Malawi.

Listen Here