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Start Strong in Your New Pastoral Role By Introducing Fresh Expressions
Kris Beckert | 14 Oct 2021
A new season of ministry-- whether starting as the pastor of a church, taking a position as a new staff member, accepting a new job, entering a new stage of life such as retirement, or just moving across town—is a place and time to reorient yourself and your team toward a posture of mission before you are pushed to settle in to a rut of expectations and needs. Like me, you may have come from a setting where you were doing cutting-edge stuff, starting dinner churches, pouring into leaders to begin fresh expressions of church, and getting people to think outside the box. But you will remember that did not happen overnight.
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How Does God Want Us to Use Our Buildings?
Jon Davis | 5 Aug 2021
On February 27th 380 AD Christianity became the official state religion of the Roman Empire and many would say in that moment the era of Christendom began. We can make...
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Love Languages: Bringing New Life to Struggling Congregations
Michael Beck | 2 Aug 2021
“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” Revelation 2:4 Being a pastor these days is not easy! Even before the pandemic...
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“What If They Don’t Come Back?” 4 Opportunities for Churches Post-Pandemic
Chris Morton | 20 May 2021
“What if they don’t come back?” As vaccination spreads and pandemic restrictions ease, this is the anxious question in the back of many church leader’s minds. Some churches haven’t met...
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Finding Hope While Feeling Lost
Ann Marie Carley | 21 Oct 2020
The year 2020 has proved to be one of the most challenging years for the Body of Christ, the Church, all over the world. I’m not going to lie, at...
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Making Sense of the Chaos
Ann Marie Carley | 16 Oct 2020
As churches re-enter their buildings, things seem less safe and it is much harder to ignore reality. There is no way to not see the roped off pews or the empty seats. Those coming to worship onsite can look around and see “everyone” is not there. There is no way to safely engage in all of the activities from the good old days, making it painfully obvious that if new ways of connecting with people are not determined, the current generation occupying the space within the church may be the last.
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How Fresh Expressions Helped Us Pivot
Ann Marie Carley | 9 Oct 2020
As I was setting up the space within our building for the first onsite worship experience in over six months, I found myself chuckling. This space isn’t our traditional sanctuary....
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What Does A Resilient Church Look Like Now?
Matt Lake | 29 Sep 2020
I suffer from what one might call “Password-itis.” And I would define it as the inability to remember passwords. Anywhere. Anytime. Of any length. Even when the password is easy...
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Why Listening is More Important Now Than Ever
Shannon Kiser | 21 Aug 2020
Recently, Phil Collin’s “In the Air Tonight,” which was originally released in 1980, hit the charts again. Why? Because twin You Tubers went viral. These Gen-Z teens have populated their...
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Fasting and Feasting: The Bible’s Story Told by Food
glennpaauw | 16 Jul 2020
The stuff of earth is the stuff of life—and also the stuff of the biblical story. The Bible opens with a poem-like presentation (maybe even a song?) of the creation...
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How an Old Friend Helped Us Find Our Way. Thank You, Mr. Rogers!
Ann Marie Carley | 12 May 2020
Although doing church differently is something that always excites me, I have to be honest with you. Trying to land and feel settled about our new normal within the established...
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A Great Re-Awakening? Being Wildly Hopeful and Prudent
Michael Beck | 16 Apr 2020
I’ve been speaking and writing about the need for us to “awaken from apostolic amnesia” for about a decade. For me, this means recovering a sense of mission or sentness...