The Missional Love Language

The Missional Love Language

Today’s entry is by guest blogger, Dr. Parnell Lovelace. I enjoy watching our local, predominantly African American, urban-centered congregation grow and embrace the beauty of missional communities. In the past, I often wrestled with how a growing congregation...
Missional is possible

Missional is possible

Today’s entry is by guest blogger, Dr. Parnell Lovelace. I am an advocate of keeping things as simple as possible. One year ago, I observed a church leadership team discussing the perils of developing missional communities in a local congregation. The meeting...
What Makes Church BIG?

What Makes Church BIG?

Today’s entry is by guest blogger, Dr. Parnell Lovelace. I was reflecting this morning on my experience as a young child at the historic Shiloh Baptist Church in Sacramento, California. It is the oldest African American congregation west of the Rockies. In its prime...
Building Communities of Care

Building Communities of Care

Today’s entry is by guest blogger, Dr. Parnell Lovelace. During my time in leadership of a local church of 3,500 people, we decided to create and implement tangible outreach objectives that would impact child welfare and health in our community. Disparities in health...
Bring back Sunday night church!

Bring back Sunday night church!

Today’s entry is by guest blogger, Dr. Parnell Lovelace. I drove into the parking lot of the church last Sunday night. The crowds that were present for the morning church services were nowhere to be seen. There were no crossing guards or children’s church workers...
The Variables of Kingdom Impact

The Variables of Kingdom Impact

Today’s entry is by guest blogger, Dr. Parnell Lovelace. I will be the first to admit that I have never been very proficient in mathematics. As a youth, I gravitated towards the language arts and music. Now that I have two high school-age children living under my...

The Church: The Center of Healing

Today’s entry is by guest blogger, Dr. Parnell Lovelace. Recent events in Charleston, South Carolina, have awakened us to the fact that our culture, our nation, and our communities are in need of healing and understanding. I was moved to hear that the nine shooting...
Pastoring the City

Pastoring the City

I am often amused at young church planters that launch out with the perspective that it is up to them to reach the city for Jesus. As a church planter myself, I remember thinking our church would be the better alternative than the church down the road. How needed were...
Pressing reset to engage the culture

Pressing reset to engage the culture

Today’s blog entry is by guest blogger, Dr. Parnell Lovelace. Recently, I experienced some difficulty accessing information on my laptop. After attempting several times to use the password I had entered previously on the site, it became apparent that the only...
A Church of the City

A Church of the City

Today’s blog entry is by guest blogger Dr. Parnell Lovelace. Jesus’ Great Commission demands a deliberate response from those who take the call to reach the people of the city seriously. Cities across America are experiencing a great resurgence and redevelopment of...
Changing to connect, part 2

Changing to connect, part 2

Today’s blog entry is by guest blogger Dr. Parnell Lovelace. In order to connect to urban core of the city, our church sought to disconnect from elements that blocked impactful ministry. The church had to change to connect. Steps had to be taken to move the church...
Changing to connect

Changing to connect

Today’s blog entry is by guest blogger Dr. Parnell Lovelace. An extraordinary trend is emerging within many urban cities and communities: churches are being planted in the urban centers of large cities in America. As many cities are redeveloping and expanding, there...