Contextualizing ministry for small towns
By guest blogger Luke Geraty, pastor of Trinity Christian Fellowship in Stanley, Wisconsin. The longer I’ve been following Jesus, the more I see that he has the same heart for small towns that he has for big cities. The primary reason is that there are people here...
Ministry longevity in small towns
By guest blogger Luke Geraty, pastor of Trinity Christian Fellowship in Stanley, Wisconsin. I’ve been pastoring a church in the small town of Stanley, WI for almost 8 years now. I’m not the type of pastor you’d expect to find in small town Wisconsin. I’m 35,...
Big dreams in small places
As part of my series on church planting and incarnational living in rural areas and small towns, I wanted to recommend a helpful resource. Tom Nebel’s book, Big Dreams in Small Places, focuses on the joys and challenges of church planting in smaller communities....
Why church planting in rural America matters
By guest blogger Justin Barney In 2012, my family and I left a suburb of Philadelphia (one of the largest cities in America) to plant a church in Keene, a small, micropolitan town of about 25,000 people in southwest New Hampshire. Why? Because God called us back to...
Fruitfulness: Applying NCD growth forces to church planting
It seems to me that the six Natural Church Development growth forces can be applied to church planting as well as to church health. Today we’ll tackle fruitfulness. One of the six NCD growth forces is known as fruitfulness. That means that each ministry needs to...
Symbiosis : Applying NCD growth forces to church planting
It seems to me that the six Natural Church Development growth forces can be applied to church planting as well as to church health. Today we’ll tackle symbiosis. One of the six NCD growth forces is known as symbiosis. That means that different ministries can cultivate...
Sustainability: Applying NCD growth forces to church planting
It seems to me that the six Natural Church Development growth forces can be applied to church planting as well as to church health. Today we’ll tackle sustainability. One of the six NCD growth forces is known as sustainability. That means that any resources used...