A Church of the City

Missional, Outreach

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...

One way to use your building to serve the community

Missional

If you are a church fortunate enough to own your own building, you have ways you can use what God has blessed you with to bless others. This article I ran across shows how one church will serve the community by opening its facility for a community open-market of...

Knowing the city… and its workers

Missional, Outreach

Government workers know their city better than most pastors do. People move into community positions because they want to help their neighborhoods. There are often a lot of difficulties, but there are also opportunities for positive contribution. So if you are a...

Opportunity or obstacle?

Missional, Outreach

Sometimes we take a look at a particular neighborhood or subculture and we think it’s really bad… and it may be. But how might God want to redeem or use that area? How can we take the energy we feel and use it constructively? God may very well be at work there. Let’s...

Not your run-of-the-mill baby dedication

Missional, Outreach

Today’s blog entry is by Ross Nelson, pastor of Northwoods Vineyard Church in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. About six years ago, my older son Nate worked in a family grocery business and oversaw the liquor department. In that capacity, he developed a friendship with another...

Where are people gathering?

Missional, Outreach

Church planters talk all the time about the trouble we have gathering people. Yet when we look at it from another perspective, people gather all the time. I heard Jay Pathak speak recently and he asked the question, “Where are people gathering and why?” They gather in...

What I’ve been tempted to say….

Leadership, Visionizing

Every once in a while during consultations, I’ve been tempted to tell churches to put up a banner out front saying, “Go to hell. We don’t care.” (Full disclosure– I only actually said this once.) What circumstances might lead me to want...

Churches without walls

New Church Planting

  By guest blogger Ronnie Higuera , church planter and pastor. Ronnie is part of a network of leaders planting churches across small towns and rural areas. Yesterday Bob posted about the way Canyon View Vineyard Church, a large church in Grand Junction, Colorado,...

The power of sodalic structures

Church Development, New Church Planting

  Vocabulary lesson of the day: Sodalic: reaching out to start new ministries and churches Modalic: strengthening the ministries and churches that already exist Ministry lesson of the day: You need both. When we look at the way the early church functioned, we see...