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annual conference leadership ministry

Making the Network Work

Over the last several years, the Great Plains Annual Conference has introduced Networks into our life in ministry together. These are groups of congregations that share a physically contiguous mission field – all the churches in an area. The church which I serve, Berryton United Methodist Church, is connected in a network with Big Springs […]

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church ministry renewing the church

Four Narratives for Online Spiritual Community

Several months ago, I received a copy of several articles that explore the intersection of religion and the internet. I want to record some of my notes on the articles and at the same time share them with you. “Considering spiritual dimensions within computer-mediated communication studies” is another article by Heidi Campbell that was published […]

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renewing the church united methodist church

Micro Church: New Church Start (5 of 5)

I believe that over the next several years, micro churches will become an important part of renewal within The United Methodist Church. While there are many different settings in which micro churches might thrive, I believe that the greatest potential may be in planting new churches. As micro churches continue to multiply and grow, leadership […]

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renewing the church united methodist church

Micro Church: Existing Congregation (4 of 5)

I believe that over the next several years, micro churches will become an important part of renewal within The United Methodist Church. I believe that existing congregations could be a place where a micro church could flourish. Utilizing a live stream of worship could enable existing congregations to begin another worship service with a small […]

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renewing the church united methodist church

Micro Church: College (3 of 5)

I believe that over the next several years, micro churches will become an important part of renewal within The United Methodist Church. I believe that colleges and universities have great potential to be a place where micro churches will flourish. In residence halls and public spaces, there exists a community that is already in close […]

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renewing the church united methodist church

Micro Church: Home (2 of 5)

I believe that over the next several years, micro churches will become an important part of renewal within The United Methodist Church. I believe that homes have great potential to be a place where micro churches will flourish. It may be easier to invite someone that is new to faith into one’s home rather than […]

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renewing the church united methodist church

Micro Church: Renewing the Mainline Church (1 of 5)

I believe that over the next several years, micro churches will become an important part of renewal within The United Methodist Church. Micro churches will be supported by existing congregations that use web technology to live stream worship, such as http://live.cor.org. These existing churches will encourage and equip local leaders of a group of 10 […]

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changing lives church ministry worship

Road Trip for Worship Online

At the recent National Church Leadership Conference, I had the opportunity to be a part of a workshop about pastoring an online network church. The presenter, Reggie Kidd, is part of the leadership at Northland, A Church Distributed. He shared a video which I found to be fascinating, encouraging and hopeful. What do you think?

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Uncategorized

What is a new church or new congregation?

According to UMC Path1: We believe a new congregation is more than a mission project, new worship service or new building. For us, it is a newly organized faith community that is committed to making disciples of Jesus Christ and: includes regular community worship is theologically Wesleyan has an effective discipling system receives new members […]

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blog

Twitter

After a conversation with my friend Ben, I decided to give Twitter a try. You can follow me on Twitter here. The big draw for me right now is the instant status update on Facebook – something that I like to do in that network and appreciate the dual posting capability. What do you think […]