Author: Michelle Fleming
2023 Denominational Celebration Watch Party
Save the date for the 2023 Denominational Celebration! The Denominational Celebration is the perfect time for your local congregation to be encouraged, inspired, challenged, and to reflect and discern the vision to which God has called your unique congregation. If you are able to spend time together over meals, in worship, and in prayer together, it is the perfect time to take your next step toward Healthy Church. Even if you are unable to attend in person you can still participate by hosting a watch party with your local congregation. Daily worship sessions and each keynote session will be livestreamed. We will also provide resources to host local breakout sessions and relational building activities. Have questions about hosting... Read the article
Microsite Staff Page
The GCI Microsite is a resource we provide to help you have a professional and easy to customize a website. This month, we added the option to create a page to introduce your church staff. This page provides visitors and guests with the opportunity to begin to make connections with your staff and get to know some of the faces of your church. The staff page is flexible, and includes the features included below: You can title it whatever you want. Staff is displayed either in a full width list for those with a bio, or as a photo directory for those without a bio. People with a bio are always listed first, then those without. Other than that, you can control the order people appear in the editor using the arrows on each... Read the article
New & Improved GCI Branded Microsite
The GCI Microsite is a resource we provide to help you have a professional and easy to customize a website. This month, we added support for events to our GCI easy website template (aka “Microsites”). You could use this, for example, to promote your Easter service, or other special services during Holy Week on your website. To see this in action, check out this demo website: https://micro.gci.church/garwood/ You’ll see the Good Friday service featured both in the 4th banner and the left feature block farther down the page. There is also a new “Events” page in the menu. These items only appear when you have added at least one event in the site editor. By default, we select the earliest occurring event to feature,... Read the article
Team Based- Pastor Led Videos & Resource Page
GCI’s vision for Healthy Church is focused on healthy ministries and healthy leadership. The three avenues of the Team Based-Pastor Led model are foundational to the thriving of healthy churches. As we continue to build on the model, we have produced short videos that explain the recent additions and updates to the model. Click on the image below to watch the introduction video. Along with the video updates we have also updated our Avenue Resources webpage and curated a resource page for each Avenue that includes the video and PowerPoint for each avenue. Click on the images below to explore the new pages. Read the article
New Connect Group Curriculum
On Being is a four-part interactive connect group curriculum, designed for biblically-based, dynamic discussions around being a disciple. We will be rolling out a different curriculum quarterly throughout 2021. The four curricula are: Being a Neighbor, Being the Church, Being with Jesus, and Being with the Bible. Each curriculum has a Facilitator Guide and a Participant Workbook. Facilitator Best Practices – The introduction was developed to assist leaders in the formation and facilitation of their Connect Group. It also explains the format of the curriculum within the series, as well as an appendix with icebreakers and other resources. Facilitator Best Practices - Full Color Download Facilitator Best... Read the article
GCI Creative Community Christmas Ideas
GCI Creative Christmas Ideas As we approach Advent and Christmas many of our Hope Avenue leaders are thinking about creative ways to celebrate the season while still holding digital services. Check out the ideas below generated by our GCI Creative Community Facebook Page . Drop a comment below with any additional ideas, and join the Facebook group to share and garner tips, hacks, and new ideas. Christmas Service ideas: Wear the holiday on your sleeves: Ask members to wear Christmas sweaters and other holiday gear. If you're using Zoom snap a pic of the group. Deck your halls: incorporate Advent candle lighting into your digital service, and then have a manger scene or other Christmas symbols in the background for your... Read the article
Crafting A Digital Worship Service w/ Joe Brannen
In this episode, host Anthony Mullins, interviews Joe Brannen who pastors GCI congregation in Surrey Hills, OK. Together they discuss the challenges and opportunities of crafting a digital worship service during a global pandemic, and what best practices to implement when we begin to re-gather for in person worship. "I think God uses difficult times to push the church outside of the walls, and I think that is what is going on right now. The Church is being faced with the real question, ‘Are you going to be the Church in the world around you, or are you just looking at the building as being the Church?’” -Pastor Joe Brannen Main Points: Should churches continue to stream services after we re-gather... Read the article
Updated GCI Font
GCI Worship Calendar
In the last GCI Update letter, Clarity, President Greg Williams explains the importance of clear communication. He emphasizes: As we collectively move forward toward Healthy Church, let’s not allow miscommunication to be a roadblock. Please access the vast array of ministry tools designed to serve you where you are in the journey and please feel free to access your ministry supervisors as well. It is imperative that we contextualize what it means to be Team-Based and Pastor-Led in our multiple cultures around the world, and in the midst of our cultural nuances that we share the Christ-like principles of understanding, respect, collaboration, and love, which apply in all circumstances. To create alignment across our international... Read the article
