The first half of our We Believe discipleship resource is now available in a workbook format. The workbook is developed to the spark conversation and make these resources more applicable for small groups and discipleship classes. We also made one change to the original document. To better reflect our praxis on infant baptism and for greater clarity, we have … Continue reading "“We Believe” Workbook" Read the article
First impressions can bridge someone into the life of a faith community; it can also become a stumbling block. By Heber Ticas, pastor and Superintendent of Latin America. Maria had lived in isolation for about 13 years before encountering our spiritual family. She had fallen into a deep depression and a sense of emptiness after … Continue reading "Sunday Celebration First Impressions" Read the article
How do we assimilate people into our healthy congregations? By Randy Bloom, US East Regional Director When a renowned church leader taught that pastors need to get used to the idea that more people will come and go from church than come and stay, I felt encouraged and a bit frustrated. I was encouraged because … Continue reading "People Come, People Go; Some Stay" Read the article
By Randy Bloom. US East Regional Director Have you ever woken up on a Sunday morning and felt like staying home from church? I’m not keen on admitting it, but I have. Sometimes there were legitimate reasons such as illness or extreme exhaustion; but other times I was just being lazy. After getting up and … Continue reading "Thinking About Skipping Church?" Read the article
By Bill Hall, National Director, Canada I have been blessed to meet many people who have been an inspiration to me. One person I met on several occasions was a well-known Canadian actor who, unbeknown to many of his fans, once lived on the streets of Winnipeg, Canada. Because he is no stranger to poverty … Continue reading "Are You Willing to Change “That?”" Read the article
Part of being a healthy church is consistent communication. To support our local congregations, we have developed a local congregational branding kit. These resources are a starting point that can be edited and developed to reflect the unique context of each of our congregations. We pray that these resources will support you in joining with … Continue reading "Local Congregation Branding" Read the article
Loving community begins with seeing the neighborhood through the eyes of Jesus. By pastor Sam Butler. After his resurrection, Jesus reached out to his followers with genuine love and concern. He met them in the midst of their brokenness, fear and longing. By looking at Jesus as our model we can learn a few things … Continue reading "Loving Your Community" Read the article
God has uniquely gifted you and your congregation for community involvement. By pastor Sam Butler. We have established in previous articles that the motivation behind community engagement is love. Love flows from God to us through Jesus Christ and now through the presence of the Holy Spirit in us, love that flows from us out … Continue reading "Community Involvement" Read the article
Summer is a great time to plan an outreach event for your community and share the love of Christ with your church neighborhood. To assist you in preparing for your outreach event, we’ve prepared the infographic below (click on the image to download). Read the article
Identifying your congregation’s gifts and talents This article was written by Randy Bloom, US Regional Director, East. Many years ago, at the end of a planning meeting, our supervisor shocked us with the statement, “I’d advise you all update your resumes. Not that we expect anything; it would be good to be updated just in … Continue reading "Your Congregation’s Resume" Read the article
