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Reimagining Church: Reorienting

Visioning a future church for the now; creating communities centered on Christ, cosmic good, and conscientious living.

Books

Ask Me for a Blessing (You Know You Need One)     The Church in the Public: A Politics of Engagement for a Cruel and Indifferent Age     CHURCH ON THE MOVE     The Gifts They Bring     Hear Us Out: Six Questions on Belonging and Belief     Life's Too Short to Pretend You're Not Religious: Reframed and Expanded

Blogs, Podcasts, & Articles

Alex (right) makes a selection from among donated items at the Clothes Closet, a ministry of McKendree United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn. Assisting him is church member and volunteer Jeremy Rutan. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.Making the Best Use of Church Space

by Jim Patterson
Dec. 5, 2022

Key Points:

  • Mixed-use developments that replace or upgrade aging church properties might offer economic and spiritual answers for declining congregations.
  • Unused space translates to an opportunity to do social good.
  • Wesley Community Development, in North Carolina, specializes in helping churches making decisions about their property.

Church on the Move“Church on the Move” featuring Travis Norvell— Episode 106

How can your church reorient its posture toward its neighbors and neighborhood? Minnesota Pastor Travis Norvell decided to conduct his ministry by bike, on foot, and on public transportation. He shares how this revealed new people, new partners, and new possibilities for ministry. Listen now. | Read in-depth interview. | Watch podcast video on YouTube.

Toolkits

Find books, curricula, prayer, music, and worship elements (including a full sermon), and community organizations and businesses grouped to help congregations take next steps in antiracism work, creation care, and addressing intergenerational mental health and well-being in the WaterThreads - Woven Together: Water, Community, Well-Being. Available online and via requested download for member congregations - who should email: ministrylab@unitedseminary.edu - for access.

In Our Library

7 CREATIVE MODELS FOR COMMUNITY MINISTRY     cover of called to community book     Church Refugees: Sociologists Reveal Why People Are Done with Church but Not Their Faith  -     By: Josh Packard Ph.D., Ashleigh Hope     Book - Paperback          Engage! Tools for Ministry in the Community               Get Off Your Donkey! | Baker Publishing Group     The Great Spiritual Migration by Brian D. Mclaren          Amazon - How to Be a Christian Without Going to Church: The Unofficial  Guide to Alternative Forms of Christian Community: Bean, Kelly:  9780801072420: Books     The Idolatry of God: Breaking Our Addiction to Certainty and Satisfaction:  Rollins, Peter: 9781451609028: Amazon.com: Books               Amazon.com: Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die:  8601410083830: Chip Heath, Dan Heath: Books     MAKING FRIENDS, MAKING DISCIPLES     Missional | Baker Publishing Group     Missional. Monastic. Mainline.     Neighborhood Church     New Growth in God's Garden          Portable Faith - eBook [ePub] ยท Abingdon Press     26635467               SoulTypes: Matching Your Personality and Spiritual Path, Revised Edition     Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don't Belong To     The Underground Church: Reclaiming the subversive way of Jesus - Kindle  edition by Meyers, Robin. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @  Amazon.com.     Unexpected Gifts: Discovering the Way of Community: Heuertz, Christopher L,  Rohr, Richard: 9781451652260: Amazon.com: Books     Book - Paperback               Why We Live In Community English