Inspiring Missional Practices
Inspiring Missional Practices This booklet is a gift from new worshiping communities to the entire Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) On the following pages are examples of missional practices shaping our lives together. By sharing them, our prayer is that they will inspire you and your community. You will be God s sent people, witnesses to the gospel, in new and creative ways. Front cover: Courtesy of Big Table, a new worshiping community in Spokane, WA, in the Presbytery of the Inland Northwest Back cover: Courtesy of Urban Connect a new worshiping community in Phoenix, AZ, in the Presbytery of the Grand Canyon inspiration
Presbytery of Greater Atlanta Presbytery of Greater Atlanta The Mustard Seed Project is a new spiritual community located in Suwanee, Georgia, that is bringing together spiritual misfits around the work of reconstructing faith and purpose in the context of modern suburban life. connection Every Sunday morning, members of The Mustard Seed Project join with people from all over the area and share a four- to ten-mile hike on various trails in North Georgia. We ve found it to be a perfect Sabbath-keeping practice, a great way to meet new people, and the perfect venue for our group and the spiritual but not religious to connect with God, nature, and one another. For our group, sharing the trail with one another and the wider community is a sacramental practice, in a sacred space, in the context of beloved community.
Presbytery of Greater Atlanta Centro Familiar Cristiano is a community that is acting to transform lives and serve the people of Alpharetta, Georgia, especially empowerment Hispanic immigrant families. Every year we hold Women s Day, which is all about celebrating the power and gifts women bring to society. Nearly sixty women come from all over, and the atmosphere is very festive. It begins with a runway walk, and the women are encouraged to cheer for one another and celebrate their beauty and strength. The men cook. Centro Familiar Cristiano created this event because many of the women in the local Hispanic immigrant community are isolated from friends and family. They shoulder many burdens. This party is a way of acknowledging their struggles and gifts before God as a community. Outside the walls of the traditional temple, we offer opportunities to talk, listen, interact, and encounter the message of the gospel.
experimentation The Presbytery of San Jose says, starting new worshiping communities is the most important thing we could be doing at this time in the life of our church. Currently in Watsonville and Santa Cruz, California, the presbytery is supporting, encouraging, incubating, observing, walking, and praying alongside Beer Church and Sweaty Sheep Santa Cruz. We re wondering what our capacity is to experiment and risk. We re acknowledging that we have more questions than answers, and that s okay. We re excited that these New Worshiping Communities are reaching people not like us, and that is not only okay, but good. We re asking, What new thing is God doing in our midst? How much fun is this! Presbytery of San Jose
Presbytery of Central Florida Missing Peace chooses their meeting space based on the expression of worship for the week in Ormond Beach, Florida. flexibility Our meeting space or lack thereof is a key practice of our ministry. We choose our venue depending on the expression of worship for the week. We might be in the park, walking a labyrinth, at the beach, and in a primitive church building all in the same month. Wherever we go, we carry our trusty Missing Peace sign with us and worship in our community, as part of our community, remaining engaged with our community. For us, this means church is not something you go to a place and do, but instead is part of how we live. We are claiming our museums, parks, and beaches as places of worship. We are experiencing God at work in our world, pointing to that work, and partnering in it.
Presbytery of Wyoming The Table is a community for doubters and disciples together located in Casper, Wyoming, aiming to curate a space for the curious to engage good questions that spur good actions. hospitality The Table takes hospitality seriously, recognizing that the trail of bread crumbs we leave behind us leads the hungry to God s table. We take care of one another by sharing meals as well as meeting one another s needs. We share a monthly communitywide meal where we spend time sharing food and hearing each other s stories. Meals in each other s homes take place more frequently. When the need for some maintenance painting arose at a locally owned grocery store that has partnered for one of those meals, The Table sponsored a Day of Love to organize the wider community to make it happen.
Presbytery of Albany Adirondack Church Without Walls (ADK Church WoW) is a welcoming alternative worshiping community, grounded in the gospel, yet aware of the many ways in which we encounter the Spirit in nature and community. inclusion ADK Church WoW invites people to join with us in enjoying outdoor activities and fellowship in the breaking of bread (such as potlucks, s mores, and picnics) as a way of building community with those who find God in nature and in the community of spiritual seekers. We hold celebrations of worship twice a month and host adventure days, which include hiking, boating, skiing, and other outdoor opportunities, once a month. Worship is built into these activities, but the main focus is coming together to enjoy God s creation and experience the presence of the Spirit in nature and in one another.
Presbytery of West Jersey Refresh, in Laurel Springs, New Jersey, realizes it s all about community. relationships we People long to have authentic and real relationships and to fulfill a desire to be part of something meaningful. Refresh provides opportunities for people to be part of our community by going into the neighborhood in safe places. Some of these groups and activities are spiritual and some are not. Our New Worshiping Community realizes that we all are on a spiritual journey and some may be further along than others. This means we need to provide opportunities for everyone to be part of community. Our prayer sometimes may be that we get a twominute spiritual conversation rather than a study. Community is at the core of what long to be.
Presbytery of Mid-Kentucky The Presbyterian Hispanic/Latino Ministry of Preston Highway is a community of Spanish-speaking disciples (mostly from Mexico) in Louisville, Kentucky. serving Preston Highway community members gather weekly in three separate house church circles where study and prayer take place and fellowship and food are always offered. The community of immigrants has formed a tight bond over helping one another meet the challenges of language, work, and cultural assimilation. The sharing of rides, meals, and work includes neighbors who are not ready to commit to membership in a church but who sense the love and caring they see in this community. Working together on home repairs such as roofing and remodeling brings neighbors together. Pastor Elmer Zavala refers to his days spent in home repair as going to church because it is where this community finds a deep connection to its neighbors.
sharing The Fellowship Place (tfp), in Charlotte, North Carolina, meets people where they are, not where society says they should be. Presbytery of Greater Atlanta Through our Mission Outreach called tfp on the Corner we listen, we pray, and we serve God s people. We provide food, clothes, and spiritual nourishment through on-site prayer, in addition to praying corporately for each concern on Sundays. We invite people to follow us from the corner to the church by sharing the one thing people cannot live without the love of Jesus Christ. Why do we do it? #itssimple#itslove Presbytery of Charlotte
Presbytery of Greater Atlanta Presbytery of Greater Atlanta Pulse is a new progressive and liberation-seeking church in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. spirit The Spirit is in everything and everything is a manifestation of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7). We take these words very seriously at Pulse church. Since our church s very inception, we ve made it a practice to identify the ways God may be at work in people and places we least expect. In particular, we consider this when we develop our sermon series. We ask ourselves the question, What is resonating in popular culture and how is God speaking in the midst of it? Then we allow the answers to this question to shape what we learn, teach, and proclaim communally.
Atlantic Korean-American Presbytery Galilee Korean Presbyterian Church, nested like a sparrow on the campus of St. Giles Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina, nurtures Korean speakers in the Upstate with the good news of Jesus. welcome Galilee Korean Presbyterian Church welcomes Korean newcomers to South Carolina Upstate by helping them untangle resettlement red tape. Pastor Se Joon Kim and his wife, Kyung, work tirelessly to help Korean immigrant families, finding housing, translating and filling out paperwork, arranging transportation to jobs, registering students in school, and bearing the hospitality of the familiar Christ in an unfamiliar land. Sunday morning and Wednesday evening worship weave the community together, just as service projects weave the congregation with its neighbors in need.
Maumee Valley Presbytery The Gardens of Grace Holy Harvest Ground is a new worshiping community in Toledo, Ohio. Created and supported by the oldest African American church in northwest Ohio, Grace Presbyterian uses agricultural training methods taught by George Washington Carver to grow food for low-income neighbors. The church also provides a range of spiritual and educational ministries for at-risk youth. possibility Jesus said to them, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. LUKE 10:2 Participate in God s mission. Join the 1001 new worshiping communities movement in creating new expressions of church to form and make new disciples of Jesus who change and transform the world.
Find your mission: OneThousandOne.org