Church Planting and Growing



My friend Scott Wells over at Boy in The Bands made his big announcement about trying to plant a Universalist Christian church in our nation's capitol.  There is one right now (Universalist National Memorial) but Scott feels that there is room for another.  It is a big city, after all, and people are drawn by different styles of worship and different styles of community.

Also yesterday, many of the leaders of the church I serve took time out of their evenings to meet with our Associate Conference Minister (ACM), Rev. Dr. Peter Wells, to discuss how we go about serving our current members and attracting new ones.  It was a good conversation and an enrgizing one.  One of the great things about having a guest come and take a look at your church is that you learn many things yourself.  Among them, we learned that we are doing pretty well (though there is much we can do in the future that we are doing now) and we have a strong foundation upon which to build.  Of course, unlike Scott, we aren't talking about planting a new church, but instead about maintaining one that has been around for over 180 years. Still change is involved.  We are doing a new thing.

One of the topics I had been thinking about over sabbatical, was the question of church life and culture.  I have been looking at ways in which the (big "C") church will have to change as we move into the future.  We all need to change.  Growth, itself, is change, whether it is physical or spiritual.

So in honor of Scott Wells and of my own congregation, here is a round-up of old posts on the subject.  I will place this and any other future posts with similar themes under "Church Life" in the "Labels" section of Burbania Posts.

Church of the Future?  Was a post I wrote when I asked myself the question of what a church would look like for me if Liberal Christianity were to start over.

The Liberal Church is the Modern Monastery?  Presents one (no doubt inadequate) metaphor for thinking about the church in the current era.

A Spiritual and Working Church describes some of the thoughts that Samuel Longfellow had on the subject.

Of course, you could always go to the "Worship" Section if you wished and read about preaching and music in church...

And here is a link to Scott's announcement