New Paradigms in Church Planting: Freeing Our Imagination to Plant Differently

We (Eun Strawser and I) are excited to host this church planting pre-conference at Awakenings 2023 in Chicago, IL in April. Together we will look at the following shifts to help us imagine a new way to plant in our current cultural moment. Rethinking Leadership: From solo leadership to leading as a community Leadership in the church was never meant …

What is My Role in the Story of Racism?

I don’t like to grieve, I prefer to smile, but I find myself grieving. I don’t like to lament, I prefer to find ways to anesthetize the pain, but I find myself lamenting.  Watching the cruel murder of George Floyd by a police officer who is called to protect and to serve the community, demonstrated once again how racism, which …

Interview with Lisa Cole-Smith on VergeNow.

Tell us a little about yourself and your experience in leading a church for creatives? I’m an actor/director by training who found myself in seminary about 15 years ago searching for the next steps on my journey and a way to integrate my faith and calling as an artist. While I never envisioned pastoring (let alone planting) a church, God …

Practicing Cinematographeum Divina (Theology at the Theater, Part 4)

If you have followed this blog series from the beginning, you know we’ve been discussing how our experience of film can augment our relationship with God through a process I call cinematographeum divina. To read more about that, please read Theology at the Theater, Part 2, here. Let’s see how this 6-step process can be applied to another Sundance film, …

Our Partners Who Share in the Excitement of V3

Birthing a church planting movement is not a solo venture. It requires the ability to form partnerships with people and organizations that reflect your values and passions. Since the conception of our learning cohorts four years ago, we have been grateful for the amazing partners that God has given us. Let me introduce you to some of them to you and …

Experiencing the Sacred at Sundance (Theology at the Theater, Part 3)

In the previous blog of this series, I discussed using the lectio divina as a way to approach the theology of film through a process I call cinematographeum divina. While this idea wasn’t fully developed until after my trip to Sundance, I had the opportunity to work through most of the steps, because I approach much of my life in …

Film as a Form of Mass (Theology at the Theater, Part 2)

Philosopher and theologian, James K.A. Smith, in his book Desiring the Kingdom, helps us understand that at a gut level, we are creatures who love and desire.  Thus we need liturgies, rituals and routines that reshape our desires. While Smith focuses on how worship gatherings could be better designed to shape our desires toward the kingdom, Craig Detweiler, in Into …