As church planters and church leaders, as we’re busy carrying the weight of leadership in these times, trying to bring clarity in the midst of confusion while being confused ourselves, trying to help those who have suffered great loss even while we are facing our own personal loss, and navigating wisdom for our communities when righteousness seems so polarized. It …
Covid19 has been tough on church worship services, but it has also exposed something beautiful—the Church can gather without walls. When you pare down the Church to its essentials, something potent is discovered at its core. Could it be time to re-explore the DNA of the church when it’s decentralized, when it takes on the form of a grassroots local …
One of the interesting responses to the current pandemic has been a turning back to gardening. Plant nurseries and online seed catalogue companies have been inundated with orders for seeds, planting boxes and fertilizers. First time gardeners are crying out for help as they dig their inexperienced hands in the dirt. What concerns me, however, is that many of these …
Covid19 has been tough on church worship services, but it has also exposed something beautiful—the Church can gather without walls. When you pare down the Church to its essentials, something potent is discovered at its core. Could it be time to re-explore the DNA of the church when it’s decentralized, when it takes on the form of a grassroots local …
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 …
Hear the story of how John Carter and team are starting a missional community amongst artists at the hub of a recording studio in Ithaca, NY. You can watch here, listen on Spotify, or download the V3 app for a first look at all of our freshest content.
“Who am I and what on earth am I doing here?” “What is my identity and what is my purpose or calling?” “What is God’s will for my life?” These are just some of the many questions most of us have at some point in our lives. Most of us, and particularly those of us who have been in church …
With rising gentrification, wealth disparity, and the decline of organized religion, often along racial lines, planting churches requires power analysis. This webinar will use a basic framework of decolonialism to reconstruct a vision of church planting that shifts the center of power from being in the possession of the ruling class (clergy, institutions, men, white folks, professionals, etc) to being …
(Note: This article was originally written before COVID-19. The ideas contained are now applicable to a time, whenever that may be, when we all can gather again.) In my previous post, I introduced my church plant Cypher Church, and discussed how we’ve intentionally shifted our community away from a worship event. Not only have we removed weekly services, we’ve also …
There is a haunting scene at the end of the apocalyptic disaster film Deep Impact (1998). After the water recedes from mega-tsunamis caused by a comet crashing into earth, civilians wander back into the streets with trepidation, grogginess, uncertainty and yet some hopefulness for rebuilding the world. I resonate with this image. How do we reengage our world after being …