When I was on staff at a larger church some years ago, there was a mandatory requirement of each staff member every seven weeks to take a Sunday off. Completely off. We were highly encouraged to not even step foot in the building. Rather, we were encouraged to go and visit other churches, or even just enjoy a day at …
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 …
How Should We Gather?
How have church gatherings changed as a result of the global pandemic? I am making an assumption here, of course, that your community has changed in some manner in an effort to connect to the needs of marginalized people, particularly the disabled/immunocompromised community (a post for another time). But most of us have not recovered the “old normal” entirely. Many …
Build a Better Mousetrap?
The well-known idiom, “if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door” is often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson. What he actually said was, “If a man has good corn or wood, or boards, or pigs to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs, than anybody else, you will …
Come and Follow Me
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother …
Reclamation Bread
When I ended my previous ministry, I took up the spiritual practice of baking bread. It wasn’t entirely new to me; I had made bread plenty of times before. This time, though, I had a strong sense that the Spirit was inviting me to experience something new as I transitioned out of old rhythms and into new ways of being …
The “Hole” in Our Support Raising: A Case for Values Based Support Raising
Support raising is a tricky subject for many people. For some, it is an enjoyable part of their ministry, for others it is a terrifying and dreadful requirement. Others see it as an annoying distraction from their “main ministry work,” while others see it as part of their call to make disciples. For many who raise support, the process is …
V3 Welcomes New Movement Leader to Team
The V3 Movement is pleased to welcome a new member to the Movement Leader team. Jessie Cruickshank, Movement Leader (Executive) The V3 Movement is excited to announce that Jessie Cruickshank is joining our team as a Movement Leader (Executive). After a long search, we found the right person of character, competence, capacity, calling, and chemistry to help us co-lead our …
Join The V3 Movement Team!
The V3 Movement is hiring a Movement Leader Executive to add to our V3 Movement Leader Team. The Role This role will work in shared leadership with the existing Movement Leaders to oversee the futurehealth and growth of The V3 Movement, with a specific focus on the areas of staff organization, futureideation, event coordination, and financial sustainability. There is an …
Competing for Community
Purpose of Community When we consider community, what are some things that come to mind in terms of the purpose of community? While many of us can think of the benefits of community in both providing a sense of belonging and a sense of purpose within a neighborhood and actual place, the unspoken hardship is that, most of us, if …