New Places for New People (Feb/Mar/Apr 2010)

The third issue in Circuit Rider's year-long series on the United Methodist Church's Four Areas of Focus. This issue offers ideas and insights into church growth and church planting, helping leaders attract and welcome new people, whatever their context.

In This Issue

articles Why Should They Come?
- By Karen Greenwaldt
- Posted on February 1st, 2010
Recently I asked a young woman why she did not attend church. Her answer startled me: “It’s like going to someone else’s family reunion. Why would I go?” I …
articles Reaching Out Like a New Church, Whatever Your Age!
- By Jacob Armstrong
- Posted on February 1st, 2010
As I made the drive from my house to a local city park on the Saturday before Easter, I noticed church after church hosting their annual Easter egg hunts. The parking lots were…
articles Incentives to Decline: Why Some Churches Really Don't Want to Grow
- By John Flowers and Karen Vannoy
- Posted on February 1st, 2010
Your congregation has been in significant decline for years. Members acknowledge that something must be done to reverse the decline. Plans are discussed and official votes are…
articles Welcoming Visitors with Children
- By Rita Hays
- Posted on February 1st, 2010
Jeff and Sally Wright are the parents of newborn baby Zack and they are visiting your church for the first time. Jeff and Sally may come away from their visit to your congregation …
articles QUIZ: How family-friendly is your church?
- By Rita Hays
- Posted on February 1st, 2010
Check the statements that accurately describe your children’s ministries. ___ We provide a nursery for infants and small children.___ Our nursery is regularly staffed with…
articles Institution v. Innovation: Can edgy churches grow and thrive within the UMC?
- By Arthur Jones
- Posted on February 1st, 2010
“CHURCH DOESN'T SUCK. WWW.GRACEPOINT.COM.” As some United Methodist pastors drove by this laconic sign, they cringed because they knew something about GracePoint that …
articles Why I Don't Go to Church
- By Erin Stanley
- Posted on February 1st, 2010
Once we know something, we fi nd it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it. —Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Made to Stick It is often hard for those of us inside the…
articles The Pentecost Paradigm: Creating a New, Multicultural Border Space
- By Jacqueline J. Lewis
- Posted on February 1st, 2010
The story of Pentecost is not only a story about Spirit but a story about borders. The people are gathered there from all over the known world; they crossed borders to come to…
articles According to Their Ability: Church Growth in Small and Rural Locations
- By David Oaks
- Posted on February 1st, 2010
After thirty-two years in pastoral ministry, I have come to see three great influences upon my experience. These might be summarized by that famous line from business that states…
articles Virtual Community, Real Relationships
- By Jacqui King
- Posted on February 1st, 2010
God is doing a new thing! That is the proclamation from the prophet Isaiah. In the world of technology, new things are happening every day. New technology offers the church new…
articles Achieving a Critical Mass of Young People
- By Donna Schaper
- Posted on February 1st, 2010
My congregation in New York City has experienced a very welcome generational shift over the last several years. From an average age of sixty, we are now an average age of forty…
articles Jesus Saves
- By Rebecca W. Dolch
- Posted on February 1st, 2010
Once a week for five years I drove fifty miles to Buffalo, New York. On a back road is a farm with a house near the road. A very small fruit and vegetable stand sits out front…