That postmodernity is a hazy concept, ill-defined and worse-employed, is by now a sad truism, only worsened by its many variants and broad influence over multiple areas of contemporary life and thought. It must be
As the U.S. economy continues to struggle, low-income schools will be in even greater need of assistance from sources beyond the local district. This provides an unparalleled opportunity for the Church to step up and show the love of Christ in practical, need-meeting ways. Today we will see how Faithbridge United Methodist Church began their partnerships with local schools, and they offer three tips to help your Church get started in a similiar ministry.
As we continue our Seedbed series Practical Divinity, today we focus on how understanding the means of grace sheds light on our own role in reaching others. We offer three practical ways in which John Wesley’s means of grace impacts our Christian witness.
In this series on John Wesley’s “Practical Divinity,” explore how his theology might uniquely help us to live as God’s people. Each article will introduce a theological theme and offer applications for being the Church in the 21st century.
Read about how a church in Southern California is reaching people through innovative ministry including taco distribution. See specifically how they are being touched, and touching others, by reaching out to the homeless in their community.
Mosaic United Methodist Church is reaching and loving people like Jesus. They’re finding that when you love like Jesus sometimes you end up getting to know the people that Jesus loved. One such person started attending their church through an Easter egg hunt community outreach; she was pregnant and her boyfriend was in jail. Mosaic’s members found ways to serve her through offering transportation and arranging a baby shower. In the process she asked pastor Carolyn Moore if she would visit her boyfriend in jail. She did.
The first day I visited, I noticed that the guy had a lot of tattoos. I asked him about them and he showed me several crosses and some other symbols I didn’t quite get. Then he showed me the top of the tattoo on his chest. From the looks of it, it was a huge angel printed across his body. Not a little angel. […]
Do you wonder if your church could be doing more? See how Ekklesia church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi is giving themselves away through a local elementary school. They’ve found that they can operate their church on less than 30 percent of income and are changing the lives of hundreds of impoverished children.
There is a massive opportunity for life-changing evangelism in state prisons. New statistics from the Pew Research Center reveal how religious programs in prisons are critical to inmates’ rehabilitation. This survey gives us a rare glimpse into a place where the potential for Christ’s life-changing power is enormous.
Read about how a new church planter found hope and promise in God’s present and active involvement in prevenient grace at The Community in Northern Kentucky.
Keith Wasserman and the family that has grown up alongside him believe that good, works. Their organization “Good Works, Inc.” may very well be “the oldest rural homeless shelter in Ohio.” They are differentiated mightily in their posture and goals from other facilities seeking to serve the same people. “The time we spend with a volunteer to help them grow and develop as a disciple is not less important than the time we spend with the homeless man or woman in helping them in their crisis of need,” said Wasserman. “These became equally weighted in what we do at Good Works.”
Also what sets them apart is their radical hospitality opening their doors and hosting people for months at a time. Though they embrace extended guests they work toward and embrace transformation in its quick and incremental forms and celebrate every success.
Terri walked to Athens from Cleveland; that’s a pretty long […]
Grace Church defines their vision in part as a partnership with God to be “Jesus with skin on” to others. They view the work of God as a “joint venture” where we follow God and work with God to help people experience God’s grace and salvation.
