The Global Parish

Posted on January 24, 2012 by srodriguez

“I look upon the world as my parish…” John Wesley Works XXV, 616

The first book I read on the multi-ethnic church was Stephen A. Rhodes’, “Where the Nations Meet: The Church in a Multicultural World,” which was based on his personal visits to multi-ethnic churches in the United States. The title is what initially caught my attention. After reading the book I began to wonder how the United Methodist Church would fare in its effort to the comply with Christ’s great commission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” given our demographic shift. Continue reading →

Posted in Discipling, multi-ethnic plants, New Church, Path 1, Sam Rodriguez | Leave a comment

Putting Wesley’s Theology into Practice

Posted on January 19, 2012 by BarbaraSadler

 By Barbara Sadler, Path 1 Associate

Several years ago when the church I have been a part of for the past thirty-four years decided to “plant” a second campus, an intentional decision was made to follow some of the practices of our founder, John Wesley. 

Not only did Wesley promote the theology of grace, he also married social gospel with Christian gospel, beginning with God’s Grace given to us, and then His Grace extended to others through us. Continue reading →

Posted in Barbara Sadler, Community Outreach, Grace, Main, Multi-site, Multiply, New Church, Path 1, Plant | Leave a comment

Grace, Grace, and Grace

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Doug Ruffle

by Doug Ruffle, Congregational Development Team Coordinator, Greater New Jersey Annual Conference (and Path 1 Team Northeastern Jurisdiction Representative)

Real Estate brokers always emphasize that the value of a given property depends on location, location, and location. For new church starts, the application of Wesleyan/Methodist theology could be rendered: grace, grace, and grace. Wesley’s theology of grace was the engine that drove the Methodist movement of 18th century England. The Good News or Gospel, which we may take for granted today, sounded like very Good News back then:

Continue reading →

Posted in Doug Ruffle, Grace, Holiness, New Church, Path 1 | Leave a comment

A Work in Progress

Posted on January 13, 2012 by ErikHall

by Erik Hall planter of Barnegat Anew in Barnegat, New Jersey

During our new church’s preview season (in the summer of 2010) I agonized over the theme our worship celebrations would embody. We were meeting in our town’s community center which looked much more like a large kindergarten classroom than a worship space. As a new church start we did not have the resources for any fancy lighting or professional creative designing to help communicate that we were carving out some sacred space. As we faced the reality that ‘environment matters’, I knew the ‘kindergarten clutter’ thing wasn’t helping us to intentionally communicate who we were or what we were about. Continue reading →

Posted in Erik Hall, Grace, New Church, Path 1, Sanctification, Worshiping | Leave a comment

Eyes on the Prize

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Philip Brooks

by Philip Brooks Path 1 NCS Assistant

The first characteristic we strive for in a new church start is a church that is “theologically Wesleyan”. I get asked what that means a lot and have to say honestly that it’s a tricky subject. When I was in seminary one of my classes would meet once a week just to try to figure out what it meant to be Wesleyan. Our professor would remind us though that being Wesleyan doesn’t mean you agree with everything Wesley ever said, in fact sometimes being a good Wesleyan means being critical. Rather Wesleyans are those who seek after the same goals for the church as Wesley. Continue reading →

Posted in Community Outreach, Grace, Holiness, New Church, Path 1, Philip Brooks | 1 Comment

What I Learned About Parachute Drop Church Planting

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Paul Nixon

by Paul Nixon, Path 1 New Church Strategist

When I worked as a new church developer a few years back, the one thing I said I would never do is try to plant a new church as a parachute drop, or as a stranger and alien in a community. I had helped establish two new faith communities as new campuses of an existing, healthy congregation. I had lived in that local community for six years prior to worship launch in the first of those places and took about 150 people with me for that plant. We had probably 80 to go with us for the second. I lost no sleep over either project. Today (a decade later) these two faith communities together gather 1200 in worship on most Sundays. Continue reading →

Posted in Community Outreach, Main, New Church, Parachute Drop, Partner, Path 1, Plant | Leave a comment

Our Progress So Far…

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Gary Shockley

by Rev. Gary Shockley, Executive Director of Path 1

As United Methodists we are succeeding in our national strategy to start more churches in the United States. Since January 2008 we have assessed and equipped more than 1,000 potential lay and clergy planters and have started more than 440 new churches. This is an increase of nearly 60% over last quadrennium. Of the new churches we’ve started, nearly 50% are racial-ethnic congregations. You can read more updates on our goals here. Our long-range vision is to start one new church every day in the United States. This goal stretches us and will require every annual conference, intentionally and consistently, to create new places for new people. Continue reading →

Posted in Church-Within-a-Church, Elijah Church, Gary Shockley, Lay Missionary Planting Network, Multi-site, New Church, Parachute Drop, Partner, Path 1, Plant, Strategy, Vital Merger | Leave a comment