Ecclesia News
Welcome New Denver Church to the Ecclesia Network!
We are excited to welcome another new church plant to our growing community. New Denver Church began as a dream in the hearts of three families in late 2008. In early 2009, these families moved from Atlanta, Georgia, to Denver, Colorado, to begin a community of faith in the city. New Denver is co-pastored by Norton Herbst, Jason Malec, and Stephen Redden. All three served together on the staff of Northpoint Church in Alpharetta before moving to plant in Denver.
The mission of New Denver Church is simple: to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. And our strategy for accomplishing this is to create environments where people are encouraged and equipped to pursue restored relationships with God, themselves, others, and the world. In the past year, we have seen this mission come alive as people have connected with God in deep and transforming ways.
Posted in Church Updates → Ecclesia News
Welcome Ecclesia Stockton (a bit about them too)
Ecclesia Stockton was a church birthed in March of 2009. It began with 11 friends in a living room with a desire to be a community that embodied the kingdom of Jesus. Our hope has been to deeply root our hearts within the gospel and root our hands and feet into the background of downtown Stockton.
They have recently join the Ecclesia Network so we thought we would take this opportunity to let them tell you a bit about themselves…
You can check read more about them on their website and on Facebook.
Why did you guys decide to plant in Stockton, CA?
Stockton is a city with a reputation. In 2009 when we planted our church the city of Stockton was rated as the most depressing city in America to live in according to Forbes magazine. The ratings are determined by violence, drugs, unemployment and that Stockton was the foreclosure capital of America during our latest economic pitfall. Our move to the downtown area was very intentional and had to do with the fact that most churches left this area because many of those factors are centralized in the downtown area.
However, our city counsel has made clear moves and decisions to pour resources into this area of our city and we wanted to be there when it happened. With these new found resources put into this area of our city has now created an amazingly diverse group of people who are part of the scene. Some addicted to drugs and part of cycles of abuse while others are addicted to money and the pursuit of the American dream. Both need the kingdom of Jesus to be made tangible and present.
How did you get your start?
In June of 2009 we moved out of our living room and began meeting in a room at the local university. This wasn’t in a geographical location in downtown Stockton but it allowed some of our friends who were interested in being the church differently then what they had experienced could join in on since we were out of space in my living room.
How did you get from the university to downtown?
We knew that because we didn’t live in downtown Stockton that just getting food downtown after service wasn’t enough. Somehow we needed to make downtown our home. Shortly after we decided that we must make it our number one priority to be downtown I ran into an Anglican Rector with a generous heart. We talked about downtown and he was excited that there were other people passionate about downtown. He said several times, “whatever is ours is yours.” We took him up on that offer and asked for use of their building for our Sunday gatherings. He said yes and wouldn’t accept a penny from us.
How have you developed this early group?
At this point our community began to grow. We quickly realized that we needed something to initiate these new people to church and keep gospel community as our focus and not a program or service that we offer to people. So for those who were knew to our community and the way we are church we lead them through an eight week Journaling Community that lead them through what we believed were core to being a missional church. We also found that being Missional meant that small groups as we knew them weren’t in our future. With the help within those of the Ecclesia Network we stumbled onto Missional Communities, which have felt like the missing piece of how a missional church does community.
At this point two thirds of the people who come on Sunday’s are in our Missional Communities. In fact we hold them so central to who we are that if someone does press for numbers in regards to the size of our church I tell them the number in our Missional Communites because it is this place that we believe we have created a pathway to discipleship and a pathway into our city.
What Missional Communities have done for us that I could never do is put power and imagination into the hands of our community. Instead of only a couple leaders saying “outreach” we have found that Missional Communities have empowered our people for mission and have changed their imagination in regards to what they think the church is.
What are a couple key ideas you use as you interact with the downtown community?
Proximity – We think of proximity as just being part of the backdrop of our downtown community. We make it a regular practice to read the local Downtowner paper monthly that talks about what is happening. We often read through it together and highlight and circle things that would be fun to do together. We encourage people to have their accountability groups, community groups and meals downtown as much as possible combined with prayer walks.
We have seen time and time again how just being downtown with no agenda, no strategic plans has opened doors. It has given us eyes to see and understand our community and on several occasions has allowed us to bump into a person of peace to make connections with different people groups within the neighborhood.
Presence – When we think of presence we think of presence as a very focused activity in which we desire to embody the kingdom. On a monthly basis we try to do something with our Missional Community to bless the neighborhood. We ask ourselves 5 filtering questions 1) Where is the shalom/peace broken? 2) What can we do to restore it? 3) Are there any groups in our city whether they have a church background or not that would like to join us? 4) Is it unarguably, unambiguously good? 5) Does it cause us to be known not just by the locals but as the locals?
How have you seen these two values lived out successfully?
These two things, proximity and presence, have combined to let us do several tangible things to connect with our city. We regularly have pizza and ice cream events with ice creams and school supplies during the summer and other needs throughout the year. We’ve had a Style Your Sole Party with TOMS Shoes, that benefited the local Rescue Mission where we offered manicures and pedicures and free TOMS Shoes to the women, that TOMS highlighted on their website. Recently we just had a Casino night for our local Child Abuse Prevention Center.
Recently, one of the greatest compliment our community has received was when the Downtowner paper asked us to let them know whenever we are doing something downtown because they wanted to highlight it and make sure it was in their paper. That meant so much to our community because the Downtowner was the first resource we went to in trying to figure out this area of our city and now they were inviting us to be a part of it.
How “successful” have you been? How do you define “success”?
Kind of an odd question but people who know me often ask if the church is doing good. I’ve struggled with how to answer that question because I know that they are looking for a number to quantify what is good. I could tell them that we have grown by 350% but I don’t because a follow up question will reveal that we grew from 10-35 people, which has been great, but doesn’t quite sound as revivalistic as 350%. The number I have settled on is 2. The number is 2 because Forbes magazine in 2010 ranked Stockton as the second most depressed city in America. We beat Cleveland this year! How successful have we been as a church plant? You tell me, I think the numbers speak for themselves.
Posted in Church Updates → Ecclesia News
New Website
Welcome to our new website. We re-worked the website with the hopes that would help tell our story better and communicate and resource our mission together. Aside from the new layout and look, here are some of the changes you’ll notice:
- Updated the Church Map and Church List
- A new “Equipper Blog” where we’ll be posting links, resources, and articles by and for people in the network.
- Updated the History page our Staff page and as well as our Board of Directors and Advisory Council pages.
- Added a Reading List page which highlights authors in Ecclesia as well as some books that have been influential for us. (This page will continue to be developed as time goes on)
- Added a “Blogs and Connections” page which will introduce you to some of the pastors and leaders in the network.
- You can sign up for our Ecclesia E-Newsletter on the front page and you can subscribe to our website updates and calendar and RSS feeds on our Subscription page.
Posted in Ecclesia News
Welcome Pathways Church to Ecclesia
Pathways is a missional community learning to follow Jesus in the northern suburbs of Baltimore. Loving God, loving others and making lovers, Pathways seeks to reveal the Kingdom through every day life and in every context it finds itself. “Doing life with God and others in public,” Pathways works to change the very nature of the conversations, actions and attitudes in homes, neighborhoods, employment centers and third places throughout Harford County.
Lately, God has opened the door to begin what we hope will be a new mid-sized community based out of Hanley’s Gym in Forest Hill, MD. The new congregation (as yet unnamed), along with Pathways will become the first two mid-sized groups in a larger, regional gathering not unlike that found in the Fresh Expression movement in the UK. We’ve also been blessed to see an increase in local interest in our ongoing work in West Africa. Two local businesses have recently partnered with Pathways to provide support to the local schools and small businesses in Tionk-Essil, Senegal.
Posted in Church Updates → Ecclesia News
Denver 2010 – June 11-12
DATE
Friday, June 11 – 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 12 – 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
PLACE
New Denver Church
HOST
The Ecclesia Network
COST
Free
RSVP
Please RSVP for this event on facebook, so we have a sense of who is coming. Invite your friends through facebook and other means, especially those living in the Denver area.
NATURE OF EVENT
We will be thinking imaginatively about the future of the church with others in an open-source gift economy way. The next BIG idea is about giving time to interact about innovative ways to partner with God in the renewal of all things. UNconference is about freely sharing creative ideas with one another without putting anyone on a pedestal. It is more participant oriented than personality driven. You will hear from practitioners who are on the front lines. There is also no cost, because people are sharing their gifts and knowledge freely.
TOPIC
During our short time together, there will be 14 innovative speakers from 14 different churches each sharing for 14-minutes on innovative ways to think and live missionally. More details on the speakers and topics to come!
Posted in Ecclesia News → Events Blog
Focused Sessions: Updated Schedule
Here’s the updated schedule and locations for the focused sessions:
Focused Session # 1:
Practical Steps to Growth in the Spirit – Ben Sternke (Iowa A)
What NOT To Do When Church Planting – Bruce Hopler (Iowa B)
Membership in the Missional Congregation – Winn Collier (America A)
Developing Reproducing Disciples – Bob Hyatt (America B)
Developing a Contextual Church – Bob & Mary Hopkins (OHIO Room – This Room)
Focused Session # 2:
Evangelism Strategies– Bob Hopkins (Iowa A)
Worship, Liturgy, Mission – Geoff Holsclaw (Iowa B)
Explorations in Missional Theology – David Fitch (America A)
What To Do When The Tank Is Empty – Keith Matthews (America B)
Christianity In A Pluralistic Age – Dallas Willard (OHIO Room – This Room)
Focused Session # 3:
Evangelism Strategies II – Bob & Mary Hopkins (Iowa A)
Lasting in Ministry: Lessons From Ignatius – JR Woodward (Iowa B)
Creative Missional Leadership Teams – Todd Hiestand (America A)
Moving Towards Bi-Vocational Ministry – Geoff Holsclaw (America B)
Christianity in a Pluralistic Age – Dallas Willard (OHIO Room – This Room)
Focused Session # 4:
Missional Communities Roundtable – Doug Paul (Iowa A)
Practical Steps To Growth in the Spirit – Ben Sternke (Iowa B)
Biblical Social Justice – Aaron Graham & Gary Alloway (America A)
Coaching in the Missional Congregation – Brian Hopper (America B)
Developing a Contextual Church – Bob & Mary Hopkins (OHIO Room – This Room)
Posted in Ecclesia News → Events Blog
Ecclesia Liveblog
As the 2010 National Gathering kicks off this week, we are excited to launch a liveblog to extend our experience beyond the room we gather in. It’s designed to function somewhat as a collaborative blog, and somewhat as an encased social media platform. We hope it can extend our learnings and conversations together.
How it works
Gathering participants can register for the site to post updates. If you are going to be at the Gathering, you can register here. Once you register and log in, you will see a post box at the top of the home screen. Any entries you post will automatically be added to the site without refreshing.
Non-attendees are welcome to participate by leaving comments on the attendees’ posts. No registration will be necessary, though there may be a delay for your first comments to appear until they have been moderated.
Ecclesia Network Liveblog
Posted in Ecclesia News → Events Blog
National Gathering Weather Update
Currently, we are proceeding as planned with the National Gathering. The 4H Conference Center has shared that the parking lot will be cleared and that currently the main road in front of their building is also clear. We also understand that there is the prediction of a small snow storm on Monday. At the moment we don’t expect that this will impact the start of the National Gathering. Please stay posted.
Posted in Ecclesia News → Events Blog
Haiti Relief – A Network Approach
From Ecclesia Board Member, JR Woodward…
We have all been touched by the tragedy in Haiti and most of us feel drawn to be of help somehow. But what is the best way to help in this situation? Michelle Singletary in an article for the Washington Post says Haiti earthquake brings out generosity, and scam artists. So true. Which is why it is good to be networked with my friend Bruce Hopler who pastors Cornerstone Community Church in Columbia, Maryland. Bruce and his congregation have been working in the Dominican Republic for many years. The congregation Bruce serves is a part of the Ecclesia Network and their organization, the Del Comino Connection, is in a unique position (sharing the island with Haiti) to help people in Haiti in wise ways.
I received an email from Bruce on Friday on how Dominican Republic organizations, in an effort facilitated by Esperanze Intl. and including Compassion International, Food for the Hungry, World Vision, Healing Waters and the Red del Camino Network churches developed a two phase action plan.
Here is what his partners in Dominican Republic wrote him:
Phase one involves funneling locally purchased relief supplies through churches, ministry partners and community-based organizations connected to the coalition in Haiti. The immediate request from our partners is cash donations so that we can purchase supplies in Dominican cities along the border with Haiti. From previous experience, we have learned that containers sent from abroad take up precious time in transport, customs processing, and transport to the emergency site.
Phase two of the plan will draw from the assessment and mapping currently happening in Haiti. Once emergency processes are met and condition are stablized, we will be requesting in-kind contributions.
Please go to their site to download a pdf file with more details as well as giving donations to the Haiti Disaster Relief Fund, knowing that it is going to meet needs wisely.
Posted in Ecclesia News
New Ecclesia Church Starting in Ft. Wayne, Indiana!!!
Ft. Wayne is home to many firsts, some you’ve probably heard of (the game of basketball) and some you’ve probably not (baking powder).
It’s also home to the first Ecclesia church plant in Indiana. Ben & Deb Sternke are walking with a small core team in starting Christ Church.
Posted in Church Updates → Ecclesia News