Expanding the ‘we’ in an ecosystem of established churches and new worshiping communities

Decades of focus on NWCs impacts the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta

by Beth Waltemath | Presbyterian News Service

“I think the impact in our presbytery is what I like to call ‘expanding the we.’ Who we are goes beyond the established churches that have been here but expands with different people and new communities, immigrant communities, places all across the Greater Atlanta region,” said the Rev. Aisha Brooks-Johnson, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, who described how 36 new worshiping communities allow the presbytery to be “diverse, unique, inclusive and creative.”

“Exactly half are first-generation new immigrant communities,” said the Rev. Dr. Lindsay Armstrong, executive director of the presbytery’s New Church Development Commission (NCDC). Founded in 1982 as a joint effort among three Georgia presbyteries, “the original purpose of the NCDC was to identify entrepreneurial leaders and establish a clear, agile path for new congregations to build and grow,” according to its website. In 2014, the NCDC became an initiative solely of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, but it also found a supportive partnership in the 1001 New Worshiping Communities movement, which took root in 2012.

NCDC and 1001 NWC developed a partnership, sharing wisdom, training and resources in the work of developing new leaders in entrepreneurial ministry. Currently, NCDC offers leadership coaching, infrastructure support, network development and start-up training as well as strategic grant support in concert with the grants available through 1001 NWC.

The Rev. Dr. Lindsay Armstrong

According to Armstrong, the presbytery’s focus on starting new churches and the support the commission gives to new worshiping community leaders “brings a lot of people who are new and generally younger,” as well as those who are new immigrants. What they have in common, said Armstrong, is that both groups are “looking for home and stability and a place to express their faith in the language that is their first language, the language of their heart.”

The Rev. Nikki Collins, coordinator of 1001 NWC, appreciates the posture of welcome that the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta has developed toward new worshiping communities over several decades, explaining that how we hold ourselves not only affects how others see us but also shapes how we see ourselves. “Lately, much of the work of the 1001 movement has been around helping the church form not just policies, patterns, and practices that support a thriving and diverse ecosystem of ministry but also in assuming the postures that best help us engage our neighbors,” said Collins, who hopes 1001 NWC trainings and support will help leaders of churches, worshiping communities and mid councils “not just to be seen as welcoming but to feel hospitality in our bones.”

The Rev. Aisha Brooks-Johnson

Collins has seen amazing things come from new worshiping leaders and mid councils “whose posture of leaning into risk and experimentation” has yielded a great impact, like the Presbytery of San Fernando, which earlier this year celebrated 55 new worshiping communities in 55 years, or the Presbytery of Denver, which supports cutting-edge ideas in ministries based on entrepreneurial business models and non-geographic, online models.

Through the “Pathways to Flourishing” model, 1001 NWC hopes to encourage other presbyteries to embrace “ecosystems of innovation that allow new ministries to find their footing and thrive” so that they too can feel the beneficial impact of new communities as the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta has.

“I think this is a beautiful ecosystem that God is putting together, and we each learn and grow from each other,” said Brooks-Johnson. “I feel like it’s a glimpse of what God desires for us as disciples.”

The best way for mid councils to start in the Pathways program is to reach out to 1001 NWC associate, the Rev. Shawn Kang.