1001 new worshiping community

When church is dangerous, digital ministry provides sanctuary

“Finally!” was all my United Methodist friend had to text me when I asked how their General Conference was going. While I echo their relief, I know the recovery period for my LGBTQIA+ siblings is far from being final. Presbyterians stand as proof that the vote is sometimes the easiest part of change. As the leader of a ministry with over 90% LGBTQIA+-identifying members, I know a vote is one step of a long journey — one that began with fervent prayers for change. Not to change the Book of Order, but to change oneself. For every LGBTQIA+ person raised in the Christian faith, their journey of self-discovery includes years, often decades, of praying to God to change who they are.

Finding God in the mountains while on a paddleboard

“People are looking for meaning in their lives,” said Nathan Heimer, who with his wife, Mindy, have found more success opening up deep conversations on a paddleboard, in a yoga class or in a coffee shop instead of a traditional church. That’s why the Heimers started a paddleboard ministry named A Stoked Life in Colorado rather than waiting for people who have grown up in secular households or who have been hurt by the church to walk through a sanctuary door looking for a good sermon. They see themselves as a bridge between nature-lovers and communities that seek to be God’s love in the world.

New worshiping community charters as church in South Carolina

“Did you agree to be dirt?” the Rev. CeCe Armstrong asked commissioners of Charleston Atlantic Presbytery and members of a newly chartered church in Charleston, South Carolina. The members of Parkside Church in Charleston, in accordance with G-1.0201 in the Book of Order, signed a charter that read in response to the grace of God, “We promise and covenant to live together in unity and to work together in ministry as disciples of Jesus Christ, bound to him and to one another as a part of the body of Christ in this place according to the principles of faith, mission, and order of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).”

A PC(USA) new worshiping community in Texas is blessed to be served by ‘the community’s pastor’

A 1001 new worshiping community is bringing new life into Woodhaven Presbyterian Church in Irving, Texas. The leader of the Ghanaian immigrant community worshiping at Woodhaven is Martin Osae, a bi-vocational pastor who works full time as an educator in Dallas. Osae is heavily involved in the community, ministering to people outside the walls of the church — so much so that he is known as the community’s pastor.

‘I’m happier and it’s crazy how that happens’

This past summer, 1001 New Worshiping Communities ministry kin-dom community hosted its first kin-dom camp for LGBTQIA+ youth ages 12–17 living in Texas and other states in the Synod of the Sun.

New worshiping community is A Work in Progress

The Rev. Susan Brouillette, a new leader in the 1001 worshiping community movement, hopes to create a community for those who are spiritual but not religious and want to make the world a better place.

If the land could speak, what stories would it tell?

After COVID-19 forced the cancelation of planned projects and in-person worship, Coastland Commons, a 1001 New Worshiping Community in Seattle Presbytery, moved to Zoom discussions about their city’s history of land use by Black, Indigenous and people of color communities. After about six months of Zoom gatherings, they figured out a safe way to see Seattle anew through socially distanced community walks. They reached out to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), which organizes redlining tours in Seattle’s Capitol Hill and Central District neighborhoods.

PC(USA) pastors team up for antiracism work in Pittsburgh

The Revs. Gavin Walton, 29, and Michael Holohan, 40, believe it’s important for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to do more than just talk about racism. They say it’s time for the Church to take action against racial injustice, which from their view is long overdue.

Pastors’ podcast helps listeners grow in their faith

In college, the Revs. Layne Bailey Brubaker and Abigail Spears Velázquez wore matching hats embroidered with the words ‘Sick & hAlarious.’ These expressions are endearing reminders of their visits with Abi’s grandmother and great aunt, who would frequently exclaim “sick” or “hAlarious” in response to one another’s stories about life in their retirement. “Abi and I picked this up from them,” Brubaker said. We always imagined ourselves in the last days of our lives, living in a retirement community, laughing, and saying everything is ‘sick’ and ‘hAlarious.’” Abi’s grandmother passed away recently, so “it is with loving gratitude that we honor her in the name of our podcast: Sick & hAlarious: A Podcast Where We Encounter God In It All.”