“Are you in deep relationship? Do you notice the multitude of relationships that are happening right beneath our feet, and how they are interacting and cooperating in this complex web of life?” These are the questions that the Rev. Chantilly Mers asks of herself and others looking to reconnect to the land in Brooklyn, New York.
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister Jake Medcalf refuses to believe the denomination should just go quietly into the night. “If we’re going to survive,” he says, “we have to trust God has more for us than Sunday morning worship and go make an impact in the neighborhood where we are.”
At “Living, Dying, Rising,” the national gathering for 1001 New Worshiping Communities (1001 NWC) they talked about death. Ninety minutes were devoted to the topic of “dying” during a worship and plenary session.
Worshipers gathered at “Living, Dying, Rising”—the national gathering for 1001 New Worshiping Communities (1001 NWC) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)—were encouraged to “slow down” Tuesday night, “to be in the presence of God,” by walking with Christ on the road to the cross.
What could your congregation do if it didn’t have to worry about keeping up a building?
That’s the question Rev. Eneyas Freitas asked when he started a new worshiping community called Urban Connect in Phoenix. His congregation meets at a new event venue called The Vintage 45 in Phoenix’s warehouse district every Sunday morning.