Hezekiah's House (interviewed by Evelyn Rivera)

 Hezekiah’s House is a new ministry movement of Asbury Church in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Vision:

A people focused, Spirit-led ministry movement offering help, healing, and hope while reaching new people for Christ.

Urban Village Chicago (interviewed by Leigh Finnegan)

Vision

            Urban Village describes itself as bold, inclusive, and relevant.^[1] These three somewhat vague descriptors encapsulate a number of traits that make Urban Village a unique worshipping community. But what does “BOLD. INCLUSIVE. RELEVANT” really mean? And how is this vision lived out in the lives of the worshipping community? 

The Gathering (interviewed by Kristopher Sledge)

The Gathering, an eight-year-old church plant in St. Louis was planted and is being led by lead pastor Matt Miofsky. In eight short years, this church has become a vital and effective congregation in a context that has not received a new church for centuries. This young congregation and leadership team started with a few people and now reaches over 1,300 people each weekend. I had the privilege in interviewing one of the Gathering’s site pastors, Pastor Chris Abel. The vision, context, pastors, history, and strategies all give sight to the amazing effectiveness and vitality of this United Methodist congregation. The Gathering gives much hope and optimism is a system and denomination that has been coined and embraced his declining worship attendance and overall connection with communities throughout the United States. 

Root and Branch (interviewed by Shanay Scott)

The History

            Three friends who attended the University of Chicago Divinity School together were facing the same tension. Timothy Kim, Neil Ellingson and Andrew Packman were all in there twenties while in divinity school. They had similar divinity school church experiences. While seeking a church to attend in Chicago they all found that the local churches were not intriguing to them. The churches they visited were either too traditional for the young men or too boring. Inevitably, it became hard for the young men to find an outside community they felt connected with. Although, they experienced a comparable tension all three men had their own unique experiences with church prior to divinity school. 

The Village (interviewed by Lynnette Cole)

The Village Church is a fascinating church with much to offer any demographic. This church started out with the pastor, Reverend Cheri Holdridge, getting a "deep sense of calling that God wanted to do" something new. She prayer walked around the city trying to figure out where it was that God was calling her to plant. When the vision started to form, she shared it with her husband, Kurt Young, and they started what is considered an "alternative coffee house worship experience". This experience led them to plant what is today called "The Village". 

Renaissance Church Kansas City (interviewed by Isaiah Redd, Sr.)

For my interview, I had the honor and privilege to speak with one of the fastest growing new faith communities in the Missouri Conference, the Renaissance Church in Kansas City.  The Pastor is Lia McIntosh, a 42 year old African-American female pastor, and a recent graduate of St. Paul School of Theology. The Renaissance is based in an urban setting in the Kansas City area and it has a vision to reach younger and more diverse people in the area.

Valley and Mountain Church (interviewed by Kattie Monfortte)

The Valley and Mountain church community, just outside of Seattle, is one that embraces a postmodern spirituality in a post Christendom society. This encourages a diversity of beliefs within one faith community, shapes how the group gathers, shapes what role the community plays in the larger context of Seattle and shapes how John Helmiere chooses to lead the Valley and Mountain community.  

Journey UMC

On Friday, November 7, I was privileged to interview Rev. Mike Davis, pastor of Journey UMC, a recent church plant in Amelia County, Virginia. He provided me with a plentiful supply of information regarding his call to ministry and the history of Journey. This information was fascinating for me and also helpful for me in understanding the process and context of rural church planting.

The Slate Project (interviewed by Elyse Milligan)

The Slate Project: Christianity without the Crap's vision is to create an ecumenical, Christian community that is both face –to- face and online by asking "What if we had a blank slate?" How could we connect to our sacred history, the biblical narrative and the arts so that radical transformational experiences can be experienced then embodied. Their inspiration came from The Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle and the Book of Acts. The ministry team, of three, targeted de-churched people within the arts community in Hampden, a borough of Baltimore. This progressive and emergent Christian community became the Slate Project. 

The ROAD (interviewed by Pat Dupont)

I. VISION

            The vision of The ROAD, Rev. Rebecca Laird's multi site plant in the city of Syracuse, New York, was threaded throughout our conversation.  Multiple times, while explaining different aspects of her church, Rev. Laird would return to its vision and purpose.  "The ROAD stands for the Relational, Open to all, Affirming, and Diverse," and their vision "is to be a sustainable ministry that reaches people on the margins that the traditional church isn't reaching, and to be a church that is more about being in the community than in a building, and where worship can be anything from offering communion on a street corner to a conversation at the bar to a full fledged worship service in a coffee house."