The Ecclesia Network

a missional church network

Church Updates

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New Ministry Spotlight: The Mill Chapel Open Sanctuary

Ecclesia’s Redemption Church in Bristol, PA has started an amazing new missional initiative. Here’s Pastor Gary Alloway’s latest update:

In 2017, Redemption Church in Bristol, PA got a grant to research the topic of young adults and religion and after a number of interviews, a theme emerged: Young adults were open to God, but scared of the church. It got us thinking: “What would it look like to create a space where people could meet God, but there were no requirements for membership, beliefs, or behaviors?” In September, we opened The Mill Chapel, an open sanctuary space for the town of Bristol. The Mill is a storefront just off main street that is decorated in both simple and sacred aesthetics. Our initial offerings are basic: open prayer from 6 to 8 am and an evening contemplative prayer class. And while we have big dreams for classes, events, and workshops, our biggest dream is simply to have the space open as much as possible for anyone to come in.

Why open a prayer chapel in Bristol? Sometimes practice comes before belief. I’ve always been intrigued by the culture of AA, which asks people to pray even if they don’t believe. A weird thing happens when people do this. Quite often, people come to know God. When Jesus invites his disciples, he doesn’t first explain to them the Kingdom of God. Instead, he simply says, “Come follow me.” And it is only after they taste and touch the Kingdom of God that the disciples come to believe. Our hope is that someone could come in for prayer or silence or meditation and even if they don’t yet believe, they could meet the Living God.

Why open a prayer chapel in Bristol? Redemption has been working as missionaries in Bristol for 9 years now, forming relationships all over town. We’ve often found that Sundays are not a good point of invitation for those who are spiritual-but-not-religious. We wanted to create a middle space, something that is overtly spiritual, gets beyond the pleasantries and small talk, and yet, a place without the baggage that come with attending church.

Why open a prayer chapel in Bristol? Because Bristol, like anywhere else, needs prayer. One of the privileges of my life has been to visit churches and monasteries all over the world that are committed to prayer. There is a lightness and a joy that permeates the air. On mornings when I drive our kids to school, I drive past The Mill, look inside, and see that the candles are lit. Someone is praying for Bristol. And no matter how heavy the day feels, something of that lightness and joy comes to visit me. Bristol is being prayed for. It makes my heart happy.

The Mill is a missional experiment and we hope that many come to know and enjoy God through that place. But honestly, if all that ever happened at The Mill was that a bunch of Redemptionites got praying for Bristol, I bet God would do pretty good things with that. And since that is already happening, I would say the experiment is a success.

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News from around the Ecclesia Network

Redemption Church, Bristol PA

Weekly Worship, Meeting God

In September, Redemption switched back to a weekly worship service after six years of meeting in house churches.  We loved house churches, but after a careful discernment process, we decided God was calling us into something new.  We hope the switch is a way to care better for our kids, open the door for the community of Bristol, and take advantage of the talented teachers, liturgists, and musicians we now have at Redemption.  But more than that, we hope the switch is an opportunity to meet God.  While house church specializes in intimacy with one another, in discernment, we discovered a deep longing for intimacy with God – a desire to be drawn into something bigger than ourselves. We are still committed to discipleship, to local mission, and to intimate community.  But all those things are meaningless without a relationship to the Living God.  So we have prayed that God would meet us in worship.  And four months in, God has been answering that prayer abundantly!  Amen.

 

Austin Mustard Seed, Austin TX

At Austin Mustard Seed we’ve had a lot to celebrate lately. There have been many changes in our leadership since the summer. Throughout the process, we’ve had a clear sense of God’s presence and feel gratitude for God’s direction and provision. We believe it is gratitude that gives us joy, and we are thankful to experience shared joy as a community this Advent season.

This month we commissioned four leaders in our church. On December 2, April Karli and Daniel Read were commissioned as pastors, and on December 9, Ashley Blackwell and Shane Blackshear were commissioned as lay pastors.

 

 

Update From The Crowded House

“Central Florida doesn’t need another worship gathering.”

I remember uttering those words to countless people two years ago when Crystal and I decided to launch The Crowded House Network. We believed those words then and we believe those words now.

Central Florida does not need another worship gathering but The Crowded House Network does. Over the past few years we have grown from a small gathering of young adults on Tuesday nights, to an inter-generational church consisting of three house churches throughout Central Florida. Our dream is that The Crowded House be a spiritual family on mission together. This was easy to accomplish with eight people on a Tuesday night. Living into this way of being the church when we are three house churches spread out across Central Florida is anything but easy.

In order for us to live into the dream of being a spiritual family on mission together, our leadership team has made the decision to lead us into a new kind of gathering to complete all the good that is happening in our house churches.

On the first and third Sundays of every month, we will gather as an entire network to sing songs of praise, offer prayers for one another, proclaim the good news, and partake of the Eucharist. While this will have similar elements to other church worship gatherings, our focus on communal spiritual growth, corporate prayers and participation, and sacramental theology will make this gathering unmistakably The Crowded House.

This is an exciting time for us as a church. We are stepping into something new and unexplored for us. Just as we had the audacious dream to start a network of house churches in a land of traditional churches, we are exploring what is next as we continue to develop as a family on mission together.

 

The Renew Community, Lansdale PA

Recently, The Renew Community held a “Blue Christmas” Potluck/Gathering

Blue Christmas is a special service to acknowledge that for many people, Christmas is a time of loneliness, sorrow, alienation, sadness. This service offers a way for people to claim those feelings and still feel surrounded by the compassionate love of God. Afterwards, we will share a meal together. If you would like to provide part of this meal, please sign up for an item to bring.

If you want to know more about this, or even how your church can serve the grieving during the holidays, check out this webinar from Missio Alliance with Ecclesia’s own Kate Blackshear (from Austin Mustard Seed)- Download/Watch FREE until Dec 31st.

Reminder… 

We encourage all our churches, during difficult or stressful times in their community to remember that they have the resources of a network to draw on. Your Ecclesia staff members (Chris Backert, J.R. Briggs and Bob Hyatt) are ready and available to help you navigate whatever you are facing!

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New Church Spotlight:  Derik Heumann and Evergreen

 

Derik Heumann was part of our Fall 2017 Genesis Church Planter’s Training. Since then, Derik and his wife Kim along with another couple have been intentionally moving through a core-group phase, gathering like-minded folks, seeing people come to know Jesus, and moving towards launching a public gathering this coming Spring as Evergreen Church in Ann Arbor, MI! They are currently meeting in (and outgrowing) the Heumann’s basement, and as they connect with neighbors, friends old and new.

Some recent updates from Derik:

  • We are continuing to grow and welcome new people into the Evergreen community!  In the last month, we had 10 new people visit our Sunday gathering and experience 3 streams worship, intentional community, and Jesus as Healer.
  • We launched our second round of Discipleship Bands (groups of 3-5 who read together, pray together, and meet together to be the love of God for one another and the world). Now we have 16 of our community engaging with God and one another in deep, intentional, and accountable discipleship.
  • JESUS AS HEALER! We concluded our 7 week series by having a Healing Prayer service. 15 people came and encountered the Risen Jesus in many different ways. Our friend C.J. Hock from Asbury Seminary was our guest worship leader for the night.
  • We got to bless and send our first missionaries being scattered out into the world. Seth and Jenna have been with us since they came off their first stint with YWAM and are headed back to Norway for the next year. We sent them out in prayer and with Evergreen Church journals to record all of the ways Jesus speaks to them and moves through them around the world.
  • We began regular rhythms of singing together on the first Sunday of each month, are beginning to form the initial Discipleship Core of 12 to start working together in January, and we God is continually providing financially for us with 1-2 new donors each week.
  • People are encountering Jesus and finding belonging! Some recent stories:
    • “This is my community, these are my people.”
    • “This is what I’ve been looking for since coming to Ann Arbor.”
    • “I didn’t know this kind of Church existed! This is what Jesus has been telling me about!”
    • “Jesus said go and join Evergreen, so here I am ready to learn and grow.”
    • “I have never heard the voice of God like we did tonight, that was so cool!”

 

 

 

How you can be praying for Evergreen:

  • PRAY for 100% funding.
    • We need $69,700 to make our general 3 year budget: That’s 19 people committing to give $100 a month or 39 people committing to give $50/month for 3 years.

Does your church have money budgeted/set aside to help other church plants? Consider supporting Evergreen as they lean in with the Ecclesia Network!

    • Would you prayerfully consider the following to help us accomplish the mission Jesus has called us to?
      • A one time, end of the year tax-deductible gift of $500-$7500
      • A recurring $25-$200 a month gift to accomplish the mission Jesus has called us to?
        • CLICK HERE  for online giving or you can send checks to the mailing address at the bottom and write Evergreen Church in the memo line.

You can check out/follow Evergreen here: 

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New Churches Welcomed to the Ecclesia Network!

We were pleased at this year’s National Gathering to welcome a number of new churches into our network! Get to know them!

Mission Wilmington, Wilmington, NC


Mission Wilmington’s goal is to transform their community by connecting spiritual seekers together to know Jesus and to grow together as they grow in Him.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Contact

Brick City Church, Ocala, FL

Brick City Church is a non-denominational church whose mission is to become fully devoted followers of Christ, growing in both knowledge and relationship with Jesus, the Bible, and one another. We believe following Jesus means joining in God’s work of restoring our broken world and caring for the most vulnerable in our community, specifically vulnerable children in Marion County and beyond.

Website | Facebook | Contact

The Crowded House Network, Longwood, FL

The Crowded House Network is a network of house churches that serve as missional outposts in central Florida. By gathering together, sharing a meal, proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus, and engaging our communities in acts of justice and mercy we believe we are forming dynamic communities that reflect the nature of God in and to the world.

Website | Facebook | Contact

 

Defiance Church, Glenwood Springs, CO

Defiance is a church born out of the radical reformation – a people who defied the dominant cultural forms of faith in their time. These Anabaptist communities held a theological and spiritual stance that refused to let violence be the last word in a world fractured by sin, violence, and fear.  We are called to live differently – to live in a way that often stands at odds with what the world tells us is important. We live in God’s wholeness with each other and extend this movement of peace out into the world.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Contact

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New Churches

In a continued sign of momentum in Ecclesia, we are excited to welcome two new congregations to our family – The Neighborhood Church in Garland, TX and Koinonia House in Pottstown, PA.   Both of these churches have been journeying with Ecclesia the last year and it’s a joy to make them and official part of the community.

The Neighborhood Church is located in the suburbs of Dallas and is seeking to follow Jesus for the sake of God’s kingdom in Garland, Texas.  Garland is a large suburb that happens to be one of the most ethnically diverse cities of its size in the U.S.  Their hope is that The Neighborhood Church would look more and more like our Garland as they live into their name by walking alongside their neighbors in meaningful relationships.

Here is how Adam describes The Neighborhood Church …
“Our people are authentic, hospitable, and sacrificial. Some grew up in church, some were hurt by a church and have found healing, and others are completely new to church (even in the middle of the Bible belt). We try to live authentically with God and each other as a family. The church was planted by Mark Moore as Providence Community Church in a nearby city over a decade ago. We’ve changed our name and re-planted in Garland but the core practices of believing the gospel of the kingdom, belonging to one another, and blessing our city and world has been a constant through the years.

God has been so gracious to unite us together with a clear sense of who we’ve become and what we’re called to do. We want to be a faithful presence to those in need, to the marginalized, and to the de-churched. Since the Fall of 2015 we’ve partnered with a community center in one of the most economically disadvantaged areas of the city two miles from where we gather for worship. We’ve served in a variety of ways from after school programs, holiday parties, and VBS-style summer student weeks, but now we’re taking another step in our effort to be good neighbors for God’s kingdom by launching a Neighborhood Clothes Closet to meet needs and open more doors to relationships.

We are thrilled to be part of Ecclesia. After Pastor Bud Riddel and I (Adam) visited last year’s national gathering we were convinced we had found a nurturing and life-giving community that shared our heartbeat. Pastor Kathy Keasler (formerly of A New Community), Pastor Bud, and I can’t wait to develop new relationships within the network and to continue to grow our existing relationships. By God’s grace, we look forward to being God’s people together.”

Bob Hyatt, Director of Equipping and Spiritual Formation said, “I’ve always been impressed with the way the Neighborhood Church, planted in the heart of Church Country, has managed to be different. By living as a truly missional community they live out a real Kingdom alternative to the culture around them in a way that both challenges and inspires.”

In addition to TNC, Ecclesia is also enthusiastic to welcomeKoinonia House to our movement.  Koinonia was planted by Jessica Clemmer and her husband Todd over a decade ago with a desire to “do church differently.”  They envisioned a community that was relationally centered, and shared life together built around faith.  In discussing their origins Jessica relayed,

“We thought we wanted to create an atmosphere where people who typically wouldn’t feel comfortable showing up at a traditional church would feel welcome. We wanted to be intentional about making space for the arts in church life, and wanted to be a place of blessing to our local communities. What we were really desiring was a fuller realization and living out of the Gospel, though at that point we didn’t have a paradigm for understanding or living that well.”

Throughout the years, Koinonia has begun to develop and lean into a fuller understanding of the Gospel; in that it wasn’t JUST for saving from hell to heaven, but that it was a process of partnering with God in the reconciliation and restoration of all things.  As this settled deeper into their core, they began to get ahold of the concept of missional living, feeling released to build and enjoy genuine relationships with people that were not part of our faith, which they could see cultivating much more openness to the Gospel.  J.R. Briggs, Director of Leadership & Congregational Formation has been walking alongside Koinonia in this last year.  J.R. shares, “It’s been a pleasure to spend time with the Koinonia House community- and it’s been a joy to call Jessi and Todd Clemmer friends for the past few years. After talking about Ecclesia with the Clemmers and their leaders for some time, I’m thrilled that Koinonia House is now officially a part of the network.”

After many years of meeting in different locations, now they are seeking to put down roots, and be present and stable for the communities in which we live and are involved.  On behalf of Koinonia, Jessica says, “We are excited about the ways that God has been connecting us with the greater Body, both in our local region, as well as through like-minded networking, such as Ecclesia. We are moving into a new season with great expectation, not of what we will be able to do FOR God, but rather, what we will be blessed to be able to do WITH Him.”

Ecclesia is excited to walk along with you in Koinonia and Neighborhood Church!

The Neighborhood Church in Garland, TX



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Reaching New Hights

 

 

 

 

–J.R. Briggs

February 5 may have been Super Bowl Sunday, but Sunday afternoon many experienced something much more significant than the Patriots’ dramatic win. New Hights Christian Church, a brand new Spanish-speaking congregation in Hightstown, NJ, held their first baptism service that included their worship service, baptism, recognition of new members and dinner and cake afterward.

Pastored by Oscar Guerrero, New Hights was birthed through the support of several mission-oriented tribes that desire to see more churches birthed. Three years ago Oscar participated in a learning cohort with Fresh Expressions U.S., a sister organization of Ecclesia. At the encouragement of Mia Chang (Ecclesia board member and pastor of nearby Next Gen Church in West Windsor, NJ) – along with the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey, Oscar attended the Fresh Expressions trainings and learned about joining with the Spirit in birthing new, creative expressions and extensions of church right where you are.

While the church started in Oscar’s living room just four months ago, services now include more than 50 people. That Sunday afternoon not only included 12 baptisms of new believers, but also included the recognition of 38 new members to the church! They serve the elderly and shut-ins, run after school tutoring for kids, started a youth ministry and host several Bibles studies each week. In that Sunday service, singing, praying and preaching in Spanish (which was then translated to English) reminded everyone in attendance of our big God who is worshiped and understood in various languages and cultures. Speaking of prayer, Oscar’s heart for and conviction of the importance of prayer is clear. “If we don’t pray,” he said, “our church will die. Prayer is how we depend upon God – for everything.”

Mia Chang and J.R. Briggs both present, where Mia assisted with the baptisms. She and J.R. gave a brief word of encouragement to the baptism candidates and laid hands on the candidates in prayer at the end of the service. When Ecclesia envisioned initiating a Pentecost Offering in 2016 we were praying faithfully that we could bless a congregation in a way that birthed fruit for the kingdom. What a privilege it is to partner with New Hights  – in prayer, finances and relationships – in order to see new congregations bring God’s hope-filled mission to a world in need.

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