The Ecclesia Network

a missional church network

General News

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Meditations on the Ecclesia National Gathering ’19

We recently asked some folks to reflect and finish the sentence “I left the Ecclesia National Gathering this year feeling ___________.”

Here’s what they said!

I left the Ecclesia National Gathering this year feeling a lot of respect for some leaders who have endured through some hard seasons!

– Bob

Grateful to be in a community that has walked through and adjusted to a lot of challenging circumstances. It encourages me as a future church-planter that our leadership team will have so much collective wisdom and experience to lean on.

– Curtis

Encouraged by what God is doing through the church.

– Jon

Heard, seen and loved by God.

– Jim

I left encouraged for the future, thanks to the gracious support of my brothers and sisters in Ecclesia.

– Wendy

Feeling grateful the two awards our network gives out each year are for (1) Perseverance and (2) Servanthood (and not Fastest Growing Church or Most “Successful” Church).

I was reminded once again why I love our network so much.

-J.R.

Feeling overwhelmingly confirmed in our vocation, gratitude for the support and experiences of those in the network, and happy to have even more new friends!

– Robbie

Even more thankful to be in the network!

-Mandy

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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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Ecclesia National Gathering ’19 (@ Missio) is Coming!

Another great family reunion time with Ecclesia people!


Each year the Ecclesia National Gathering is a time of celebration for those within the network and other friends of Ecclesia.

We ARE sticking with gathering together at Missio Alliance THIS YEAR.  We will make a more permanent decision in the future.  We are really excited about this opportunity to be together and believe it will be an important and formative time.  I also know that Missio Alliance will have a really solid event coming together that will be helpful to any church that decides to come.

Here is the basic summary …

*  Wednesday Evening, March 27th – Optional Early Arrival/Organized Hang Out/Catch Up

*  Thursday, March 28th – 8.30 am – 1.00 pm – Main Pre-Gathering

*  Focus will be on how, as leaders and congregations, we maintain and engage the delicate balance between welcome and Orthodoxy when it comes to human sexuality.  Our goal will be to hear from Dave Fitch, possibly another leading thinker on the topic, the churches going through the learning community, and the others in our network that have walked this road.  The Ecclesia Staff & Leadership are committed to maintaining timeless Orthodoxy around human sexuality within Ecclesia, while simultaneously creating space for our churches to work with one another to provide the maximum welcome possible amidst the various alternative sexual expressions on the rise today.

We know this topic is significant, emotional, and quite sensitive for many churches.  We realize it is important, not only the position we hold, but also in how communicate.  As opposed to years past when we have allowed “non-Ecclesia” churches into this gathering, we will keep this exclusively for churches already in Ecclesia (or those in the application process that we are certain align with our values in this arena).  Since the importance of this topic is most significant and there is much emotion when it comes to discussing it, we want this space to be safeguarded for sharing and processing.

While the event itself will be on our website, there will be no direct link to register because of our desire to keep this “closed”.

To register, please visit our Ecclesia Network Members Facebook Group.
(If you don’t have Facebook, you can send an email to Bob Hyatt and we’ll send you the registration link)

Also- if you want to register for the main Missio Awakenings Gathering, you can do so here– Use the code “ECCLESIA@MISSIO” and get 10% off the registration price as an Ecclesia Member!

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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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Ecclesia National Gathering ’18 Round Up!

Another great family reunion time with Ecclesia people!


Each year the Ecclesia National Gathering is a time of celebration for those within the network and other friends of Ecclesia. In addition to the welcome of new churches, one of the highlights of each year is the recognition of those who have been newly ordained or commissioned within Ecclesia. Within Ecclesia we like to say that Ordination or Commission is something that is best Locally Coordinated and Conducted, Regionally Involved and Affirmed, and Nationally Recognized and Celebrated. This falls in line with our value of the Primacy of the Local Church (note: this is distinct from the autonomy of the local church).

At the 2018 National Gathering we recognized the commissioning/ordination ofthe following 7 leaders:

Wendy Chinn, New Life in Blacksburg, VA

Aaron Hatton, University Christian Church in Cincinnati, OH

Christian Hearl, New Life Christian Fellowship in Blacksburg, VA

David McCann, New Life Christian Fellowship in Blacksburg, VA

Scott Meiser, Redemption Church in Bristol, PA

Becca Osborn, Life on the Vine in Arlington Heights, IL

Emily Shulz, New Denver Church in Denver, CO

 

In addition, a few years ago we began a special honor called the Perseverance Award. Typically, the perseverance award is given to those individuals who set out to plant a new congregation, but their journey has been met with challenge and disappointment. Yet, in spite of those obstacles they maintained faithfulness to God’s call and didn’t give up or move on.  However, this year our staff team decided to honor someone who has persevered in ministry over several decades of ministry.  This year, we recognized Jim Pace for his many years of service and faithfulness at NLCF in Blackcsburg, VA.  Jim has spent three different decades in leadership at NLCF and has been an exemplar of dedication to ministry for many in Ecclesia.  Jim is a former board member for Ecclesia and now regularly gives time to coaching and consulting with other churches.

In 2016, Ecclesia also began a new honor called the Servants Award. This award is given to a member of the network that goes above and beyond the norm to pour themselves into the ministry of Ecclesia and the relationships between leaders. Past recipients of the Servants Award have been Mike Hollenbach of the TheBridge in Easton, PA and Jeanette Staats of NLCF in Blacksburg, VA.  This year, our staff team bestowed the honor of the Servants Award to our excellent board chair person, Cyd Holsclaw. 

Cyd stepped in faithfully to serve as the first non-staff board

 

chair for Ecclesia in 2017.  She has dedicated hours of service to Ecclesia as a whole, as well as many trips and visits to network churches across the country.  We have been blessed by her leadership and look forward to many more years!

More ENG ’18 photos here

Listen in as Katie, Jeremiah, Matt & Meg from Oak Church in Durham, NC share testimonies of their recent time together at the  Ecclesia National Gathering

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Ecclesia National Gathering ’18 Workshops

Here’s a preview of the workshops we’ll be offering at the National Gathering!

  • Communicating the Gospel in An Age of Skepticism – Josh Crain

The place of religion in society has changed profoundly in the last few centuries, particularly in the West. What do these changes mean, and what, precisely, happens when a society becomes one in which faith is only one human possibility among others? Borrowing from experts such as Charles Taylor, James K.A. Smith, Don Beck, and Stanley Grenz, Josh Crain walks us through the cultural shifts that define 21st century Western society and how the church might continue to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus in this evolving context.

  • Contextual Apologetics – Lisa Fields

Historically, apologetics in America has been framed by white evangelicals.  While important work has been done in this area, challenges exist because the dominant culture is often disconnected from the needs and the nuances of other cultures that they are seeking to engage.  Therefore, a contextualized approach to apologetics is helpful in this endeavor. In this session we will seek to help the participants defend their faith in every cultural context.

  • Before the Bridge – Cyd & Geoff Holsclaw

When it comes to explaining salvation, many of us know the bridge illustration. But what if, instead of us crossing the bridge over to God’s side, it was God who came over to our side and built a house for us to live together with him? How might this house depict the reunion of heaven and earth (God’s side and ours), and even the reunion of God’s presence and our purpose in the world? Can we use the image of a house to quickly communicate the whole narrative of scripture and make it possible to proclaim good news answers to life’s really big questions? In this session, help us ‘beta test’ a new illustration for the gospel that we hope can be shared with people of all ages and faith backgrounds.

  • Proclaiming the Good News to Children/Youth – Juliet Liu

There are loads of curricula, books, and websites geared to share the gospel with children and youth. It can be overwhelming and exhausting to try to sort through all the possibilities. But how is everything we decide to read / say / do with kids shaped by who we are with kids? This session will be part theological foundations and part collaborative conversation / brainstorming. Bring your celebratory stories and your challenging struggles. All are welcome, whether you work with kids or not.

 

  • It Doesn’t All Point to Jesus: Preaching the Gospel Without Preaching the Gospel™ – Norton Herbst

Preaching is hard. Preachers have to be engaging, biblical, helpful, and above all, gospel-focused. Every week. But what does it mean to preach the gospel? How do you preach gospel sermons from the Old Testament without simply saying “it all points to Jesus”? And how do we avoid the tendency to develop a packaged summary of the gospel message—the Gospel™—that we simply append to every sermon? In this breakout, we’ll explore these questions about preaching philosophy, style, and methods as it relates to gospel themes. Norton Herbst will suggest some practical ways we can take more risks, incorporate creativity, and bring a holistic approach to preaching that can engage diverse audiences with the life-changing message of the gospel.  

  • The Gospel in the Life of the Pastor – Mandy Smith & J.R. Briggs

As church leaders our job is to proclaim the gospel to others, but we often forget that the gospel applies to us as well.  In the midst of the busyness and demands of ministry, it is too easy to lose track of the significance of the gospel in our own lives.  In this workshop, Mandy Smith and J.R. Briggs want to help create a safe space to share the challenges of ministry, apply the truth of the gospel to those challenges, and to pray with and for one another.

 

  • Incarnational Apologetics – Lisa Fields

Classical apologetics focuses on giving intellectual arguments for the hope that we have, while incarnational apologetics focuses on giving a defense for our faith through the way we live our lives. These two must work together in tandem for an effective defense of the Christian faith. The goal in this session is to highlight the importance and means of incarnational apologetic to the Christian walk.

  • The Power of the Gospel Across Cultures – Mia Chang & Danny Prada

One of the uniquenesses of the gospel of Jesus Christ is how it is has inhabited and transformed hundreds, if not thousands, of cultures and people groups around the globe throughout history.  For many years, those cultures were relatively isolated from one another. Today though, a wide range of ethnicities and cultures are in many of the communities that we are seeking to engage with the gospel.  As local churches, how can we proclaim this same good news, contextually and appropriately, across many cultures in our singular local churches. Further, how does the gospel help us live together amidst our differences in heritage and perspective.  Join Danny and Mia as they share the story of how diverse communities of biblical faith have developed in their congregations and how their learnings can apply to yours.