Presbygrow

Download this video of a story of Riverside Presbyterian Church in Sterling, Va.  Historically the church had put on a Christmas pageant attracting thousands of people during the Advent season.  Feeling a new to do something more tangible that merely a participant/spectator type of celebration, they decided to share Christmas with their community.  They partnered with a local elementary school to provide gifts to underprivileged children, they hosted Christmas meals for day-laborers in the community and members hosted Christmas Eve services in their own living rooms, inviting members, friends and neighbors.  Riverside is one community of faith that worships in both English (pastor Brian Clark) and Spanish (pastor Edwin Andradre).

http://www.pcusa.org/media/uploads/videos/sharing-christmas.mov

Evangelism and Church Growth’s 2012 conference

JULY 29 – AUGUST 2, 2012
ST. PETE BEACH, FLORIDA

Influence culture. Live out your mission. Develop disciples. Grow spiritually.

Join Evangelism and Church Growth for ECG 2012, an all area ministry conference, to discover how to become the church God intended us to be.

Learning tracks will be available for Evangelism, New Church Development, Transformation, Collegiate Ministries and Youth Workers.

LOCATION

Tradewinds Resort
5500 Gulf Blvd.
St. Pete Beach, Florida

RATES

Early Bird Registration $250

Housing: Private Room $115, Double $56, Triple $39

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Len Sweet
Highly influential in social media, best-selling author.

Linnea Nilsen Capshaw
Empowering leaders discern and live out mission.

Jo Saxton
Helping churches live into a discipling and missional way of being.

Mark Yaconelli
Exploring ground breaking spiritual direction and practice in Youth Ministry.

**Online registration will be open in early 2012.**

Go here to visit the official  ECG 2012 website.

A coffee house that’s a church?

A worshiping community that draws young artists?

A ministry that focuses on Houston’s growing Vietnamese population?

These are some of Dynamic New Churches in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  Click on the link below to learn these and other  PC(U.S.A.) new church developments are serving their contexts in unique and inspired ways.

Go here to learn more.

October 18-21, 2011

Registration Fee: $150 (includes meals, local transportation, and a small group coach)

Location: Sterling, VA

Sponsored by: The Training Center for Innovative Church Leadership

Countless church and presbytery teams are trying to discern ways to reach out to changing communities. Many are unsure about how to break through cultural and language barriers, yet have a strong desire to reach out and share the compassion and hope of the gospel. This conference will help participants walk through a discernment process. Racial ethnic ministry leaders will offer insights around the unique nature of this kind of ministry. They will share examples of ministry that is making a difference, and will share tools that will help participants consider possibilities in their own context. Participants will intersect with community outreach ministries in northern Virginia, and will learn how to walk their own neighborhoods to discern how God is calling them to reach out to their neighbors. This conference is for leaders considering racial ethnic outreach through existing congregations and for those considering planting new church communities.

Led by:

Rev. Edwin Andrade, Co-Pastor Riverside Presbyterian Church, Organizing Pastor Nueva Rivera Edwin

Rev. Dr. Hector Rodriguez, Associate for Hispanic/Latino-a Congregational Support

Patrick Nam, Youth Pastor, Pilgrim Church, Paramus, New Jersey

Click here for more information and to register!

Mission: To train an equip churches, teams and church planters to multiply spiritually dynamic communities of faith.

Purpose:

• Provide training and conversations to strengthen vision for new church development and community outreach/discipleship.
• Provide intentionally smaller conferences to allow for individual/team discernment and collaboration
• Provide follow-up support and coaching after the event to encourage individuals and teams to continue moving forward with their vision.
• Provide intentional intersection with the culture of ta “church planting church” which hosts these training events.

“The Training Center is committed to train and equip churches, teams, and church planters to multiply spiritually dynamic communities of faith.  We believe that by providing training and conversations to strengthen vision for new church development, discipleship, and community outreach, we can foster eyes to see what God is calling churches to risk for the sake of the gospel.  We believe that by keeping training events small and providing follow up coaching, we can encourage individuals, churches, and teams to move from talking to action.

www.riversidechurch.com

The Training  Center is a partnership between the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Church Growth & Riverside Presbyterian Church, Sterling, VA

A Partnership between the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Church Growth and Riverside Presbyterian Church, Sterling, VA

Mission

• To train and equip churches, teams, and church planters to multiply spiritually dynamic communities of faith.

Purpose

• Provide training and conversations to strengthen vision for new church development and community outreach/discipleship.
• Provide intentionally smaller conferences to allow for individual/team discernment and collaboration.
• Provide follow-up support and coaching after the event to encourage individuals and teams to continue moving forward with their vision.
• Provide intentional intersection with the culture of a “church planting church” which hosts these training events.

For a list of upcoming events, go here.

To download a brochure, go here.

Watch the latest video produced by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s “Deep and Wide Initiative, in which Riverside Presbyterian Church, a new church development, demonstrates how it continually transforms itself to be a missional congregation.

New Church Development Training

for Church and Presbytery Teams

November 3-5 2010

March 16-18, 2011

Hosted by: Riverside Presbyterian Church

Sterling, VA

**Important update: this event has been “pushed back” to March, 2011 in order to accommodate the revisions being made to the Starting New Churches Resource.

Discern the core values and plans for ministry, outreach and leadership for starting a church today.   The “New Church Development Training for Church and Presbytery Teams” event at Riverside Presbyterian Church will focus on the of Starting New Churches resource.

For more information, go here.

“Believe it or not, traditional mainline churches are now showing signs of new life. New-church developments are springing up all across the country. But they do require a special sort of pastor to lead them. What kinds
of leaders are actually spearheading this exciting movement?

Extraordinary Leaders in Extraordinary Times is an illuminating study of the most successful pastors of new churches in seven American mainline denominations. Four expert scholars — H. Stanley Wood, Carl S. Dudley, Darrell L. Guder, and Robert S. Hoyt—carefully analyze the results of a comprehensivesurvey of more than 700 founding pastors of new-church developments. The insights distilled here draw a blueprint for successful ministry to the unchurched in the twenty-first century.”

Click here to read more.

Summer Internship – Bend, Oregon

The Trailhead, a non-traditional ministry in Bend, Oregon, seeks summer intern(s) to participate in a groundbreaking opportunity in New Church Development of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The intern(s) will work with Rev. Zach Hancock to establish this ministry through entrepreneurial effort that involves creating and managing an organic, locally sourced, ‘common table’ café, that will serve food/beverage and be the site of live music, guest speakers, opportunities for service to the community, other events, etc.

The intern(s) will be person(s) desiring to be involved in active expression of the Kingdom of God, as well as the desire to experiment with what it means for Church to gather in alternative, unorthodox, meaningful, dynamic ways that does not look like religious rite but practical action, not leading with words as much as deeds and contribution to the community. The intern(s) will be passionate about the transforming good news of Christ, while pursuing and developing his/her spiritual life, and have a passion about the spiritual searching of people, especially young adults whose backgrounds include difficult experiences, or no experience, with the traditional church.

Bend, OR is a city of 80,000+, set in the high desert of Central Oregon, situated at the foot of the Cascade Mountain Range (Portland, OR is a 2 ½-3 hour drive). Bend is a hotbed for outdoor pursuits, including: rock climbing (Smith Rock), mountain biking, Nordic skiing, Alpine skiing, trail running, kayaking, fly-fishing, etc. Young adults tend to be drawn to Central Oregon for recreational pursuits and work in tourism and the outdoors. Bend is home to Central Oregon Community College and the Cascades branch of Oregon State University.

The intern(s) will have housing provided (but could opt to pay for their own housing). The intern(s) will need personal support or a part-time job to cover food and other expenses (transportation, entertainment, etc.).

For further information regarding the opportunity and information about the intern supervisor (Zach Hancock), please contact:

Rev. Zach Hancock

970-347-7457

zhancock@gmail.com

* Applications are available from Rev. Hancock, to be submitted by March 31^st, 2010. Selection(s) will be made by April 30^th, 2010. Dates of internship are negotiable, however the expectation will be two months or more.