16 Innovative Ways Churches are Uniting
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Who are movers and shakers? They are people who get things done and aren’t afraid to try new ideas.
We firmly believe that hearing stories of movers and shakers galvanizes new ideas of what could be possible in your area. We’ve compiled a list of 16 of the most creative ideas we’ve heard on the topic of church unity and titled the list Movers & Shakers. We will update this list throughout the year because leaders are constantly innovating. But for now, get inspired by this list of Movers & Shakers!
Movers & Shakers in Church Unity
- South Florida: During a particularly challenging season of leadership fallouts, 12 pastors committed to 12 months of soul care together. This cultivated mutual trust on which Church United was founded.
- Tulsa, Oklahoma: Unite My City convened a roundtable of pastors from around the city to discuss the importance of racial reconciliation. The conversation was recorded and the video circulated on their website and social media to encourage more people to engage the topic.
- Toowoomba, Australia: 20 ministries have been working together since 2005 to make the city of Toowoomba a better place for women and girls. The idea was sparked when the mayor challenged churches to care not only for those inside their churches, but to consider young people in the community.
- Omaha, Nebraska: Through the Within Reach initiative 30+ churches are working together to increase church attendance by conversion citywide by 20,000 people by 2020.
- Grand Rapids, Michigan: 400+ local churches united to host an outdoor music festival which drew 30,000 people to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. Even someone who was initially skeptical about the event got involved because of realizing the long-term impact the event could have on relationships between local churches and ministry leaders.
- Kansas City, Kansas: What if the Church is casting an ambitious citywide vision to see 100 churches partnering together to educate people in biblical financial stewardship.
- New York City, New York: Since 1988, Concerts of Prayer gatherings have been held in NYC. 250 pastors and ministry leaders participated in the three-day gathering in 2018. Annual “30 for 30” pastors retreats gather mega-church pastors to spend 30 straight hours together building relationships and praying.
- Columbus, Ohio: One Night is an annual prayer and worship gathering of churches across Columbus to visibly express the unity of the Church (John 17), proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, and celebrate the ongoing partnerships and collaboration that occur the other 364 days of the year.
- Kansas City, Kansas: Triads of pastors preach at each other’s churches. Each week a different pastor speaks at one of the three participating churches. This is made possible by existing friendships between pastors, but provides another way for pastors to work together and show congregants across the city that churches are working together.
- Teesside, England: Churches came together to create a short, creative, and compelling video which tells the story of the region-wide Church rather than one church that meets in a building.
- Austin, Texas: Pastors in Covenant (PIC) groups are small groups of pastors who gather for the purpose of relationship building, prayer, and accountability. Some groups have been meeting for over 20 years. Reach out to ABBA to learn more.
- San Francisco, California: Transforming the Bay with Christ convened 40 pastors and business leaders gathered together to discuss the importance of living out your faith in the workplace.
- Dallas, Texas: Two senior pastors switch pulpits and worship teams one Sunday a year to express the importance of unity and racial reconciliation.
- Evansville, Indiana: Ross Chapman came up with the 10x10x10 idea which coordinates 10 one-on-one lunches between 10 pastors over the course of 10 months for relationship-building. This strategy takes the logistics out of building relationships. 200+ lunches have occurred…and counting.
- Roseburg, Oregon: 40 pastors in this small town rebranded the 25+ year old local pastors’ fellowship group to more clearly communicate their desire to worship, pray, and serve as one Church in the community. Their new name is Be One Umpqua. Listen to the pastors explain the network here.
- Charlotte, North Carolina: For Charlotte facilitates geographic pastors’ networks which are led by local pastors. Citywide affinity networks also exist to connect leaders around topics like church planting and Latino pastors.
…and counting! (We know there are so many more ideas. Let us know yours here.)
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