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TagsDon’t ignore use of space when planning for a church’s environmental sustainability
A half-empty church building isn’t just a financial problem; it’s an environmental problem, writes a consultant.
Growing flora and faith: Churches embrace native plant gardens
The National Wildlife Federation’s Sacred Grounds program helps churches increase native plant gardens — thereby helping wildlife flourish and encouraging community connection.
Could ‘hybrid shared ministry’ help struggling congregations survive?
A pastor shares his experience with a new model in which a larger congregation helps a smaller one by digitally sharing resources, sermons and other assets.
A beacon of hope shines for LGBTQ+ youth in Florida
Through The Lighthouse, some Florida churches are offering a nonreligious ministry of presence that focuses on God’s love for all, opening doors for both young people and other institutions.
Why I knit in church
Engaging with natural materials and making things with our own hands can help us be more fully incarnate, writes a pastor and knitter.
‘When God’s Call Is Bigger Than a Building’
The Rev. Ashley Goff reflects on her congregation’s long — and sometimes contentious — process of building 173 apartments for low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities in this excerpt from “Gone for Good?”
How the church can serve society by changing the way it handles property
As many as 100,000 buildings and billions of dollars in church-owned property are expected to be sold or repurposed by 2030. With planning and thoughtful stewardship, those assets can continue to serve communities, says Mark Elsdon, the editor of(active the new book, “Gone for Good?”
Is church membership a privilege to enjoy or a responsibility to fulfill?
Church membership should not reflect the exclusivity that often comes with membership in our culture. Instead, it should embody the generous hospitality of God’s love.
The church isn’t dying. It’s being remade
As the 1950s model declines, new ways of being the church are popping up all over, and gospel truths are now being found in new containers, writes a social entrepreneur.
Age does not limit Christian leadership
Encountering a unique ministry in San Francisco prompted a confrontation with her own ageism, writes a director of educational programs at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.