Busy Youth and the Church

This month, our blog series is actually a vlog series – a video blog, that is! We’re calling it “The NEXT Few Minutes.” Over the next several weeks, we’ll share with you short, 2-3 minute videos from a variety of folks around the country with the hopes they spark your own imagination. We hope you’ll learn about some trends, ask questions, and think deeply about the practice of ministry in your own setting.

Rocky Supinger, associate pastor for youth at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, wonders how church can grow and shape Christian commitment among youth whose schedules are already packed. Is less more? Join the conversation by commenting on this blog post or on our Facebook/Twitter pages!

To see all of our videos in our “The NEXT Few Minutes” series, check out our playlist on Youtube.

Telling the Stories of God

This month, our blog series is actually a vlog series – a video blog, that is! We’re calling it “The NEXT Few Minutes.” Over the next several weeks, we’ll share with you short, 2-3 minute videos from a variety of folks around the country with the hopes they spark your own imagination. We hope you’ll learn about some trends, ask questions, and think deeply about the practice of ministry in your own setting.

Casey FitzGerald, pastor and biblical storyteller, considers what might happen if we all learned to tell God’s stories by heart. What if everyone in your context learned the stories of God such that they could tell them? How do you communicate God’s story to God’s people? Join the conversation by commenting on this blog post or on our Facebook/Twitter pages!

To see all of our videos in our “The NEXT Few Minutes” series, check out our playlist on Youtube.

What Does It Mean to be Christian in the 21st Century?

This month, our blog series is actually a vlog series – a video blog, that is! We’re calling it “The NEXT Few Minutes.” Over the next several weeks, we’ll share with you short, 2-3 minute videos from a variety of folks around the country with the hopes they spark your own imagination. We hope you’ll learn about some trends, ask questions, and think deeply about the practice of ministry in your own setting.

Brian Blount reflects on what it means to be Christian in the 21st century. What do you think God envisions for us today and tomorrow? Join the conversation by commenting on this blog post or on our Facebook/Twitter pages!

To see all of our videos in our “The NEXT Few Minutes” series, check out our playlist on Youtube.

The Two “E” Words

This month, our blog series is actually a vlog series – a video blog, that is! We’re calling it “The NEXT Few Minutes.” Over the next several weeks, we’ll share with you short, 2-3 minute videos from a variety of folks around the country with the hopes they spark your own imagination. We hope you’ll learn about some trends, ask questions, and think deeply about the practice of ministry in your own setting.

Mark Davis reflects on evangelism and the doctrine of election, and what might happen when we hold these two “e” words together. What do you think might happen? Join the conversation by commenting on this blog post or on our Facebook/Twitter pages!

To see all of our videos in our “The NEXT Few Minutes” series, check out our playlist on Youtube.

What Isn’t Helpful Anymore?

This month, our blog series is actually a vlog series – a video blog, that is! We’re calling it “The NEXT Few Minutes.” Over the next several weeks, we’ll share with you short, 2-3 minute videos from a variety of folks around the country with the hopes they spark your own imagination. We hope you’ll learn about some trends, ask questions, and think deeply about the practice of ministry in your own setting.

Blair Monie reflects on idolatry in the church: when a means to an end becomes the end. Can you think of things in your own context that were healing and helpful at one time but are no longer so? Join the conversation by commenting on this blog post or on our Facebook/Twitter pages!

To see all of our videos in our “The NEXT Few Minutes” series, check out our playlist on Youtube.

Workshop Proposals Due August 31

2017_NEXT Church Web Banner

The deadline is quickly approaching to submit workshop proposals for the 2017 National Gathering!

The planning team is seeking workshops that are engaging and thoughtful, sparking new ideas and approaches to ministry. These workshops can be held on-site or off-site in Kansas City. Please consider the Gathering theme and scripture (John 4:1-42) when proposing workshop topics. Workshop blocks are 75 minutes long.

You can read some of our blog posts from earlier this year about takeaways from the 2016 National Gathering to get an idea of what sparked the imaginations of attendees.

Do you have a workshop you would like to offer at this year’s NEXT Church National Gathering? Please fill out this online form by Wednesday, August 31 to submit a proposal.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Faith Adherents and Church Membership

This month, our blog series is actually a vlog series – a video blog, that is! We’re calling it “The NEXT Few Minutes.” Over the next several weeks, we’ll share with you short, 2-3 minute videos from a variety of folks around the country with the hopes they spark your own imagination. We hope you’ll learn about some trends, ask questions, and think deeply about the practice of ministry in your own setting.

Ken Evers-Hood reflects on the changing dynamic of church membership. Have you witnessed something similar in your own context? Join the conversation by commenting on this blog post or on our Facebook/Twitter pages!

To see all of our videos in our “The NEXT Few Minutes” series, check out our playlist on Youtube.

Connections and Transitions

by Angela Williams

I write this blog about a week after I have officially stopped working with NEXT Church, a few days after I have left Washington, DC, and am well into a month of transition home with my family in Rock Hill, SC. Already in these few days home, I’ve met up with a friend whom I met at the 221st General Assembly in Detroit, where we served as Young Adult Advisory Delegates together. She is interning this summer at a church in Charlotte, NC, before she heads off to Scotland to serve as a Young Adult Volunteer, where she will be working with Sarah Brown, a pastor who gave an Ignite presentation at the 2016 National Gathering. This is the most life-giving part of working with NEXT Church.

angela-servingYou see, I might not have known the church in Charlotte and my friend’s future supervisor had I not had the opportunity to immerse myself into the connectional network that is NEXT Church. At times, the PC(USA) can feel way too small. Perhaps a negative word traveled too fast and ended up hurting another member of the Body of Christ. Other times, this relational network feels like a fishnet where each of us is a knot, and we are connected to all the other knots through strings and knots. Alone, we may not be able to withstand much, but together we can hold a full haul of fish.

That is the only way that NEXT Church can do its work. We could not have completed a denomination-wide listening campaign with 447 Presbyterians if we had not already had relationships with the leaders who had relationships with the participants. National and regional gatherings are impossible without a whole village of people coming on board, taking on leadership, and doing the work to make it happen. We could not continue to grow this movement with good folks like you hearing the message and sharing it with others.

To the NEXT Church community, I thank each and every one of you for making this a wonderful site placement for me this year. I am grateful for each and every one of you and what you bring to the table. It has been an honor and a privilege to connect with you over email, on conference calls, and in person. While I may be leaving the NEXT Church staff and Washington, DC, I take these experiences with you in my heart as I move to Austin, TX, to begin seminary. We may have said goodbye, but the PC(USA) is too connected for it to mean anything more than see you later.


AngelaWilliams270Angela Williams just wrapped up her year with NEXT Church and New York Avenue Presbyterian Church as a Young Adult Volunteer in Washington, D.C., after serving a first YAV year in the Philippines. She looks forward to taking these experiences with her as she journeys on to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary to pursue an M.Div. and Masters in Social Work. She finds life in experiencing music, community organizing, cooking any recipe she can find, making friends on the street, and theological discussions that go off the beaten path.

Stewardship of Incarnation

This month, our blog series is actually a vlog series – a video blog, that is! We’re calling it “The NEXT Few Minutes.” Over the next several weeks, we’ll share with you short, 2-3 minute videos from a variety of folks around the country with the hopes they spark your own imagination. We hope you’ll learn about some trends, ask questions, and think deeply about the practice of ministry in your own setting.

Margaret Aymer reflects on stewardship and privilege. How can we empty ourselves of the notion we should have privilege based on aspects of our being that society values? Join the conversation by commenting on this blog post or on our Facebook/Twitter pages!

To see all of our videos in our “The NEXT Few Minutes” series, check out our playlist on Youtube.

How Strange Is Our Bible

This month, our blog series is actually a vlog series – a video blog, that is! We’re calling it “The NEXT Few Minutes.” Over the next several weeks, we’ll share with you short, 2-3 minute videos from a variety of folks around the country with the hopes they spark your own imagination. We hope you’ll learn about some trends, ask questions, and think deeply about the practice of ministry in your own setting.

Aric Clark reflects on the Bible and our understanding – or lack thereof – of its context. Join the conversation by commenting on this blog post or on our Facebook/Twitter pages!

To see all of our videos in our “The NEXT Few Minutes” series, check out our playlist on Youtube.