ABOUT NEXT CHURCH
NEXT Church is a network of leaders — church members, ruling elders, youth leaders, educators, pastors, mid-council leaders, seminarians, and church professionals — within and beyond the Presbyterian Church (USA) who believe the Spirit is moving powerfully in the Church today, even as what it means to be Church is changing.
NEXT Church seeks to follow God by strengthening the relational fabric of church — connecting healthy tissue to healthy tissue. We do this by cultivating congregations and leaders who work in sustained, effective, and faithful ways to promote God’s transformation of our communities for the common good.
We actively seek to confront systems and structures of oppression in ourselves and the world around us in all of our work. As those steeped in a tradition trusting in repentance and grace, we recognize we do our work imperfectly and yet we continually strive to learn, seek forgiveness, and go a new way. We seek to create spaces where people can feel equipped and empowered to embrace the intersection of their identity, as well as the identities of around them, in order to create a more wholistic Creation.
We focus our efforts in three main areas:
NEXT Church is a network of leaders — church members, ruling elders, youth leaders, educators, pastors, seminarians and professors — across the Presbyterian Church (USA) and beyond who believe the church of the future will be more relational, more diverse, more collaborative, more hopeful and more agile. We provide hopeful space for robust conversations about the theology, culture, and the practice of ministry, support strong, faithful leadership in a time of adaptive change, and encourage collaboration and creativity across congregations and geographies. We are fostering a conversation about how to follow Christ in our particular day and age. We are a movement seeking to strengthen the relational fabric of the PC(USA) so that our congregations are strong and healthy enough to be a sustained, effective, faithful and moral voice that is engaged in the transformation of our communities toward the common good.
We host a national gathering each year, curate online conversation about the practice of ministry, and accompany church leaders though coaching and facilitation. Each of these settings allows us to carry out these reflective conversations on culture and ministry as well as make and deepen connections in the church.
We focus our efforts in three main areas:
Create expansive spaces to strengthen relationships across the Church.
NEXT Church contends that strong connections and relationships sustain vibrant, diverse, creative, and impactful ministries. Therefore, NEXT Church models and creates always expanding spaces for collaboration, mutual accountability, encouragement, and action.
Develop and equip leaders for sustained and courageous leadership.
NEXT Church is convinced thriving congregations result from resilient leadership rooted in a posture of learning. Thus, NEXT Church develops leaders who are courageous, theologically centered, and practically equipped to navigate changing cultural contexts.
Accompany leaders and congregations towards embodied wholeness,
justice, and transformation.
NEXT Church believes God calls and equips congregations and leaders to transform individuals and communities. NEXT Church accompanies congregations and leaders to uncover creative, experimental, and courageous ideas in order to take bold next steps in a supportive environment.
NEXT CHURCH VALUES
How we do our work matters just as much as what we do at NEXT Church.
In all of our work, we strive to be leaders who are: