We at NEXT Church are committed to equipping faith leaders and congregations and much of our work is done through a virtual medium. Given this, we’ve prepared several resources that […]
https://nextchurch.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/03/nordwood-themes-kRNZiGKtz48-unsplash-scaled.jpg17062560Layton Williams/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLayton Williams2020-03-12 16:45:482020-04-03 13:49:33Resources for Doing Church Digitally: A NEXT Church Response to COVID19
The truth is that we need to be light on our feet and open-minded to creativity and innovation; to new ways of considering how to connect with people and adapt to culture; to interpret theology and biblical understandings with the myriad of lenses available to us.
Next Church executive director and this year’s Next Church National gathering preacher Rev. Jessica Tate is a voice urging this movement.
https://nextchurch.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/01/Jessica-Tate1.jpg320318Layton Williams/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLayton Williams2020-02-20 18:47:132020-11-28 20:10:49Jessica Tate and the Power of Openness
Dr. De La Torre’s keynote is what I am most looking forward to at NEXT this year, not because I will enjoy it the most but because I am convinced he will speak to me words of discomfort and hopelessness that I need to hear in order to sit in the dust and ashes that properly fuel the gospel.
https://nextchurch.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/miguel_big_pic.png17681822Layton Williams/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLayton Williams2020-02-13 13:22:152020-02-13 17:56:28Miguel De La Torre and the Power of Hopelessness
Dr. Blount also taught me about the power of proclamation (even though I never took a preaching class from him) – how to make the gospel relevant, how to use stories and metaphors to illustrate a difficult-to-articulate biblical concept, how to awaken your listeners to the awareness that even we, broken as we may be, have within us the capacity to make God’s kingdom a reality, here and now.
https://nextchurch.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/brianblount2-scaled-e1613249788880.jpg523700Layton Williams/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLayton Williams2020-02-12 18:24:452020-02-12 18:29:08Brian Blount And The Power of Proclamation
The National Gathering of NEXT Church is perennially inspiring, fun, and motivating. Yes, there have been speakers who jolt us and spark new ideas. The 2020 National Gathering – in particular – promises to make us uncomfortable.
Yay.
Keynoters Mike Mather, De’Amon Harges, and Miguel de la Torre will make us decidedly uncomfortable in Cincinnati March 2-4, 2020. And this is very good.
https://nextchurch.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/tattoos.jpg519518Layton Williams/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLayton Williams2020-02-07 11:19:542020-02-07 11:21:45Mike, De’Amon, and Miguel
With 700 amazing church leaders descending on Cincinnati for the 2020 NEXT Church National Gathering shaped by that Joshua passage, the team tasked with inviting key-noters, preachers and testimony-givers for this conference knew that our invitations needed to go to people actively involved in relevant ministry. The team needed these speakers to help us look to the future, to reflect on the way in which God has worked in them and through them, and to give us a word of challenge to ignite our witness, hope, and power in God.
https://nextchurch.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/tyler-lastovich-oPr5CMZSOJQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg15362048Layton Williams/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLayton Williams2020-02-05 13:56:392020-02-05 13:59:57Listening to Living Stones
There was one thing they agreed on; I would be leading the music ministry. I was their musical Boy Wonder whose gifts they had nurtured for over 20 years. There was the chance, I thought, that I could fix this problem over the next few weeks by producing soothing melodies from our stellar choir. After all, these same impressive salves had eased the pain in smaller past upheavals.
It was not to be so. And the shipwreck would be my fault.
https://nextchurch.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/01/ferdinand-feng-5Ee6FBB-j3k-unsplash-scaled.jpg13652048Layton Williams/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLayton Williams2020-01-24 12:24:202020-11-28 20:12:05Choirs and Serpents and Doves
This was a morning of many failures. I never made it to the church where I was scheduled to preach. Luckily, they had a backup plan due to the poor weather conditions. I failed to know my own limits. I had fooled myself into thinking if I set my mind to something I could accomplish the task at hand. But in reality I have had no life experience to help me navigate these roads in the snow. And though I work in a prison and make it my task every week to offer grace, and love to all people no matter what is in their background, I made assumptions about the angels who rescued me because of a political sticker.
https://nextchurch.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/01/alexandra-avelar-Xoj0SQRKFpo-unsplash-scaled.jpg13652048Layton Williams/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLayton Williams2020-01-22 10:11:252020-11-28 20:13:48Stuck in the Snow and Rescued by Unexpected Angel
https://nextchurch.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/01/ben-white-3Ro1gtbw0sY-unsplash-scaled.jpg15352048Layton Williams/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLayton Williams2020-01-17 14:00:272020-11-28 20:14:04Getting It Right Sometimes Takes a Few Tries. And That’s Okay.
Ten Tech Tips for Meeting Online
/in Church Administration, COVID-19, LeadershipResources for Doing Church Digitally: A NEXT Church Response to COVID19
/in COVID-19, NEXT NewsWe at NEXT Church are committed to equipping faith leaders and congregations and much of our work is done through a virtual medium. Given this, we’ve prepared several resources that […]
Jessica Tate and the Power of Openness
/in NEXT NewsThe truth is that we need to be light on our feet and open-minded to creativity and innovation; to new ways of considering how to connect with people and adapt to culture; to interpret theology and biblical understandings with the myriad of lenses available to us.
Next Church executive director and this year’s Next Church National gathering preacher Rev. Jessica Tate is a voice urging this movement.
Miguel De La Torre and the Power of Hopelessness
/in NEXT NewsDr. De La Torre’s keynote is what I am most looking forward to at NEXT this year, not because I will enjoy it the most but because I am convinced he will speak to me words of discomfort and hopelessness that I need to hear in order to sit in the dust and ashes that properly fuel the gospel.
Brian Blount And The Power of Proclamation
/in NEXT NewsDr. Blount also taught me about the power of proclamation (even though I never took a preaching class from him) – how to make the gospel relevant, how to use stories and metaphors to illustrate a difficult-to-articulate biblical concept, how to awaken your listeners to the awareness that even we, broken as we may be, have within us the capacity to make God’s kingdom a reality, here and now.
Mike, De’Amon, and Miguel
/in NEXT NewsThe National Gathering of NEXT Church is perennially inspiring, fun, and motivating. Yes, there have been speakers who jolt us and spark new ideas. The 2020 National Gathering – in particular – promises to make us uncomfortable.
Yay.
Keynoters Mike Mather, De’Amon Harges, and Miguel de la Torre will make us decidedly uncomfortable in Cincinnati March 2-4, 2020. And this is very good.
Listening to Living Stones
/in NEXT NewsWith 700 amazing church leaders descending on Cincinnati for the 2020 NEXT Church National Gathering shaped by that Joshua passage, the team tasked with inviting key-noters, preachers and testimony-givers for this conference knew that our invitations needed to go to people actively involved in relevant ministry. The team needed these speakers to help us look to the future, to reflect on the way in which God has worked in them and through them, and to give us a word of challenge to ignite our witness, hope, and power in God.
Choirs and Serpents and Doves
/in Contemporary Culture, LeadershipThere was one thing they agreed on; I would be leading the music ministry. I was their musical Boy Wonder whose gifts they had nurtured for over 20 years. There was the chance, I thought, that I could fix this problem over the next few weeks by producing soothing melodies from our stellar choir. After all, these same impressive salves had eased the pain in smaller past upheavals.
It was not to be so. And the shipwreck would be my fault.
Stuck in the Snow and Rescued by Unexpected Angel
/in Contemporary Culture, LeadershipThis was a morning of many failures. I never made it to the church where I was scheduled to preach. Luckily, they had a backup plan due to the poor weather conditions. I failed to know my own limits. I had fooled myself into thinking if I set my mind to something I could accomplish the task at hand. But in reality I have had no life experience to help me navigate these roads in the snow. And though I work in a prison and make it my task every week to offer grace, and love to all people no matter what is in their background, I made assumptions about the angels who rescued me because of a political sticker.
Getting It Right Sometimes Takes a Few Tries. And That’s Okay.
/in Contemporary Culture, LeadershipMistakes are the holy stone in the shoe of perfection.
Mistakes pierce the ego that says, “I must get this right,” and offers the assurance that we all are in this together.
Big and small, forgivable and painful for years, mistakes are going to happen. Our best hope is to prepare and do our best.