Innovation - Blog Posts Articles

Task management can be discipleship.

If you have ever met Rev. Randy Blanton, you will quickly learn that he has a love of craft beer and theology. When he moved to Aldersgate UMC in Shelby in 2016 he decided to combine two of his loves and host a Bible study at Newgrass Brewery in downtown Shelby. His first fall doing this he thought there may be ten to fifteen people who came out. When he showed up for the first study there were almost fifty people there. They had planned to have it inside, but with this number they instead moved...

When I was growing up, Dairy Queen was flanked by a little market on one side and Dean’s Dugout on the other. Dean sold collector’s cards. Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, as well as baseball and football cards. He sold figurines and boards and books for playing Dungeons and Dragons and Warhammer. No one would describe the mix of sports paraphernalia and fantasy figurines as fashionable. Two long tables for tournaments or battles filled the middle of the store. I shopped there sometimes, but my ...

I knew fairly early in my days as a United Methodist pastor that something was going wrong.  I had only been assigned to my first church for a matter of weeks when a woman came to my office upset about some matter at church.   I tried my pastoral best to listen and understand, but to no avail.  When she stood to leave, she drew close and angrily pointed her finger just a short distance from my nose and said, “and YOU…YOU even expect us to live like Jesus!”    Although that was nearly ...

Rev. Amy Vaughan, pastor of Marvin UMC, took having Bible study in a bar to the next level when she decided to team up with Rev. Mike Collins, pastor of Emmanuel Lutheran Church, and brought Hops and Hymns to downtown Lincolnton. Rev. Amy had been attending Wild Goose Festival for years and was first introduced to the concept of hops and hymns there. She remembers looking around at the festival and seeing everyone singing along, even those who had grown up in the church but left because they ...

In case you missed any of the Ministry Innovation Stories in 2020, the links to the stories are listed below by date.  “God Plays Indoor Soccer” (June 30, 2020) https://www.wnccumc.org/newsdetail/god-plays-indoor-soccer-14115172   “Still Waters Landing – Harvesting a God-sized Dream” (July 15, 2020)  https://www.wnccumc.org/newsdetail/still-waters-landing-harvesting-a-god-sized-dream-14129688   “St. Luke’s Dinner Church – Gathering Re-imagined” (August 3, 2020) https://www.wnccumc.org/newsdetai...

After reflecting and assessing the neighborhood and needs of the residents in Lenoir, New Covenant UMC decided to re-engage and restore the community.

When we find ourselves living in remote places it can be hard to find ways to fellowship. If you find yourself in a small town with no places to gather, perhaps it is time to consider making the local diner a new favorite for community gathering.

Sometimes the best way to let others know the God you serve isn’t what they may think is to get out of the walls of your church and into the spaces where those who have been hurt by the church congregate.

What do you get when you combine Dinner Church with Messy Church? A Messy Dinner Church.

When thinking about the future of the church, it isn’t hard to wonder what role, if any, the young people of today will take on.

When thinking of what we can do differently to reach our communities, very few people would consider offering a program at a building that isn’t connected with the church at all as an option.

Doing church well often means looking at what we are currently doing and re-imagining it to help more people.

One of the best things about serving God is when our ideas are turned into something that otherwise would have seemed impossible.

As churches strive to do more in their communities, it is common for them to forget that the best way to be a presence in the community is by working with the community.