Staying Connected and Leaning In: Singles in Church Community
Singles make up a huge proportion of the American population. A 2017 Pew Research study found that 42% of adults in the U.S. live without a spouse or partner. And, among those under 35, singles are the majority, comprising 61% of young adults. However, church congregations often do not reflect the high proportion of singles in the general population: A Barna study conducted around the same time found that less than a quarter of active churchgoers are single. Effectively reaching…
Disciple-Making as Culture-Building
By Dustin Messer, Curate at All Saints Dallas When describing the ministry of All Saints Dallas, our rector, +Philip Jones, is fond of saying: “We’re building a culture of radical inclusivity and profound transformation.” You see, individuals are no doubt transformed by God; but the Spirit uses embodied things like institutions and cultures to shape His people. Therefore, if we want to be disciple-makers, we have to be culture-builders. This can’t be taken for granted. Until very recently, academics who…
Could Every Church Plant?
By Ric Thorpe This post was originally published on the AMiA blog in 2014. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Luke 10:2 In Shadwell, East London, a stone’s throw from the ancient City of London walls, the local population includes 45% Bangladeshi Muslims, 45% young professional people and 10% indigenous Londoners (“Cockneys”). In 2005, before we first planted St. Paul’s Shadwell, 10 people…
From the Lead Bishop: Pentecost and Church Planting
Bishop Philip Jones sets the stage for the observance of Pentecost (the birth of the Church) and shares how AMiA continues the ministry of church planting.
Witches, Worship and Why I’m Anglican
By Rev. Drew Witt, Founder and Lead Pastor of Gathering Midtown Church, San Antonio, Texas First, the Backstory I felt the call to plant a church in the summer of 2011. Honestly, I didn’t want to plant a church. In 2007 I helped start a church, and was comfortable being the number-two guy. I was keenly aware of the high cost and toil of church planting. Like an NCAA freshman at Kentucky or Duke, I was “one and done”—or so…
Exploring Ancient-Future Faith in Nashville
By +Dan Scott, Bishop at Christ Church Nashville For many years, a number of Christian leaders in the greater Nashville, Tennessee area have been quietly and thoughtfully developing what it means to live under the Lordship of Christ in the company of those who in all times and places have held to the doctrines and practices of “one holy catholic and apostolic Church.” Many of these leaders came to faith in Christian communities in which spiritual qualities like catholicity and…
Three Streams: A Template for Identity and Worship
Scripture, Spirit and Sacrament form identity for worship. By Aaron Allison, Lead Pastor of The Church at Indian Lake, Hendersonville, Tennessee The Church at Indian Lake (CIL) is in Hendersonville, Tennessee, a growing suburb of Nashville. Our church is ten years old, and has Assemblies of God and Southern Baptist roots. We have been including liturgical elements in our worship since our inception. Through our friendship with the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) members in recent years, we have gained needed…
Connecting at the Table: Luminous Parish
By the Reverend Chad E. Jarnagin, founding Rector of Luminous Parish in Franklin, TN, an AMiA Church. Today more than ever, we are in need of The Table. Not just any table. A great big table with plenty of room for everyone. Our society seems to be disoriented, fatigued and misunderstood. What better space than a feast to regain our composure, health and bearings? Enter Luminous Parish, an Anglican mission to Nashville/Franklin and Middle Tennessee. Greater Nashville now has 2…
Coffee With a Friend: Jay+ Wright, Part 2
On July 1, All Saints Dallas East became St. Bartholomew’s. We followed up with Jay+ Wright, rector of this newly independent church, to hear how God has been working at St. Bartholomew’s as they take this significant step, and what Jay+ sees in the years to come. Congratulations! What was that first Sunday of worship like as an independent church? Church was really celebratory. It had a really great energy about it. It was a nice start to the new…
Stories From the Pew: St. Bartholomew’s – Called Forth Into Being
Craig Denison, with his wife, Rachel, and baby son, has been attending St. Bartholomew’s for about a year and a half. He helps with worship and has assisted the church in its transition from All Saints East Dallas to St. Bartholomew’s. He shares his thoughts about the naming of this newly independent fellowship. Growing up I never thought too much about names. At most I wished that my parents had picked a name for me that began with the letter “A”…