Hatchery Preview: The Future of Church Planting - May 30

DURING THIS LIVE ONE-HOUR EVENT, YOU WILL…

• Learn why we believe “Common Cause Communities” are the future of church planting.
• Hear why Brian McClaren, Peter Rollins, and Alexie Torres-Fleming (among others) are joining our guest faculty.
• Find out how you can turn your passion or cause into a church (i.e., Common Cause Community).
• Discover the possibilities of living in community, learning from world-class leaders, being coached and mentored to start your own Common Cause Community, and earning a Master’s in Theological Studies from Twin Cities School of Theology – all at the same time during our three-year program in Redondo Beach, California.

SPECIAL GUESTS INCLUDE:
Brian McLaren – guest faculty
Peter Rollins – guest faculty
Alexie Torres-Fleming – guest faculty
Tripp Fuller – Director of Theology & Humanities (Hatchery LA)
Maria French – Director of Admissions & Student Enrollment (Twin Cities School of Theology)
 

REGISTER HERE: www.hatcheryla.com/preview

ABOUT HATCHERY LA
Based in Redondo Beach, California, Hatchery LA is a residential church planting center that incubates innovative, sustainable models of church (Common Cause Communities) – with a goal of launching nine new churches each year and ultimately building the Silicon Valley of Church Innovation.Not only will you be coached and mentored throughout the process, but you’ll earn a Master’s degree through Twin Cities School of Theology. Learn more about our three-year program.

GLAD Alliance Hosts International Activists and National Experts at General Assembly

The GLAD Alliance will be hosting two major events at the 2015 General Assembly in Columbus, OH.

The GLAD Banquet will feature Sandhya Jha, "Wonk, Activist, and Abettor of Hope." Rev. Jha is the author of Room at the Table, on the history of people of color in the Disciples of Christ, and Pre-Post-Racial America, recently published by Chalice Press on the subject of race and spirituality in America. At the Alliance Banquet she will be speaking about the intersections of justice, her work in India, and current LGBTQ issues.

The GLAD Pre-Assembly Event will focus on the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality and the American export of homophobia to the world. Carol Ann Fey, a recognized expert on LGBT family law, will be on hand to explain the Supreme Court Ruling on marriage equality. Michael Adee, Director of the Global Faith and Justice Project of the Horizons Foundation, will help us understand the global export of homophobia and our faith response. Come find out more about both of these issues and their intersections.

The GLAD Pre-Assembly Event will be held July 18, 2015. Cost is $50, including breakfast and lunch. More information about the Pre-Assembly Event can be found here.

The GLAD Banquet will be held on Monday, July 20. Tickets are $34. More information about the Banquet can be found here.

Tickets to both events can be purchased with your General Assembly registration at http://ga.disciples.org/registration/

The GLAD Alliance, an organization of members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), is called to join in God’s work of transforming the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) into a just and inclusive church that welcomes persons of all gender expressions and sexual identities into the full life and leadership of the church.

GLAD's website where you can learn more about the Alliance and GLAD's General Assembly activities, can be found at [www.gladalliance.org]www.gladalliance.org.

WHAT THE CHURCH SHOULD LEARN FROM LAUNDRY LOVE: An Interview with Greg Russinger

by Spencer Burke from The Hatchery

Each week on the HatcheryLA Podcast, we interview a world-class leader or thinker who resonates with the ethos of what’s happening at our church planting incubator in Redondo Beach. Our desire is that you would be encouraged and stretched by fresh ways of thinking about life and ministry.

In this episode, I had the opportunity to speak with Greg Russinger, the co-founder and national director of Laundry Love, a neighboring movement that partners with individuals, groups, and laundromats to care for the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized throughout the United States. We had an engaging conversation about how Laundry Love got started, why it’s flourishing around the United States, and the purpose of their first national gathering in May 2015. 

At the end of the podcast, I also share three things that the church can learn from the example of Laundry Love.

CLICK HERE to listen to the complete interview. 

Spencer Burke is the Founding Executive Director of Hatchery LA, an incubator for Common Cause Communities. For more information, please visit www.HatcheryLA.com.

Nepal Earthquake Relief

Dear friends,

Our hearts and prayers have been with the people of Nepal after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck west of Nepal's capital of Kathmandu this past Saturday.  The earthquake was also felt and caused significant damage in the neighboring countries of India, Tibet, Bangladesh and China. 

This is the most powerful earthquake to hit the region in over 80 years. 

Tents in Nepal. Photo Credit: ACT Alliance

The quake has caused tremendous damage in the vulnerable Kathmandu Valley. Homes were flattened, ancient temples destroyed, and the death toll, which has risen to 4,000 people at the time of writing, continues to rise.  The immediate need is search and rescue teams, which are being deployed by Nepal's government, as well as by other countries from around the world.  Food, water, blankets, clothes, medical supplies, and temporary shelter are also needed.

Week of Compassion is providing emergency aid through our partnership with ACT Alliance.

Nepalese authorities are struggling to assess the full scale of the damage across the remote Himalayan nation as communications systems have been damaged in many areas. "We are totally cut off from most parts of our country," Nepal Disaster Management Authority official Ram Narayan Pandey told Reuters.  Reports are stating that thousands of people have rushed into the streets of the capital in an effort to remain safe, with many too afraid to return indoors as the city continues to be rocked by aftershocks.

One report on the ground from our partner and first responder ACT Alliance shares that, "It has been raining on and off. There are many makeshift shelters in the streets, as people had to abandon their homes quickly. Community kitchens have been set up, and there is generally a spirit of kindness and mutual support in the city...and a shortage of supplies, in particular drinking water and shelter materials. There is no electricity or running water throughout the city. We spent an uneasy night outside - together with the rest of Kathmandu."

Your support through Week of Compassion allowed us to be on the ground in these communities within hours of the earthquake to help with relief efforts. We are working with other relief teams and providing support to the many affected and displaced individuals as they seek assistance and hope. We will continue these efforts in the upcoming weeks and months, working alongside the people in Nepal and accompanying them as they recover and rebuild. 

If you would like to put your Compassion into Action and donate to the earthquake relief efforts in Nepal, please go to our website here  and select "Earthquake" in the designation.  100% of your contribution will go toward helping the relief efforts in Nepal.

Week of Compassion continues to seek your prayers and support as we work with our trusted partner organizations to provide both immediate relief and long-term support to people of Nepal in the next few weeks and months.
 
In solidarity,
Rev. Vy T. Nguyen
 

Week of Compassion is sharing resources and changing lives. Thank you for sharing your resources and helping to change lives.

ARE WE TRAINING PASTORS FOR JOBS THAT NO LONGER EXIST?

It’s safe to say that the traditional expression of church has not varied for hundreds of years. This form worked well when the dominant culture in the world was agrarian, most people were uneducated and illiterate, and books were either unavailable or very expensive. Information and stories were spread by people who had dedicated their lives to learning, reading, and teaching. Many of these were pastors who received more schooling than most before going out into the world to build a church. Farmers from miles around would put on their “Sunday best” and walk, pile into wagons, or ride to church each Sunday morning. Together they’d sing and then sit and listen to the minister or priest teach from the Bible and his brand of theology. Afterward, they’d catch up on how life was going, learn how they could help each other, and perhaps even share a meal.

WHAT WAS THE APPEAL OF CHURCH?

It still sounds appealing in many ways, doesn’t it? There’s a simplicity to it that makes me feel a little nostalgic. And there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, there are three important things we can learn from this model:

1. The people who came to church were drawn together by a COMMON faith experience. In rural settings, commonality just happened because there were very few, if any, choices in denomination or Bible translation. As society transitioned from being rural to urban, commonality was still important—we were just able to decide which church we felt most comfortable in ethnically, denominationally, and geographically.
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2. Because most people were either illiterate or didn’t have the resources to educate themselves, Christians needed a dedicated person — a pastor — TEACHING them in a dedicated, centralized place—a church building. This hasn’t changed much in recent times. Even as American movements from the Big Tent Revivals through the Emergent Church introduced metaphors and stories as the dominant mode of evangelism and discipleship, teaching remained the main attraction for church-goers.
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3. Since people were drawn together each Sunday often from many miles away, they had the opportunity to experience COMMUNITY — loving and supporting each other, sharing meals and sacred rituals, before going their separate ways again for another week. This too survived into contemporary times as suburban churches flourished and people poured in from miles around.

POST TEACHING-CENTRIC CHURCHES

These elements are the core of what we call the teaching-centric church, and they were an important part of life for hundreds and hundreds of years.

But times have changed. Most people in the Western world are no longer illiterate. Books have become inexpensive and easy to get, information can now be accessed and transmitted even more cheaply via audiobooks and podcasts, live events and TV programs, websites and Internet videos; those who cannot read can still find the information they want. We no longer need someone to read the Bible to us, but as we read for ourselves, we also decide which translation we like best. Pastors are still educated in a broad range of subjects, but they are no longer the sole source of wisdom — for example, a marriage and family counselor would have greater insight and understanding into relationships, a small business owner would have more insight into the nature and use of money, and the average person might have a deeper grasp of a book of the Bible after doing their own intensive study.
 

THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH HAS RADICALLY SHIFTED

It shouldn’t be surprising to us, then, that attendance in teaching-centric churches has been rapidly declining. But we are still training our ministers and church leaders how to perform in jobs that are rapidly disappearing in an industry that has radically shifted. We still need leaders and ministers to rally and organize people, but they need to learn how to lead in church environments that are becoming increasingly service-centric. Next week, we’ll explore what the elements of a service-centric church are, moving from a Common Teaching Community to a Common Cause Community.

About the author:

Spencer Burke is the Founding Executive Director of Hatchery LA, an incubator for Common Cause Communities. For more information, please visit www.HatcheryLA.com.