Almost 20 years ago, some members of First Presbyterian Church in Conrad, Iowa, heard a presentation about a program in which U.S. farmers and churches team up to raise money to help subsistence farmers in various parts of the world.
Worship in new worshiping communities (NWCs) continues to be nontraditional. This includes making meals central to the worship experience; avoiding traditional worship elements like organs, bulletins and sermons; and even worshiping on Sunday and in church sanctuaries. In a way, this is much like traditional churches are doing now during the pandemic.
Uno de mis aspectos favoritos acerca de ser Presbiteriana es que no importa lo que estemos llamados a hacer dentro de la vida de la Iglesia, estamos llamados a hacerlo en comunidad. Sabemos que al estar llamado a trabajar juntos, lo cual a veces hace las cosas mucho más fáciles y otras más difíciles; depende de cómo nos guste trabajar.
교외에 위치한 어느 장로교회는 그 교회가 속한 지역이 변하고 있다는 것을 알고 있었다. 그 지역에는 점점 증가하고 있는 라틴 아메리칸계 가족들이 거주하고 있다. 그 교회의 한 사역 장로가 증가하는 라틴 아메리칸 공동체에 자기 교회가 어떻게 접근해야 할지에 대해 묻기 위해 나를 만나기 원했다. 그녀는 교회가 그들의 새로운 이웃들에게 예배할 수 있는 기회를 제공해야 한다고 생각했다.
Una iglesia presbiteriana suburbana sabía que su vecindario había ido cambiando al ver un incremento de familias latinas inmigrantes que ahora vivían por la zona. Una anciana gobernante de la iglesia quería reunirse conmigo para preguntarme cómo alcanzar a esa creciente comunidad Latina y pensó que la iglesia debería ofrecer oportunidades de adoración a sus nuevos vecinos.
<한국어> <Espaňol> A suburban Presbyterian church knew that its neighborhood had been changing, with an increasing number of immigrant Latino families now living in the area. A ruling elder from the church wanted to meet with me to ask how they should reach out to the growing Latino community. As a church, she thought, they should offer worship opportunities to their new neighbors, so she was wondering how to start a Spanish-language service.