In November, the Presbytery of Milwaukee celebrated the completion of a two-year focus on Congregational Vitality during its final standing meeting of 2023.
The presbytery, which meets four times each year, structured its meetings over a two-year period to highlight and investigate one of the Seven Marks as described in the Vital Congregations Initiative.
In the midst of the Covid pandemic, when the efficacy of new vaccines was still unknown and many churches were not back to worshiping inside, the Rev. Aisha Brooks-Johnson, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, issued an invitation for congregations to join the Vital Congregations Initiative (VCI). The Rev. Katie Day, having accepted her call to Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church in Duluth, Georgia, during the pandemic, remembers that her congregation was still worshiping in a parking lot and conducting meetings on Zoom.
Last month, the Presbytery of Milwaukee celebrated the completion of a two-year focus on Congregational Vitality during its final standing meeting of 2023.
At the outset of a recent webinar on vital congregations, organizers the Rev. Veronica Cannon, the Rev. Tony Oltmann and Marla Edwards had the nearly 70 participants play a game: name an outdated mode of technology beginning with “V,” “C,” “I” or “M” that your faith community might still be using.
At the outset of Tuesday’s webinar on vital congregations, organizers the Rev. Veronica Cannon, the Rev. Tony Oltmann and Marla Edwards had the nearly 70 participants play a game: name an outdated mode of technology beginning with “V,” “C,” “I” or “M” that your faith community might still be using.
A new video distributed exclusively on social media last week asked, “What’s the secret to creating successful partnerships with immigrant worshiping communities?” The 45-second video concluded, “It’s all in the sauce. The secret sauce … And yes, there will be barbeque.”
Presbyterians love a well-crafted sermon and well-written prayers. But the Rev. Carlton Johnson, coordinator of Vital Congregations, believes that sometimes PC(USA) congregations need to return to vibrant prayer.
Applications from interested presbyteries and individual congregations that have the blessing of their presbytery are now being accepted for the fourth wave of the Vital Congregations Initiative.
On day one of the 2020 Virtual Vital Congregations Gathering on Tuesday, four panelists from Trinity Presbytery described how beginning the two-year VC initiative in January — and its Seven Marks of a Vital Congregation — helped prepare them as church leaders for the pandemic.
