The following videos were created in preparation for a proposed missional workshop, “Outward Church: Mobilizing the church wherever you are.”

Matt Pritchard: Considerations for Emerging Faith Communities

Matt is the Associate Conference Minister of Emerging Communities of Faith for Central District Conference of Mennonite Church USA. In this video he shares about emerging communities of faith and church planting. His work centers around revitalizing congregations and connecting with and resourcing emerging communities of faith. He walks viewers through exercises on engaging practical considerations for emerging communities of faith.

Wild Church:  Innovation/Creative Church

Katerina Gea is pastor and church planter of Wild Church Fresno, a church that meets outside by the river. Wild Church Fresno seeks to be a people that practice repair and reconciliation in their place and is a church that brings together nature and people within their own community. Wild Church Fresno, in the words of one member, is a church that is able to remove the barriers that often separate people, and people are able to connect and form community much more easily when they are outside and experiencing the same things.

Planting Piedra Viva Mennonite:  Partnership

Naún Cerrato planted an Anabaptist Mennonite peace church in Elkhart, Indiana. In this video he explains how he began the church by meeting with people and building relationships. As the relationships grew and more people came, a meeting place was needed. Through the pastor at an established church, a connection was made, and Piedra Viva began meeting in their building after their English-speaking service, which has begun a relationship between the two churches. Naún explains that planting a church is based on “relationship, relationship, relationship.”

Homestead Mennonite Church Experience:  Revitalization

Marcos Acosta, pastor at Homestead Mennonite Church in southern Florida, explains in this video how he helped the congregation become relevant to its current context. Homestead, which was once a rural area in 1951 when the church started, has over time become more developed and is made up of many immigrant families. Recognizing this demographic change along with the fact that that the church had not changed over the years and was experiencing decreasing attendance, Acosta implemented a process to discern how to adapt and change. From this discernment, Homestead Mennonite began a bilingual worship service to reflect the community around them. Acosta’s goal was for the church to have the energy of a church plant while using strengths from the history of the church.