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Mack Avenue Community Church in Detroit, Michigan
The leaders at Mack Avenue Community Church had always wanted to start a nonprofit. “We can’t simply be a place that receives services as a neighborhood,” says lead pastor Leon Stevenson. “We have to be offering services as well, but what we did not want to do is have a nonprofit [where] we brought forth all the initiatives that the community needed. We wanted it to be birthed out of the community saying, ‘Here are our greatest problems. Now might you have some way to help us in that?’”
The result of their community listening: a coffee shop laundromat.
Congregations in the news
How a pile of junk became a space for hope
A new ministry hub is designed to connect the church and community through creativity, conversation, and worship. And like many stories of faith, it didn’t happen easily or quickly.
Read more from United Methodists of Greater New Jersey
With new hire, San Antonio church makes the faith accessible for deaf Christians
For years, Christian institutions have estimated that 95 percent or more of deaf individuals don’t attend churches, and a limited number of deaf individuals are being hired as full-time pastors to offer their own services.
Read more at Chron
Ripple effects: Seeing the face of Jesus in everyone they meet
Through their ministry to their unhoused neighbors, All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Miami, Oklahoma, illustrates their guiding principle of seeing the face of Jesus in everyone they meet.
Read more from Iona Collaborative at Seminary of the Southwest
On my mind: Love, Period
A Sunday School class at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Athens, Tennessee, learned that one in five students are absent during their periods due to lack of access to menstrual products. They decided to provide free products to their local schools.
Read more at Daily Post Athenian
Resources and insights
Signs of rebound: Church attendance shows first uptick in decades
For the first time in 25 years, the median number of people attending worship services in the United States has gone up.
The Faithful Generosity Story Shelf
How should we repurpose our assets with faithful generosity? The Faithful Generosity Story Shelf is a collection of stories that highlights congregations and other religious groups who are using their assets and resources in creative ways as an expression of faithful giving.
Find curated resources to address your congregation’s needs
The Congregational Resource Guide (CRG) is an online tool designed to help leaders of all congregations find the right resources to address their unique challenges and needs.