From the Center to a Spoke

written by

It’s Monday, y’all. Let’s do this!

Transitioning into our new name and brand, we are diligently working to find clear and concise language to talk about ourselves. We like to say that we are working at the intersection between church and community and that, as we do this work well, it will benefit everyone. Over the last few months, we’ve shared at great lengths how this work benefits our churches—generating new sources of sustainability, stewarding space more missionally, energizing the culture of the congregation—but the benefits ought to be reciprocally received and felt by the community too.

As we are cultivating a growing base of churches curious about their space, we are also building a network of community organizations curious about how their missions could be furthered within these sacred spaces. Just over the last month, we’ve worked with local food founders looking to start and scale their businesses (churches have big kitchens!), supported the search of a micro-school in identifying a new home (churches have classrooms and education wings!), and partnered with local wellness practitioners desiring new space to meet growing demand (churches have an abundance of office space!).

We are seeing a direct correlation between a church’s neighborly posture and the surrounding community’s receptiveness to partner. The more a church is willing and able to see themselves as part of the local ecosystem (not the center of the local ecosystem), the stronger the soil is cultivated for community connection and collaboration—a win/win and the exact goal we’re committed to seeing, for the flourishing of us all.

Better together,