In essence, a “New Worshiping Community” as put forward by the denomination is a church that forms around worship and an explicit mission. In the beginning stages of the process, leaders from within the NWC form a team that closely observes the strengths and needs of the place and people around it and looks and listens for the mission/work that God is leading them to do on God’s behalf for the sake of the community. Ultimately, the team discerns a particular need that God is leading them to address in their community and this mission becomes a fundamental part of the NWC’s identity. Instead of a typical church building, the space is determined by the mission effort and is intended to intersect with community life.
What this means is that EVERY new worshiping community that is created is intentionally different, because it is serving a different community and has been called to address a very specific need. Below are links to some of our present “favorites.” They are favorites due to their creativity, the passion of their leaders, and their commitment to being shaped by their mission and neighborhood. The new worshiping community that is formed in Anthem will likely not look like any of these examples because our community and mission is drastically different, but these examples show the creativity and discernment that goes along with the process of this calling.
Team Sweaty Sheep
Re-Creation through Recreation
Sweaty Sheep was one of the first NWC that we learned about. They recognized that an entire community of people were forming around marathon running and other physical activities. They found that many people experienced God during their activities, even more so than they did in a traditional worship space. So instead of trying to get these runners into a sanctuary space, they took church to them– believing that church isn’t about a building but that church is people. They claim their mission as: “Because faith needs to be fulfilling and FUN, because God needs to be experienced and not just worshiped, and because church is larger than a building!”
Hope for Life Chapel RV Ministry
Hope for Life Chapel RV Ministry reaches out to the desperate, unloved, dechurched and unchurched people at an RV Park. Some have lost their homes, are going through a divorce, are sick and need to be near a hospital or are, because of their choices or other people’s choices, in an upside-down emotional situation. Rev. Tamara John lives in a fifth-wheel RV custom made with a 12X10 chapel in the back part. She has group gatherings, does pastoral counseling, and prays with people. She helps find resources needed, but also is a caring presence through listening, encouraging, and sharing God’s love and peace that surpasses all understanding.
Union Church/ Kakao/ 415 Westlake
This last example is probably the closest to a typical church plant and yet totally other as well. Union Church is a break off ministry of University Presbyterian in Seattle, and in the worship sense it is very much like “normal church”. It is unique in that it is a multi purpose space and the church sees its mission as multi purpose. The leadership decided that instead of buying land on the outskirts of the community, they would insert themselves into a neighborhood and meet people through what everyone loves in Seattle– COFFEE! They created a coffee shop/ chocolatoeria, Kakao. Kakao is a thriving business in the Westlake neighborhood of Seattle. It is through this business that the church leadership was able to meet people where they were and invite them into community and then to join in worship and mission. If you pass through the coffee shop, you enter the worship space that double as an event venue called 415 Westlake. Here they host corporate gatherings for major Seattle business such as Amazon and also are a sought after venue for weddings and other special events. They have found that by multi purposing their worship space, they can bring church into a neighborhood and meet people in the midst of the chaos of their lives. By offering them community and connection, they have formed disciples that may never have stepped foot into a typical worship space, especially in the heart of Seattle, known as one of the highest populations of “nones” (those who claim no religious affiliation).
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