When you need to pull a group of people together for a meeting, how do you do that? When you are a family of families, you do it like you do everything else--as a family! At the beginning of the summer, our two Antioch School cohorts met together to discuss why we are going through this training, and what to expect during the summer, and the whole family was invited. We invite you to take a peak inside our meeting.
When a network of house churches grows, adding services isn't an options. But to plant to new churches, you need qualified, trained leaders. Our Antioch School cohorts exist to provide the network with those leaders.
When I was a kid, we would go every year to this thing my parents called the “Memorial Day Picnic”. I didn’t know what Memorial Day was, but I knew what “picnic” meant – cinnamon rolls and monkey bread, buttermilk pancakes fresh off the griddle, OJ and fruit salad, a sneaked donut or two, eaten at long tables with family and friends of all ages. Afterwards there would be games of frisbee and volleyball and expeditions with my friends to explore the old fire engine.
Ever wonder what it looks like to participate in one of our ordered learning classes? Check out these images for a first-hand view.
Read more of A Class Act - Ordered Learning in the CityChurch Network
This October the Ames/Des Moines CityChurch will host the 2017 BILD Conference, an event we look forward to all year. Church leaders from around the world will converge on our Community Center for a time of learning, networking, strategizing, and fellowship. Many will stay in our homes, get to know our families, and participate in our churches.
Read more of Whole-church workforce prepares for annual BILD Conference
This spring has been a time of growth in spiritual maturity for many of us in the Des Moines cluster of Ames-Des Moines CityChurch. That growth is attributed to the ordered learning classes that have been offered as part of the Antioch School leadership series to the Des Moines cluster and many of its cohorts on Thursday nights. What began several years ago as two classes or one large class has grown to nearly 25 people in four classes.
Read more of Ordered learning and equipping leaders identifies need to reach more people
The Des Moines cluster of Ames-Des Moines CityChurch has embraced a unique opportunity in its offering of ordered learning classes. What began five years ago with Des Moines church leaders plus a couple leaders from Crossway Community Church in Altoona has expanded to include emerging leaders from the CityChurch network, leaders’ wives, and even some teenagers.
On a bright May morning, Aaron and Kathy Keller arrive at Brookside Park for the annual Memorial Day picnic. As they unpack their basket, the church family begins to arrive, setting up griddles and coffee stations. The morning begins comfortably, and unfolds into a delightful time of good fellowship and good food.
Read more of Memorial Day picnic gives vision of the larger network
The scene: Bustling crowds of families. Parents and children. Grandparents. Tables set with plates, cups, baskets of bread. An overflowing abundance of fruit, meat, and breakfast casseroles. Smells of pancakes and waffles. Coffee. It’s a scene that is reminiscent of any typical gathering of a family around a meal for a major holiday. It’s a little chaotic. It’s a bit loud. It’s the coming together of people to share a family meal.
“Family of families” is a phrase that gets tossed around a bit in our Urbandale Church. It’s not something taken lightly, because it points to a greater calling of what our church body is striving to be: a family.
Read more of Urbandale Church finds ways to build on relationships, stronger families
Mix the elements of music, food and families together in a local park and you’d think what resulted would be an ordinary church picnic. However, last Sunday’s gathering of the Ames-Des Moines CityChurch was anything but ordinary.
Read more of Love feast offers a firsthand look at Union Park Church’s vision