Hear from three Cascadia-region churches about their journey in the Transforming Faith Communities program. In these interviews, pastors reveal what community initiatives their teams are designing to connect with their neighborhoods. They also discuss the long-term impact of the program’s training in shared leadership, the overlap of congregational identity and community mission, and the importance of listening to our contexts.

Like Christ & Cascadia, Transforming Faith Communities is an offering of the Center for Transforming Engagement that supports innovative faith practice in the region. Transforming Faith Communities provides teaching and coaching for congregational teams to

  1. Develop as a congregational leadership team of 5-8 people to work toward shared goals and identity.
  2. Discover a congregation’s identity through storytelling.
  3. Identify a neighborhood’s needs, resources, and desires through community interviews.
  4. Design an initiative and create partnerships to meet the needs of a neighborhood in a way that aligns with congregational identity.
  5. Be eligible for grant funding to implement a community initiative.

 

Fairwood United Methodist Church,

Ferdie Llenado

 


 

Seattle Vineyard Church,

John & Judith Hix

 


 

Stanwood United Methodist Church,

Justin White

 

 

Cover photo credit: Joel Muniz

 

Author

  • Center for Transforming Engagement

    Christ & Cascadia is a component of the Center for Transforming Engagement, which goes beyond traditional leadership training to cultivate resilience in the midst of changing social and cultural contexts. Our offerings equip leaders and teams to (re)build communities of resilience, belonging, and regenerativity. We work with congregations and organizations to live with faith, hope and love while applying the tools of the social sciences to rebuild trust in institutions. Through trainings, workshops, courses, and online resources, we embolden leaders of all types and stages to transform their service of God and neighbor – and in the process, to be transformed. Learn more at: https://transformingengagement.org/