About us.
God is doing a new thing. From the beginning of time, that’s just what God does. We don’t have anything against traditional “church.” Most of us on this commission are part of a traditional church or have been formed by her teaching. But what we have found to be true is that the Spirit is busy in a lot of ways that look nothing like traditional church. So we started asking…
….what about that, over there? Those people who gather in Jesus’ name, pray for one another, make their community a better place. Isn’t that church too?
…and what about that, over here? These people teaching parents to be coaches, and kids to be teammates. If God is being worshiped through t-ball, isn’t that church too?
…and what about them? Right here? These young women who gather to pray every morning, who practice Lectio Divina without knowing what in the heck that is? How is that not church?
So, we’ve determined the Spirit is better at these things than we are, and we’re just sprinting to keep up. If something is new, if God is worshiped, if community is nurtured, we believe the Spirit is naming that “Church.” And we want to be part of that.
The Commission
The NWC Commission was created in 2019 as a response to the energy around new worshiping communities in Heartland Presbytery. We’re all working full time, and participate in this commission because we believe in it. Here’s a little about us:
Rev. Paul Rock
Rev. Hallie Hottle
Rev. Clare Lozano
Nick Pickrell
Darron Story
The Presbytery
If you’re wondering “what is a presbytery?” don’t feel weird. It’s part of how we organize ourselves. Our local congregations are organized into “presbyteries,” basically groups of churches that meet and support one another based on geographic proximity. These presbyteries are then organized into “synods,” just larger groups of more churches. Representatives from all these bodies meet every other year in our “General Assembly.” It’s a representative democracy, much like our nation’s government. It’s not perfect, but we like it.
Our specific presbytery here in the Kansas City area is called “Heartland Presbytery.” One of it’s (many) functions is to help support, encourage, fund, and form New Worshiping Communities.
The Denomination
We’re part of the Presbyterian Church (USA), referred to at the “PCUSA.” “Presbyterian” is just the Greek word for “elder.” It refers to the way we organize ourselves. Instead of a pope or bishop or any one person having power from on high, we operate like a representative democracy. Our decisions are made by officers who are elected by our congregations. Our pastors’ only power is to preach and teach. The government system of our nation was actually created with our church governance in mind. We like it. We think dispersed power is always better, even if it takes a little longer for decisions to be made.
That “USA” part of our name isn’t because we’re just feeling patriotic. There’s a bunch of different kinds of Presbyterians. The clearest difference is this: we’re the kind of presbyterians that ordain women and LGBTQ+ people. We’re progressive on social justice issues, and call ourselves a “big tent” when it comes to theological issues.
If you want to know more, check out PCUSA online:
Our Networks
Our denomination, the PCUSA, has been doing this New Worshiping Community thing since 2012. We’ve learned a lot from each other along the way. Perhaps our most valuable learning is: we don’t do this work alone. We work with 1001 New Worshiping Communities and our friends at Cyclical, Inc. to support you.