Creating New Spaces for New People
by Rev. Dr. Tim Catlett
Recently, I was speaking with a national church planting expert, and he said, “The pandemic will forever change the way the local church conceives of our relationship with buildings and physical space.”
For almost 70 years, members of the $10 Club and New Room Society have been helping co-create new spaces for new people to gather into communion with Jesus Christ. And while the local church’s relationship with buildings and physical space might be changing, the need for new spaces for new people to encounter Jesus Christ is as important as ever.
Over the last ten years, North Carolina is the sixth fastest growing state in the country, adding over 900,000 people. In 2020, our total population increased to 10.4 million people. While the state is growing in numbers of people, the state is also growing more diverse. NC leaders project that five of eight people added to our state through 2030 will be a person of color. Like much of our country, our state is also aging, with a continued increase in our older adult (65+) population.
Your prayers, support, and financial gifts are helping our Annual Conference actively engage in co-creating new spaces for new people moving into our communities with the hope they might encounter and enter into communion with Jesus Christ. Thank you!
We are currently actively supporting 16 new faith communities (congregations less than five years old) and exploring adding two to four additional new faith communities in 2022. This newsletter reflects on what our current new faith communities are doing. In particular, church planters will share how their teams are creatively using alternative spaces to invite new people into communion with Jesus.
Thank you again for your support. To make a financial contribution for 2021 or 2022, please visit us online, https://nccumc.org/new-faith-communities/.