If you sense God is calling you to start a new congregation, where do you start? Just find some space and start holding worship services?That’s exactly the wrong way to start, pastor Joe Esposito told participants in the New Church Development Conference here. “The biggest mistake a church planter can make is to have a worship gathering right off the bat,” said Esposito, who is co-pastor of a new church development in St. Petersburg called the Missio Dei.

Youth ministry is not a science — it’s an art that helps youth workers become more loving towards youth, parents and themselves, said youth worker and retreat leader Mark Yaconelli.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has invited applications for workshops, exhibitions and side events for its upcoming 10th Assembly to be held in Busan, Korea. Proposals must be submitted by Oct. 31, 2012.

Jake Pulsipher’s first day as a working missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began at 6:30 a.m. with prayer and exercise, followed by breakfast and study.

Then he put on a black suit, white shirt, and red tie, along with his official name tag, and headed out to knock on doors and tell people about Jesus. In doing so, he became the latest of 20,000 Mormon missionaries in the United States.

It’s almost like the late Beatle John Lennon might have imagined things: different faith groups worshiping side by side as a means to living life in peace.

Welcome then to Bussy Saint-Georges, a French town that is creating just this scenario. Located 30 kilometers from Paris, the town has provided land where two Buddhist temples, a mosque, and a synagogue will exist alongside one another, as Bussy Saint-Georges’ long-term mayor Hugues Rondeau pursues his dream of a cultural city.

“Ten years from now, I want my eight-year-old son, Cameron, to know that we tried to follow Jesus,” says Brandon Bailey, ordained candidate for ministry and organizing pastor for a new missional community being formed in the North Puget Sound Presbytery.

Responding to the ongoing agony of a virtual civil war in Syria, the 220th General Assembly (2012) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) calls Presbyterians to engage in prayer, witness, and action on behalf of the Syrian people.

“God is only known through love,” youth worker and retreat leader Mark Yaconelli told the Youth Worker Conference here July 31.

“How can you ‘go’ to church?” asked Kim Hammond in a workshop at the Evangelism Conference, one of five conferences here comprising the Evangelism and Church Growth 2012 (ECG 2012) event. “We ARE the church!”

When she helped save the life of her brother Moses, Miriam was singing a new song in a strange land. nd so can we, even though a changing world makes us sometimes feel like outcasts, keynoter Carol Howard Merritt told a Synod of Lakes andPrairiesSynodSchoolcrowd of about 660 people during her final keynote address Friday, July 27, atBuena VistaUniversity.