'Indy Timeline' of Upcoming Events Opinion: An economy of scale to pursue edication & discernment
[IndyChristian Ed. Note... While many of us have known Englewood Christian Church, this column below by Beth Newman seems to well enunciate a deeper level of understanding about them and why it's important as we head more & more toward the genuinely-local Church model...]Opinion: An economy of scale to pursue edification, discernment
By Beth Newman
I recently had the privilege of enjoying the hospitality of the Englewood Christian Church of Indianapolis. This congregation isn’t as well known as Saddleback, nor has its pastor (Michael Bowling) ever been interviewed by Larry King, but its story is as exciting as any told by Joel Osteen.
Even a partial list of the community projects supported by Englewood is remarkable: a lawn care business, bookkeeping and PC-repair services, and a bookstore with on-line ordering capability. All of these benefit neighbors in the streets around the church. The church’s largest area of outreach has been in the housing sector, where it has helped more than 25 householders become homeowners in their neighborhood.
What makes this story particularly impressive is not just what the church is doing but how it got into the position to make it all possible. Englewood’s history over the past 100 years is in many ways the case history for mainline Protestantism: once one of the largest churches in Indiana until “urbanization” led to a loss of members, it faced a struggle to survive financial and numerical freefall. I won’t recount the full story (it’s available on the church website) but I do wish to lift up for consideration the three Scriptural convictions that guided their path to renewal and dialogue...
[continued at Associated Baptist Press]
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[more local ministries on the eastside]
posted by IndyChristian @ 9:08 AM
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