WiredChurches Community

Wondering who's gonna be at the AND Conference this year? You'll hear from some radical practitioners who are changing the face of church. Meet just a few of them below. Want to interact and join the conversation? Jump on in.

ALAN HIRSCH. Alan is the founding Director of Forge Mission Training Network, co-founder of Shapevine and part of the leadership team of Christian Associates. Known for his innovative approach to mission, Alan is a teacher and key mission strategist for churches across the western world, an adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary and lectures frequently throughout Australia, Europe and the U.S. He is the author of several books including The Shaping of Things to Come, The Forgotten Ways, ReJesus (with Michael Frost), and Untamed.

DAVE FERGUSON. Dave and four friends from college launched Community Christian Church, a church that is passionate about "helping people find their way back to God." This church has grown to 650+ leaders with more than 5,500 in attendance at eleven sites every weekend throughout Chicagoland. Dave serves as a resource for other churches and leaders seeking to expand through multiple church sites and provides visionary leadership for the NewThing Network, a catalyst for a movement of reproducing churches. He is also the co-founder and serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Community who partner with real estate developers to accomplish their mission of "helping people build quality relationships where they live and work through the power of genuine community." Dave is the co-author of The Big Idea: Aligning the ministries of your church through creative collaboration and Exponential: How you and your friends can start a missional church movement - both with Zondervan.

MATT CARTER. Matt serves as lead pastor at Austin Stone Community Church, which he planted in 2002. The first meeting of 30 people now encompasses 4,000 worshippers on Sundays, making Austin Stone one of the 100 fastest growing churches in America. Matt's vision is to foster the churches passion for Christ, love for each other, and outreach to their communities – ultimately planting churches throughout America and the nations, supporting missionaries who are loving the peoples of the world and bringing them the hope of the gospel. In addition to pastoring at The Austin Stone, Matt is a cancer survivor, author and speaker for camps and conferences nationwide. Matt holds a MDiv from Southwestern Seminary and lives in Austin with his wife Jennifer and their three children.

On November 4-5, we’re gonna open a can. We’re inviting you to join the conversation as we focus on the Genius of AND – the power of combining both missional AND attractional strategies. Register to attend the AND Conference at Granger this fall, and get the Early Bird rate of $199/person. Check out the lineup of speakers, the schedule and join the conversation that's already happening about the Genius of AND.

Which one are you? Whatever you choose, you appear to be a perfect candidate to attend the AND Conference!

There are more churches in America than at any point in history. The number of megachurches has increased 7,000% in the past 30 years. Ten years ago there were fewer than 100 multi-site churches—now there are more than 2,000.

Still, church attendance in America is declining. Church used to be central to society. Today? People think God is cool and they are having spiritual conversations—it just doesn’t cross their mind to include the church in their journey.

What’s the answer? Being attractional or missional? The conversation continues to escalate around the “tyranny of the OR” instead of the “Genius of the AND.”

On November 4-5, we’re gonna open a can. We’re inviting you to join the conversation as we focus on the Genius of AND – the power of combining both missional AND attractional strategies.

ANDconference.com is now live - you can register to attend the AND Conference at Granger this fall, and get the Early Bird rate of $199/person. Check out the lineup of speakers, the schedule and join the conversation that's already happening about the Genius of AND.

Excerpt from kemmeyer.com | By Kem Meyer, Communciations Director

Last summer I met some fine folks in North Carolina who told me they’re taking this “Less Clutter. Less Noise.” challenge to heart.

I said “prove it.”
They said “game on!”
This morning, crew member Kristi Johnsen sent me news—they just went live with their new site. The before and after speaks for itself.

Congratulations Denver United Methodist Church. You are improving the quality of life and church with less clutter!

Hear more from Kem about cutting through the clutter and communicating clearly at the Less Clutter. Less Noise. Workshop at Granger THIS FRIDAY, July 23. Register now for $119/person or $99/person for groups of six or more.

Excerpt from BecausePeopleMatter.com | Mark Waltz, Pastor of Connections

I love a good story. And who doesn't? Inevitably a good story pulls me in. Not in an Alice in Wonderland kind of way. I'm not merely pulled to the characters playing their respective parts. No, a good story pulls me in, when I identify with a character. I see some aspect of my life in their questions. My personal tension gets wrapped up in the dilemma of the storyline. I connect my relational world to their relationships. I celebrate or ache with similar hopes or disappointments. In a good story, I'm not merely entertained; I'm not a distant spectator. I'm a participant living in a parallel world, even if the framing of the story is far from my reality.

Those gnawing aches, spirit-lifting hopes and stimulating questions inevitably take me back to my Creator, to our Creator. To His story.

His story shows up in our story. And our stories get wrapped up in novels and diaries. Our stories are woven into the script of Hollywood's box office hits. Which means if we'll really pay attention, we'll see God's story in the entertainment, maybe intended to help us escape or find hope.

That's what the next weekend series is all about at Granger. Doesn't something like this make an invitation for a friend to join you easier?

To hear more from Mark Waltz about creating great experiences for guests outside and inside the auditorium, attend the First Impressions Workshop happening at Granger on Friday, July 23. Cost: $119/person or $99/person for groups of six or more.