TWO WEEKS. 🤗 Register today --> bit.ly/2025-national-gathering

We are looking forward to part two of our Roundtable Conversation in partnership with Presbyterian Youth Workers' Association. Join us! 🗓️ Tuesday, October 28 ⏰ 2:00pm EST (11:00am PST) 🗣️ Rev. Alonzo Johnson, leader Get all the details and register here: bit.ly/roundtable-conversations

🎉 Shout out to these amazing leaders who have been planning, preparing, and meeting behind the scenes to bring you a transformative and sacred experience at the National Gathering. There is still time to join us. Get yourself registered today --> bit.ly/2025-national-gathering

Join us today for the first of two conversations! Register for the Zoom link here: bit.ly/roundtable-conversations

🖥️ Half of the internet is down. But you know what's not down? Our registration for the National Gathering! Turn that unproductive frown upside down and get yourself registered today --> bit.ly/2025-national-gathering

We have two amazing Roundtable Conversations coming up in partnership with the Presbyterian Youth Workers Association. PART ONE 🗓️ Tuesday, October 21 ⏰ 2:00pm EST (11:00am PST) 🗣️ Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, leader PART TWO 🗓️ Tuesday, October 28 ⏰ 2:00pm EST (11:00am PST) 🗣️ Rev. Alonzo Johnson, leader

What do you want to pass down to the generations that follow?

We are less than a month away and we could not be more excited! Prevent your FOMO and get yourself registered! Register Today --> bit.ly/2025-national-gathering

You weren’t meant to do this alone. Connect with a cohort of preachers who get it — leaders who will challenge, affirm, and sustain you for the long haul. ⭐️ Applications are due tomorrow, October 15 --> bit.ly/nextchurch-agents-of-change

The pathways are the point. Our National Gathering features five pathways for participants to dig into one topic for the week. We hope those who gather will not only be encouraged and inspired, but equipped and refreshed for the work ahead.

"It’s a reminder that love grounded in illusion isn’t love; it’s conditional approval. Real connection begins when we stop managing how we’re perceived and start showing up as we are." Check out the whole blog by Joseph Lee on this cultural phenomenon --> mentalhealthiness.com/2025/10/08/t...

The Agents of Change cohort is designed for preachers to explore who they are - as a leader who steps into the pulpit regularly - and how they use that position of power within their community to bring about the transformative work that leads to justice and liberation.

🎨 Nothing could be more timely than cultivating art as resistance in these days. Check out this pathway at the National Gathering this November! Learn more --> bit.ly/2025-national-gathering

As we approach Reformation Sunday—it’s time to strip it all back, name what we really believe, and ask what kind of radical reform faith demands right now. Are you bold enough to have this conversation? Join us this Monday! Register for the zoom link --> bit.ly/roundtable-conversations

What can we do together that we can't do apart? Apply for our upcoming cohort for preachers examining their power to lead transformative change from the pulpit. Applications are due October 15 --> bit.ly/nextchurch-agents-of-change

The calendar has turned, which means the National Gathering is NEXT month! We can't wait to be with you in just a few weeks. Learn more and register --> bit.ly/2025-national-gathering

Creativity, courage, and love. Are you looking for tangible skills that will move the needle in your community? Check out this community organizing pathway at our National Gathering led by Austin Almaguer. Read more about the pathway --> nextchurch.net/nat.../2025-...

As we approach Reformation Sunday—it’s time to strip it all back, name what we really believe, and ask what kind of radical reform faith demands right now. Are you bold enough to have this conversation?

Mission and justice are central to the work of the Church. Our hearts are in the right places and our intentions are good, but are we really making a difference? 💛

Hey! We know some of these people. 👀 There is still time to register for the Enneagram and Leadership Cohort that begins in ONE WEEK --> bit.ly/enneagram-cohort

We’re still here. Anyone else? #rapture

🔥 syn·er·gy (noun): the interaction or cooperation of two or more agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects

Our Philosophy of Transformation 🌱 TL;DR: It starts with yourself.

It's a beautiful morning to get yourself registered for the National Gathering! ☕️☀️ Aaaaand go --> bit.ly/2025-national-gathering

📣 New Roundtable Conversations have been announced! All of our roundtables are free, but you do need to register for the zoom link --> bit.ly/roundtable-conversations

Check out the pathway about cultivating community in this particular season at the National Gathering this November! You can read more about this pathway and the other great pathways here --> nextchurch.net/nat.../2025-...

Are you a preacher who would like to explore who they are as a preacher and how to use your voice to leverage change? This year long cohort is an opportunity to press pause to consider your identity as a preacher, explore your gifts for leadership, and examine the systems in which you preach.

"A Prayer for Courageous Work" by Shani McIlwain May it be so. 💛

Our coaches, Shani McIlwain and LeAnn Hodges, were on the ground with our friends at Falls Church Presbyterian Church this week. They led an opening team coaching session as two groups from the church embark on exploring the course Way of Being together.

What are the needs of church leaders? We asked this question to the leaders gathered at the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic stated meeting this week. Here's what they said. What would you add?

Are you an agent of change? 🔥 Learn more --> bit.ly/nextchurch-agents-of-change

How do we remain true to ourselves and the Gospel?

Grab one of the last spots in the Enneagram and Leadership cohort! Begins October 1st! ⭐️ identify natural gifts and reflexive tendencies 💡 develop instinctive capacities 💪 identify underused strengths 👀 learn how to approach conflict with awareness 🌱 apply the concepts in your context

Do you know the answers to these questions? Have you taken time to consider them?

☀️ As we roll into the official last week of summer, we want to fill your feed with some joy in the midst of so much concern. So tell us NEXT Church peeps, what brought you joy this summer? Pictures, stories, and laugher welcome! #JoyAsResistance

When we planned the National Gathering this November, we took to heart the responsibility of planning something that mattered. It is why this event is part-training and part-gathering. We want participants to leave with leveled up skills, tangible resources, and a network of co-conspirators.

This National Gathering pathway is for anyone who finds themselves called upon to respond in or beyond the pulpit when words are hard to find. It couldn't be more timely.

Check out the leadership for our upcoming cohort Agents of Change. 🗣️

☕️ Join our Cultivating Community pathway leaders for coffee next Friday, August 29 hosted by Crossroads. Jennifer Harvey will join Jessica Vazquez Torres to talk about Religion, Meaning Making, and Resistance.

In today’s climate, preachers bear the unique weight of public proclamation. But preachers also have an opportunity to lead in powerful ways when they consider their own identity as a preacher, explore their gifts for leadership, and examine the systems in which they preach.

Check out the community organizing pathway at the National Gathering this November! You can read more about this pathway and the other great pathways here --> nextchurch.net/national-gat...

Can the preaching moment be redeemed? 🗣️

We have a little announcement of our own today. We are launching applications today to participate in a cohort for preachers examining their power to lead transformative change from the pulpit. ❤️‍🔥 Learn more --> bit.ly/nextchurch-a...

There is power when leaders gather together. We aren't planning this for performance. We are planning for real, tangible impact. If you aren't satisfied with the status quo - this is the gathering for you. Learn more about the National Gathering --> bit.ly/2025-national-gathering

A reminder as fall begins to ramp up - sometimes less is more. 💚

Are you looking for an antiracism resource that actually moves the needle for the systems around us?

Fall planning got you stressed? Spark some joy in that calendar and register for the National Gathering this November 11-14 in Grand Rapids! Register today --> bit.ly/2025-national-gathering

Stop being satisfied with the status quo. Invest in leading change. 🌱

"Stop investing in being good people. Who cares?! Be courageously faithful."

🎨⛪️ A great story about a church creatively imagining community. "When [Idylwood Studios artists] talk about art making community, they don’t just mean it as a community that makes art. They mean it as art that forms community."