Get a conversation started with just one a spark.💥 Sparking Conversations is a resource with six ignite-style videos designed to get your people talking about topics that matter for the Church today. Learn more --> bit.ly/sparking-conversations

We are at the APCE Annual Event this week! Come by, say hello, and grab some stickers. 🤩

We can't wait to be at the APCE Annual Event next week. Who will we see there? Come say hello at our exhibit hall table, grab some stickers, and enter to win some free resources! 🤩

Get your new year started with a spark.💥 Sparking Conversations is a resource with six ignite-style videos designed to get your people talking about topics that matter for the Church today. Learn more --> bit.ly/sparking-conversations

Not a New Year's Resolution, but a commitment for the year ahead. 🧭 We believe in order to change the systems around you, you have to start with yourself. When we begin with our own behaviors and actions to seek personal growth, we enter into the world transformed.

Not all ideas are good ideas. 🤣 What goes into the making of a NEXT Church sticker? A lot of editing, design, starting over, tweaking, and redesign. Which feels pretty on brand for who we are and what we do. Here's the making of the National Gathering sticker in 60 seconds. #FINALv4 #IYKYK

💕 We’re celebrating our first full year as an independent organization, and what a year it's been! It's been an amazing year and we know this is the start of something bigger – shifting the landscape of Church vitality, together.

It's been an incredible first year as a non-profit. We couldn't have done it without you. As the year closes, you can help us celebrate our first year by making a donation. nextchurch.net/donate/

Wishing you a season filled with joy, and laughter, and resilient light. It's been a privilege to journey with you this year. We can't wait to see what the next year holds for NEXT Church! ❤️, Your NEXT Church Coaches, Board Members, and Staff

New Resource Alert! 💥 Introducing Sparking Conversations - six ignite-style videos designed to get your people talking about topics that matter for the Church today. Learn more --> bit.ly/sparking-conversations

For us, it's always been about connecting leaders across the Church for the transformation of ourselves and our communities. Our scrappy lean non-profit would simply not exist without the generosity of our donors.

Happy Thanksgiving! We're grateful to be on the journey with you. 💛

"The Holy Refrain" by Shani McIlwain 💛

A powerful litany by Shani McIlwain at the National Gathering in Grand Rapids about the theme “already and not yet.”

Resistance art created in pathways held our space as we shared Communion together and were sent out in blessing. Traveling mercies to all! Thank you for leaning into ambiguity, not settling for easy answers, and living with us in the Already and Not Yet. We truly are better when we go together.

That’s a wrap! The 2025 National Gathering is complete. We closed in worship where Austin Almaguer invited us into radical solidarity, to descend into our own woundedness so we might come up in another’s woundedness and dissolve the walls between us.

On day 3, Jesy Littlejohn gave us permission to lament, to sit with our grief and name our anger to God. Pathways continued to reflect with art, coaching, and sitting with unanswered questions. A plenary panel showed the impact of engaging with NEXT in ways beyond the National Gathering.

Impact Club members just had a fabulous lunch with Jessica Vazquez Torres & Jen Harvey! There is still time to join the Impact Club! Impact Club members make a sustained financial commitment to NEXT Church. If you join before the end of the National Gathering, you can take this mug home with you.

Here’s a wrap up of Day 2 of the National Gathering! Julie Delezenne brought us into play during worship! Check out the playful creations!

National Gathering day 1 is in the books! We had stellar preaching from Shani McIlwain, thought-provoking plenary with Larissa Kwong Abazia, started strong with our pathways, and enjoyed seeing everyone in the gathering place.

Join us for worship on the National Gathering livestream today! Check out the schedule and the feed here --> nextchurch.net/national-gat...

We are so grateful to our hosts for this week's National Gathering, Westminster Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids for their hospitality! May this prayer by Rev. Lynette Sparks bless our time together. We cannot wait to see you!

🚨 SCHEDULE UPDATE! We are delighted to announce that Jesy Littlejohn will be preaching at the National Gathering on Thursday this week. You can catch Jesy's sermon on the livestream --> nextchurch.net/national-gat...

Today's the last day to register for the National Gathering! --> bit.ly/2025-national-gathering

The National Gathering is almost here and we could not be more excited! 🥳 Registration closes on Friday. Don't miss out --> bit.ly/2025-national-gathering

Happy Halloween to all the Rumy's and Jinu's out there! 💜🧡 📸 Show us your best costumes, decorations, and car trunks in the comments!

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