The five practices
Explainers on radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk-taking mission and service, and extravagant generosity, with questions for church leaders.
- Extravagant generosity: giving as a spiritual practice, not a budget line
Extravagant generosity is the fifth of the five practices of fruitful congregations. The shift from stewardship campaigns to a culture of generosity, the biblical tithe, how congregations talk about money honestly, and questions for finance and stewardship teams.
- Intentional faith development: learning in community, on purpose, for years
Intentional faith development is the third of the five practices of fruitful congregations. Why faith grows best in small groups, what the Methodist class meeting and recent vitality research suggest, and how a congregation can build real paths for learning.
- Passionate worship: alive, prepared and open to God, whatever the style
Passionate worship is the second of the five practices of fruitful congregations. What it means beyond the traditional-versus-contemporary debate, what the 2010 United Methodist vitality study found about worship, and questions for worship planners.
- Radical hospitality: what it means for a congregation, and what it does not
Radical hospitality is the first of the five practices of fruitful congregations. What the phrase means, where the idea of welcome comes from in Scripture and Christian tradition, the common ways churches fall short, and questions to start with.
- Risk-taking mission and service: serving beyond comfort and beyond the walls
Risk-taking mission and service is the fourth of the five practices of fruitful congregations. What makes service 'risk-taking', the difference between charity, partnership and advocacy, how short-term mission can help or harm, and questions for mission teams.
