Last weekend First Congregational Church (Winter Park, FL) welcomed Cameron Trimble and Michael Piazza of the Center for Progressive Renewal. They led a workshop for leaders from churches across Florida focused on marketing, mission and money - three of the most challenging issues facing the church today. While I was unable to attend, I benefited from it by reading some of the quotes Sarah Lund, Regional Minister of the Western Region of the Florida Conference of the United Church of Read More …
Center for Progressive Renewal
New Church Metrics (#0801)
Cameron Trimble is the Executive Director of the Center for Progressive Renewal, which seeks to “renew Progressive Christianity by training new entrepreneurial leaders, supporting the birth of new liberal/progressive congregations, and by renewing and strengthening existing progressive churches.” In her article on church metrics in the Spring 2012 edition of New Times she proposes a new scorecard for churches that is designed to more accurately reflect the Read More …
How to Reverse Mainline Decline (or not) (#0510)
Rev. Cameron Trimble is the Executive Director of the Center for Progressive Renewal, which seeks to "renew Progressive Christianity by training new entrepreneurial leaders, supporting the birth of new liberal/progressive congregations, and by renewing and strengthening existing progressive churches." Recently, she spoke in Connecticut to a group of seventy-five United Church of Christ pastors and educators. In her speech, Trimble made the historical observation that Read More …
Restoring the Mainline’s Prophetic Voice (#0426)
After 23 years at the Cathedral of Hope (UCC) in Dallas, TX, Michael Piazza accepted a call to the Virginia-Highland Church (UCC) earlier this year. Piazza has been an important voice in the progressive Christian movement for many years and currently serves as Co-Executive Director of The Center for Progressive Renewal. In theSpring/Summer edition of the Center's bi-annual publication, New Times, Piazza offers these challenging words: The time is overdue for Read More …
Let us Commit to Being the New Church (#0249)
In the Fall/Winter 2010 edition of the "New Times Newsletter," a periodical associated with the Center for Progressive Renewal, Amanda Hendler-Vost, co-pastor of Land of the Sky United Church of Christ shared the story of the birth this congregation. During their first official worship service on Pentecost Sunday, 2009, co-pastor Sara Wilcox (pictured at right), included these words in her sermon: Let us commit to more than singing a new church into creation. Let us commit to being Read More …