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In an age when superficiality reigns supreme, we desire to see churches that, in contrast, are rooted in: a meaningful life together, following Jesus, taking scripture seriously, and deep love for their neighbors.
All communities embody a shape that displays who they are, and in Christian communities, this should be the shape of Jesus. But as always, churches easily fall prey to temptations like exclusion (consider all the New Testament stories about Jewish Christians who wanted to keep out Gentiles), greed, hate, and violence—which all look very little like Jesus as we encounter him in the Gospels. It becomes very easy to justify why our church doesn’t look or act like Jesus, but a different way is possible.
Every place is unique and contains a particular mix of people, each with their own gifts, passions, challenges, and brokenness. In those specific locations, God gathers communities of Christ followers who have the capacity to pay attention to our places and their inhabitants. As we do, we hope to collectively embody Christ in ways that communicate good news to the neighbors there.
Josh is the Director of Congregational Engagement at Englewood Community Development Corporation (ECDC) and serves as the Program Director for the Cultivating Communities initiative.
Chris Smith is a writer, editor, and communications specialist at ECDC in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is also the founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books and the author of several books, including The Virtue of Dialogue and Slow Church.
Mike Bowling has been a pastor at Englewood Christian Church in Indianapolis for 32 years. He has served on many non-profit boards and served as Executive Director of a large youth serving organization. He has 47 years experience as a lead pastor in three congregations.
Dr. Katy Lines serves as a pastor with Englewood Christian Church in Indianapolis. Originally from Colorado, she has served God’s people in California, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Kenya. Wherever she finds herself, she searches for what makes each place unique—its heartbeat, stories, and people—and how God is moving through it all.
Rev. Dr. Jonathan Brooks is a lifelong resident of Chicago, IL and currently serves as Lead Pastor at Lawndale Christian Community Church and the Chief Inspiration Officer for Lawndale Christian Ministries. Pastah J, as he is affectionately called, is a sought-after speaker, writer, artist, organizer, and community developer. He is author of the book Church Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods. He is married to Micheál Newman-Brooks and has two beautiful children.
Lisa Rodriguez-Watson serves as the National Director of Missio Alliance. For nearly two decades, Lisa’s heart to see people reconciled to God and to one another has led her to invest her life and family in various roles within collegiate ministry, international missions, immigration advocacy, community development, and urban church planting.
Lindsey Cornett is a writer, editor, and content developer with experience in educational and faith-based settings. She serves as the Managing Editor of Englewood Press and an assistant editor for The Englewood Review of Books. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband and three children.
Annie Smith is a longtime Indianapolis resident, where she has advocated on behalf of her neighbors on the city’s Far Eastside. For more than 30 years, she has walked alongside neighbors and organizations, supporting youth-serving programs, schools, faith communities, and juvenile justice efforts.
Dave Price is a member of Englewood Christian Church and a longtime resident of the Englewood neighborhood, where he helped to begin many of the community development initiatives the church and CDC have undertaken. He works as a realtor and is a dedicated husband and father, who believes most Christians are settling for something far less than what the church can be.
Roberto Solis is co-pastor of the Iglesia de Cristo in the El Salvador neighborhood of Saltillo, Mexico, where he lives with his family. He collaborates from Mexico with the Englewood Community Development Corporation and is a member of Nurturing Communities, a network of Christ-centered intentional communities.
Englewood Christian Church has operated on the Near Eastside of Indianapolis for over 130 years. The congregation is committed to being a particular expression of the Body of Christ to be a witness of the continuing presence of Jesus for our neighborhood and our city. ECC gave birth to work like The Englewood Review of Books and the Englewood Community Development Corporation.
LCCC has existed on the southside of Chicago since 1975. It is oriented around the belief that the local church is to be a witness of Christ’s gospel by meeting the spiritual, mental and physical needs of the surrounding community.
Missio Alliance is a growing network of Christians who come together under a common commitment to provide a place to address what faithfulness to Christ and His mission might look like for the churches of North America in the face of several new cultural challenges curates content and conversations around the most pressing needs of the church to foster meaningful change.
The Ekklesia Project is a community of Christians who have found life-giving friendship through a shared hope in the vision of God’s good shalom. They provide resources and solidarity to others who are committed to an unwillingness to be at home in structures and systems rooted in the economics of scarcity and the politics of fear.
Cultivating Communities is an initiative of the Englewood Community Development Corporation, a 501(c)3.