New Faith Communities
The VISION of Harvest 2020 is to plant 100 new faith communities within the Northern Illinois Conference, to grow healthy disciples in local churches, and to promote cooperation through cluster ministries.
DISTRICT Strategy Teams
- District strategy teams will identify key areas of growth in their district as potential locations for new faith communities.
- The Conference Congregational Development Committee will provide resources to help District Teams identify church-start models and tailor them to the unique demographics and history of each community.
To learn more about the work of the District Strategy Team see a job description of their work. District Strategy Team: Job Description
Local Congregations: How will you get involved?
- Partnering Congregations will cooperate with other churches in their cluster or region to support nearby new faith communities.
- Parenting Congregations will provide resources, including finances, staffing and congregation members, for a new church during its first years of ministry.
- Multi-Site or satellite Churches are larger churches who begin “branch” campuses which follow their current ministry, worship styles and vision.
Ethnic & Multicultural Congregational Development Initiative
Harvest 2020 will include an intentional focus on Latino/Hispanic, African American, Asian American and Native American congregations and new faith communities.
- The Latino/Hispanic Ministry Plan includes the establishment of a Hispanic Ministry Center and development of new faith communities.
- New African American faith communities will be concentrated in the areas between Chicago and Rockford.
- The Asian American community will focus on new faith community planting, with particular attention to second-generation Korean American ministries.
- We will seek to serve the Native American community through faith communities attentive to their needs.
Multicultural ministry relates to all members across the boundaries of various cultures. It will include interaction and mutual impact between congregations of different cultures.
New Faith Communities Defined
A new Faith Community is a newly organized faith community that is committed to making disciples of Jesus Christ and
- Includes regular community worship
- Is theologically Wesleyan
- Is willing to plant a new congregation in its first decade
- Has an effective disciplining system
- Does community outreach
- Receives new members
In other words, it is more than a mission project, a new worship service or the construction of a new building.
