Thriving Congregations: Six Months In

​     Six months ago, at the beginning of the fall of 2022, a group of church members and our pastors took a pilgrimage to Montreat, NC. It is a beautiful place with gorgeous mountain scenery and lots of interesting people from all over the country, all of whom are doing a variety of things, but at the heart of all the things that are happening in Montreat are relationships...relationships with each another and relationships with our Creator.

     We have just returned from yet another pilgrimage to Montreat to continue our work with the leaders of the Thriving Congregations Initiative. This work has been made available by a grant that Pastor Neeley discovered through a relationship that she had with the staff at Montreat. Relationships are at the heart of who we are as a people and they make opportunities like this one possible!

     You are probably aware of the work we have been doing for the past several months if you have experienced a one-on-one conversation with a team member or witnessed a team member sitting quietly in a corner taking notes while the rest of us do what we do as a church. We are in the process of learning more deeply about who we are, what weighs our hearts, what our community needs and how we can best deploy our resources to become the church that truly is the hands and feet of Christ in the world.

     In the days ahead we will continue having one-on-one conversations so if you haven’t yet enjoyed one of these discussions, contact Dan Walden at and we’ll get you hooked up with a team member at your convenience. We will also begin digging into the history of Newton County and Covington so we can understand our historical context. And soon we will begin organizing “House Meetings” to bring folks together over these same topics. So be on the lookout for your opportunity to have your voice heard. We are just 6 months into a two year process, so we have lots to learn from each other.

—Your Thriving Congregations Team

*This content was written for the April 2023 edition of our monthly newsletter First Press