Nu Faith Community: Online and in person

Nu Faith Community UMC is a new church plant in northwest Houston, TX, that's starting up in a new way. The church "launched" online well in advance of the "brick and mortar" launch in April 2008. The stated goal is to reach out to those who are not connected to church, to foster diversity in the church, and share the love and relationship with Jesus Christ. The founding pastor and "Launch Team" have created a website that seeks to answer preliminary questions about Nu Faith Community as well as the Christian faith, offered opportunities to become a part of the community through online, telephone (Talkcast) call, or on location Bible study. The pastor is also available via sermon downloads or email contact, and she includes a phone number on the site. She engages with the Houston area with local radio broadcasts, preaching engagements at other UM churches, and joint studies with other churches, in addition to the website. Interaction is available via participation in the Bible studies at any level, a variety on online forms to enable people to make contact with the pastor or to volunteer to take part in missions, in the launch in April, or to assist in other ways. Meetings and information sessions are held in the pastor's home on a regular basis. Multiple efforts are made on the site to make engagement easy. This site is targeted to a particular geographic location, and it does not offer weekly worship. What it does offer are multiple spaces to engage in, from public all the way to intimite, if one chooses to do so. It also emphasizes connection to a brick and mortar church (albeit one that does not yet exist) and does so in a relational, missional, and incarnational way. One criticism I have, however, is that the website's terminology locates it within the "Christian bubble" and may not be as accessible or inviting to those who are not familiar or have a negative opinion of church. By the way, the pastor, Rev. Jacqui King, was originally part of our DMin cohort. When she was appointed to Nu Faith, she deferred for a year.