Changes in the Works

Some of you might notice that thedesocios.com has been fairly quiet recently. Well alot has been going on for us in the last month.

The first week of January Jo, Gus and I traveled to visit my family in upstate New York. This gave us a nice break from alot of the busyness.

As many people know we have been planning and praying for the opportunity to plant a new church for the Lawrenceville Bloomfield sections of Pittsburgh.

Last weekend I presented my plans to our denomination’s regional leadership and they decided to endorse it.

This means a number of things for the DeSocios and thedesocios.com Read More

Why Should We Start New Churches? Pt. 3

Place for new Christians

Frequently, established church have pressure placed on them to care for the needs of the people already present, this means that often the older a church is the more time it ends up spending on programs and services intended to care for and retain its existing members. This doesn’t mean that older churches don’t care for new Christians, it just means that often they are better equipped at training more mature Christians.

Why Should We Start New Churches? Pt. 2

Intentional reevaluation
The old saying “foundations are forever” means that when you start a new church, it is important to examine what cultural foundations you will be laying. New churches have the unique opportunity to reevaluate customary ways of doing church, with less fear that they might divide a church over any issue. This reevaluation gives does two things: First, it lets new churches establish new traditions. Second, it gives new churches the freedom to connect to the historic church in ways that the previous generation of churches might have seen as undesirable, or unattainable.

Why Should We Start New Churches? Pt 1

New Opportunities for Service In many existing churches the pathway into service and/or leadership is often a fairly long and complicated one. Church tenure is often expected before a member is invited to or allowed to influence a church’s culture. This can often hinder how well a long-established church ministers to new groups in their area. New churches offer opportunities that are often absent in established churches. This is especially true when a new church is reaching a new group of people or a new generation.