We believe microchurches are called to operate as spiritual families. This means we find ourselves doing life alongside those coming from a diversity of backgrounds and life stages. How do we honor this diversity and help everyone thrive? How to we learn to make space for all? In this episode, we wrestle through the complexity of this issue and the process of unlearning and relearning.

Other Links:

Video Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@renaissancemicrochurches

Website - wearerenaissance.org

Sign-Up For The Practitioner Pathway Cohort - wearerenaissance.org/training

What does it look like to do life alongside and deeply love spiritually curious people? In this episode, Steve Hawley talks about his experience on the Appalachian Trail engaging spiritually curious people.

From 2007 until 2024, Hawley helped lead Faith Assembly of God Church in Hyannis. He then felt called to start Hiker Church, a ministry for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts who are spiritually curious. He was also the Appalachian Trail Chaplain for 2025. We actually got to walk with Steve through a cohort to talk about themes of missional living and microchurch, and have been following his transition in this endeavor ever since.

Other Links:

Video Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@renaissancemicrochurches

Website - wearerenaissance.org

Sign-Up For The Practitioner Pathway Cohort - wearerenaissance.org/training

We often imagine missional people and hospitable folks to be outgoing and driven. Is that true? Are introverts part of the work of mission? If so, what does it look like? In this episode of The Practitioner Podcast, we interview Jace Rasche on his journey over the last eight years in his neighborhood, and the skills he's learned as a missional introvert.

Other Links:

Video Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@renaissancemicrochurches

Website - wearerenaissance.org

Sign-Up For The Practitioner Pathway Cohort - wearerenaissance.org/training

God's call is often far less grand and spectacular than we've been made to believe. The work of a practitioner is getting comfortable with that which is mundane, ordinary, simple, and rooted. With the right perspective, we'll discover God in the everyday. In this episode, we describe that journey.

Other Links:

Video Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@renaissancemicrochurches

Website - wearerenaissance.org

Sign-Up For The Practitioner Pathway Cohort - wearerenaissance.org/training

Often, we begin the journey into our neighborhoods only imagining how we can serve. One of the surprising outcomes, though, is how often God ends up serving us through our neighbors. In this episode of The Practitioner Podcast, we interview Fabricio Paes on his journey over the last decade in his neighborhood, and how he's become closer to God in the process.

Other Links:

Video Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@renaissancemicrochurches

Website - wearerenaissance.org

Sign-Up For The Practitioner Pathway Cohort - wearerenaissance.org/training

We've learned over the years that for many folks, there is no imagination for communal church spaces beyond the attractional church. What does it look like to embrace a different way? How do we step into microchurch realities with a new mindset? In this episode of The Practitioner Podcast, we discuss our outcomes and walk through a different way to think about growth and success.

Other Links:

Video Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@renaissancemicrochurches

Website - wearerenaissance.org

Sign-Up For The Practitioner Pathway Cohort - wearerenaissance.org/training

Leadership is a buzzword in our culture and in the church. Yet, most of the prevailing models of leadership around us don't work in microchurch life. What does it look like to embrace a different way? In this episode of The Practitioner Podcast, we discuss polycentric leadership and walk through a different way to operate in mutuality.

Other Links:

Video Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@renaissancemicrochurches

Website - wearerenaissance.org

Sign-Up For Discernment Dinners - wearerenaissance.org/training

What if our missional practitionership should break our hearts? What if truly practicing faithful presence in our neighborhoods leads us to lament? Why might this be a sign that God is involved in what we're doing? In this episode of The Practitioner Podcast, we unpack these questions and why they matter. More than that, Christine and Drew give examples from their own neighborhoods and what God is teaching them (20:13).

Other Links:

Video Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@renaissancemicrochurches

Website - wearerenaissance.org

Sometimes the simple things are the most overlooked things. This is definitely true when starting microchurch communities. Over the years, we've discovered that creating social contracts and allowing people the agency to name what they need from a microchurch is foundational. Listen as we unpack what they are and what it means to create one.

Other Links:

wearerenaissance.org

Often spiritual practices and contemplation are pitted against missional work. In this episode, Dan Lee makes a case for the importance of contemplative spirituality for the work of mission and microchurch life.

Dan has been part of the church planting movement since 1998, serving five different church plants (Cambridge, Somerville, Boston, Brookline, and Brockton) in Massachusetts. He has extensive experience in pastoral counseling, has led developmental projects in Nepal, and is an affiliated trainer for the Exponent Group (⁠exponentgroup.org⁠). He provides spiritual direction to kingdom catalysts and church leaders while leading a micro-church at his home. 

Other Links:

wearerenaissance.org