By Michelle Hettmann, Anjie Woodworth, and Andy Woodworth

Long ago in the small, calm city of Atlanta, two churches had thriving ministries in their neighborhoods. As time passed, communities shifted, and culture change impacted even the southeastern United States’ experience of Christianity. Both churches faced decline and the struggle to maintain buildings built for eras long passed. 

In 2015, an out of the blue offer from a developer got the Druid Hills United Methodist congregation thinking about what might be possible for the future. This led to conversations with nearby Epworth United Methodist, and after many conversations they decided to enter into a “vital merger” in which both congregations would say thank you to their unique identities and histories and move into the future as a new congregation. This new church first gathered at Easter of 2016 as “New Church.”

We spent the better part of the next year listening to what the Spirit was calling us to do and to be, both in prayer and in conversations in our community. We gathered for worship once a month and focused on meeting our neighbors both for small conversations and through larger casual events. We found a community working hard for justice and connection and met amazing people working with organizations that were doing work that was good for the world. As we prayed, we heard God calling us to create a space that connects the Body of Christ and the community around us while amplifying the work of the community.

Most of all, what we heard from the community is that they had one common need: affordable space to gather, meet, and organize in the city! So, we sold one of the buildings and were able to use the money from the sale to do a full building renovation of the other building, which is the building we meet in now and share with community partners.

We understand our ministry to be a collaborative effort that includes the priorities of the community around us, not just those in the worshiping congregation. In fact, we see Neighborhood Church as two concentric circles. The smaller, inner circle is the worshiping congregation and is the core of our spiritual practice as a community. The larger, outer circle is the large number of folks who engage in the work of community in our building or alongside the worshiping congregation. As much as possible, the work of the congregation is taken out into the community (small groups are held at restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and homes, while connect events are held in all kinds of places!), and we invite the community to bring their work into the building. We try to connect the community and the congregation as much as possible and show up where the community is doing their thing. We see our building as a larger center for justice and community that is anchored and supported by a worshiping congregation. All of this posture is rooted in how we understand Christian practice and the work of loving God with everything we have and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. We believe God is already present in all kinds of ways in the world around us and we just try to show up and cooperate in what God is already doing!

Today, things look different in the building on any given afternoon or night at Neighborhood Church. Some days you will walk in the Connector doors and be greeted with the smell of amazing food being shared by Southern Fried Queer Pride at their quarterly potluck, a group dedicated to creating space for trans folks (particularly trans folks of color). There might be laughter down the hall from a Girl Scout troop, while at the same time there is a different kind of laughter down in the Community Room coming from a sketch comedy class. In contrast to all the laughter, there is also likely a restorative yoga class happening down in the basement focusing on silence, connection, and wellness.

On a different evening, you might walk in to find our neighborhood board meeting up in the Conference Room, artists painting in the Center for Art & Spirituality, our Neighborhood Church musicians rehearsing in the Sanctuary, a free legal clinic for LGBTQIA+ folks happening in the Multipurpose Room, an AA group meeting down in the Community Room, and a tai chi class happening in the Gathering Place. We love sharing our multipurpose space with the neighborhood and are so grateful for each person who is a part of this community. 

During office hours, you will see our amazing community partners working, drinking coffee, and sharing and connecting their gifts with our larger community. We have eight community organizations who share long-term office space in our building. Whether they are creating art installations, helping people tell and share their stories online, advocating for and with adults with a developmental disability, providing social skills and counseling for adolescents, helping to fund and resource foster care placements, or journeying with folks through their spiritual journey of seeing and hearing God more in their life. Our community partners do work that is community-focused and fits directly with our vision of being a church that works for restoration through relationship with God and community. We have monthly community partner lunches and quarterly community partner happy hours so that we can all continue our work of collaboration together in community.

We have received many unexpected gifts by putting time, energy, and money into renovating our building so it is accessible and open to all folks. One of the main gifts we have discovered is that we get to meet new people in the neighborhood almost every day who are doing amazing work. Our renovations have let us say “yes” to our neighbors when they ask if they are able to share space with us for workshops, meetings, conferences, counseling, and more! We love the work of continuing to listen and staying open to where God is leading—who God is leading us to, what we are being called to, and how we are called to continue to show up in the neighborhood. We are grateful to be part of this collaborative Christian community that continues to build relationships for community and justice.