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National Office:
- WordAlone Ministries
- 2299 Palmer Drive
Suite #220 - New Brighton, MN 55112
- 651.633.6004
- fax 651.633.4260
- toll-free 888.551.7254
- info@wordalone.org
WordAlone® Ministries is a religious, non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, and your contributions are fully tax-deductible.
The World of
WordAlone Ministries
LTC
Life Together Churches
What are they?
Life Together Churches (LTC) is a network that supports people hosting worship and congregational life in small group environments. The network provides everything needed to enable a local group to quickly and effectively start a small group worshiping community and sustain its life and growth. In this way the network lives out its common vision to make disciples who make disciples and to plant churches that plant churches linked together by shared leadership, resources and passion. Its first order of concern is to live out Christ’s great commission to make disciples for the sake of preaching, teaching, and confessing Jesus Christ as God’s Word for us and for our salvation.
The LTC network provides ongoing pastoral leadership to facilitate quick deployment and sustained support for churches. It provides administrative support for initiating small group worshiping communities, coaching for local leadership, worship planning, discipleship training resources for all ages, and network-wide communications. The central focus on evangelism and discipleship makes creative use of today’s media and web based technologies critical for effective everyday operation and vital for outreach to a culture that requires it. LTC also provides for an organic web of existing and emerging relationships that extend well beyond the local group by facilitating large group gatherings in the form of conferences and retreats.
Real Presence
Life Together Churches share a passionate faith in the real presence of Jesus. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ restores real communion with the Living God. Where two or three are gathered, He promises to be there in our midst. We believe God hears us and acts. Our worship is passionate. Our prayers are serious – full of faith and expectancy.
Real People
Life Together Churches are like rescue boats launched for the purpose of saving people on the open sea and bringing them safely into the Kingdom. We are quick to plant new churches, even knowing that we cannot assure their long-term survival. Our aim is not to plant churches that stand the test of time, but to make disciples who stand the test of time.
Real Purpose
Life Together Churches are on a mission. We believe the church has the power to change culture through the discipleship of its members. By humbly taking up the authority God gives His children, Life Together Churches work to make significant impact on the surrounding community, changing culture in positive ways – caring for cities and making disciples of nations.
Different Types of Churches
Most small group worshiping communities in Life Together Churches will fall into one of three categories: simple church, cell church and house church. Simple church is church at its most basic level. It may be a gathering in a coffee shop, on the beach, or in a home. It is, by definition, simple. It focuses on people, rather than programs and structure. Cell church can be seen as multiple simple churches linked together to form a hierarchy of support and accountability. Usually a pastor oversees the cell groups and leads a monthly large group gathering. A house church is more autonomous than a cell church though it is often networked organically with other nearby house churches for occasional large group gatherings and other shared ministries.
Life Together Church Ministry Offerings
Life Together Churches can be rapidly started and supported without trained pastoral leadership because of a well-designed set of offerings that provide all the required resources and services. The offerings leverage Internet technologies to create a network of churches that work together in mutual support. Email, web, interactive voice and video undergird many aspects of the network to enhance communications, training, and support. Together with strategic opportunities for face-to-face gatherings, the network provides an optimal mix of approaches to support the local small group worshiping community while helping it to feel an important part of the larger virtual parish.
The following services make up a well rounded system to get Life Together Churches started quickly and to maintain their life and mission.
- Startup Workshop – This is a face-to-face, day long workshop to help local leaders and participants get their Life Together Church started quickly and effectively.
- Pastoral Leadership – Theologically trained Lutheran pastors provide ongoing leadership for the network which is configured as a virtual parish.
- Leadership Coaching – Leaders of Life Together Churches are encouraged to join the Pastoral Leadership Team in weekly interactive video sessions to support their learning and development.
- Starting Our Life Together – This is a series of worship plans and group activities designed to take a new congregation through its first 120 days. The content focuses on rediscovering the nature of church life in the New Testament. This time frame is often used as a trial period for the group, ending in an evaluation about whether to continue.
- Weekly Worship Plan – A basic worship plan is designed and published for each week to support worship in small group worship settings. This plan can be adjusted or replaced as needed by local Life Together Church leaders at their discretion.
- Parish Network Communications – The network provides website, social networking facilities, and a monthly email newsletter to help local groups gain a sense of the greater community of Life Together Churches.
- Discipleship Education – Life Together Churches provide a coordinated system for training Christian disciples of all ages. This offering addresses or replaces the traditional categories of Sunday School, Bible Study, Lutheran Confessions, Missions, Stewardship, Confirmation & Youth Ministry Program, Men’s Ministry, and Women’s Ministry
- Conferences and Retreats – Regional conferences and local retreats provide opportunities for members of LTCs to gather and get a sense of the larger church and to receive training and encouragement.
Life Together Leadership and Oversight Team
The Life Together Leadership Team is comprised of individuals of varying gifts, a common passion and practical church-planting experience.
Life Together Churches is a Joint Venture of LEM and WordAlone
- Peter Churness, Director of LEM Deeper Life based out of Buffalo, MN
- Tom Hilpert, Senior Pastor of New Joy Fellowship outside Nashville, TN
- Bruce Kotila, Pastor of Discipleship at Thanksgiving! Lutheran in Omaha, NE
- Kurt Linn, Pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, MN
- Bob Mabry, Senior Pastor at Hope Community Church in Long Beach, CA
- Diane Snyder, Mission Developer, Shoreview, MN
Life Together Churches is a Joint Venture of LEM and WordAlone
LEM and WordAlone share a deep commitment to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Together we believe that small group worshiping communities are one of the most effective ways to reach those who desperately need to receive justification by faith and begin to share the life of hope that comes through being a disciple of Jesus Christ. For this reason LEM and WordAlone have joined forces to bring into being an effective approach for starting and sustaining Life Together Churches anywhere the Holy Spirit chooses to call them into being. Together we rejoice in this common effort and pray for God to guide and empower us to do His will.
If you would like information about how you can help start a Life Together Church in your area, contact us at info@lifetogetherchurches.com or call the LEM Deeper Life number at 763-535-3309.