Tim Soerens: Reconnecting Churches with Their Neighborhoods

<p>This week on the Strong Towns Podcast, we’re kicking off the new year by featuring a special guest: Tim Soerens, author and co-founder of the <a href='https://www.parishcollective.org'>Parish Collective</a>. Last year, Chuck read Tim’s books <a href='https://www.amazon.com/New-Parish-Neighborhood-Transforming-Discipleship-ebook/dp/B00J8V80WC'>The New Parish: How Neighborhood Churches Are Transforming Mission, Discipleship and Community</a> and <a href='https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084D43M1L/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1'>Everywhere You Look: Discovering the Church Right Where You Are</a>—and even recommended them to his priest!</p> <p>If you’re not Christian or not religious, don’t worry: Tim’s not here to preach, but rather to talk about community, and the position of churches within a community. His organization, the Parish Collective, is a network of place-based churches and small community groups who are all wrestling with the question of how to <a href='https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/12/10/bottom-up-sara-joy-proximity-project'>reconnect churches with their neighborhoods</a>. Furthermore, they’re encouraging people to consider what part locally connected churches can play in the strengthening and holistic renewal of a place over time.</p> <p>Strong Towns is, of course, a secular organization. Still, we love hearing about how faith communities and other groups are adopting a Strong Towns approach to <a href='https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/10/8/walk-humbly-how-faith-communities-can-help-build-stronger-towns'>tackling the problems in their neighborhoods</a>. In that spirit we hope that you, too, will enjoy this first Strong Towns Podcast episode of 2022.</p>