A lot of what we have read about and talked about in class is how a church sends out its members to do incarnational ministry, but what about the church doing incarnational ministry as the church in a local community? How does a local church live missionally in the local community it is in. When I think of this idea, the best example that I can think of is what Millwood Presbyterian Church is doing in the Millwood community.

            I am a member of Millwood Presbyterian and have interned for the Senior Pastor and I continue to marvel as to how this church in a dying denomination is impacting the surrounding community and being one of the few Presbyterian churches to grow. And what I think is the result of this uniquely growing church is its ability to live missionally within the community. Both the pastor and the youth pastor sit on many school boards within the district as well as spearheaded after school programs when the local elementary school didn’t have the funds. But the church itself is also rooted into this community. the church is the location of the local farmers market, a key contributor to the local 5k run, and holds a community food drive as pictured. The list is endless in its continual impact exemplifying the roots the church has in this community. And because of this, the membership of this church continues to rise while the neighboring Presbyterian churches are fading. This church and others doing a similar ministry show that there is another way for the church to be the church to a community. The Missional lifestyle can be applied to the church as a whole just as the individual members can. But the way the church does it is in a much different approach.