Have a look at some stories of real transformation– accounts of growth, courage, and renewed purpose shared by leaders learning to practice change in real time.
Deep Listening in a C3 Context
Lupina Villalpando-Stewart
Northern Hills UMC, San Antonio, TXNorthern Hills was in a season of reconceiving its call from a one-campus to a two-campus church. Through the prayerful conversations and deep listening involved in our C3 work, the Holy Spirit led us to discern the best next steps for strengthening our sense of identity, focus, and direction for each of the campuses.
Relationship and Love on the Learning Journey
Bill Wilkson
St. Mark’s UMC, El Paso, TXI felt Jesus' presence the moment I stepped off the bus and met the pastor of this urban church and his friend, a former gang leader. When the pastor began speaking about the church’s decision to close its doors and then reopen them to people previously considered outsiders, he said, "I don't have any idea what's down the road, I just know how to love who's in front of me. It's all about relationship and love." It was an “aha” moment for me—realizing this is what a church should be everywhere.
Through Grief to Imagination
Ruben Nuno
Church of the Living Hope, New York, NYWe entered C3 having endured layered trauma: a painful pastoral departure, the disorientation of COVID, and repeated leadership transitions. Rooted in a Japanese American tradition shaped by silence and survival, the congregation struggled to name grief, even as elders carried memories of internment and loss. The cohort provided culturally grounded tools to engage grief without forcing easy answers. It helped us recognize that reimagining the church’s future required first honoring what had been lost.
Permission to Dream
Rev. Sheri Clifton
North Shore UMC, Canyon Lake, TXThe C3 experience created a different kind of permission and framework for conversations about who we are, what we do, and what God’s inviting us to do. It invited a curiosity about ourselves and about the community around us; a curiosity that didn’t feel threatening, but rather life-giving and empowering. It encouraged celebration of God’s faithfulness — what God has done and is doing, while also encouraging not getting stuck in the past, but rather dreaming about and discerning what God might be wanting to do through us, trusting the Holy Spirit to guide us in “Kingdom of God” focus and work, all while growing in God’s grace.
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Hear from C3 Participants
“Time to think and imagine with our congregation was most helpful, and the facilitators being a part of those conversations guiding us along with challenging questions helped us expand our thinking”
“Facilitators were excellent, compassionate and creative in their shepherding this work of the Holy Spirit in our midst.”
“The process is creative and thoughtful, very well facilitated, layered and intentional, experiential and participatory . . . Congregations . . . open to change . . . will benefit from this model.”
“Even if you are doing OK, perhaps even growing a bit in membership and meeting budgetary needs, what else is God calling you to do beyond maintaining what you are today?”
“This has been a really powerful opportunity of thinking and dreaming for our congregation.”
“C3 has helped us ask important questions that we might not otherwise know how to approach.”