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Dr. Rodney Thomas Smothers serves as a leadership coach and consultant in the areas of new church development and congregational revitalization. He recently coauthored Cry from the Pew: A Call to Action for The United Methodist Church (Market Square Publishing, 2022) available at Amazon. His book with coauthors Lia McIntosh and Jasmine Smothers, Blank Slate: Write Your Own Rules for a 22nd-Century Church Movement (Abingdon Press, 2019), is available at Cokesbury and Amazon. The three coauthors also founded the The Smothers Group. He previously served as lead pastor for Grace United Methodist Church in Fort Washington, Maryland, and the director of leadership and congregational development on the UMC Baltimore-Washington Conference Executive Leadership Team.
Candace Lewis and Rodney Smothers say that churches must leave their buildings, identify community needs, and walk alongside neighbors in order to make a difference.…
This article is reprinted by permission from Leading Ideas, a free e-newsletter from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary available at churchleadership.com.