partners

Announcing a New Partnership for New England

Dear partners in ministry, I am excited to announce a new partnership that I believe will strengthen and accelerate the church planting efforts in New England for many years to come. Orchard Group will be contributing our leadership, staff, and expertise to Restoration House Ministries, a New England church planting

Seven Days of Prayer

Join nearly 4,000 prayer partners in praying for seven days. Begin anytime, and then return to do it again: Day 1 > View this post on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/p/B-NQfOWHEgI/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading] Would you join us in seven days of

Behind the Scenes of Orchard Group

A little behind-the-scenes of Orchard Group from Brent and Rhesa Storms.  We're grateful for church planting partners like Southeast Christian Church [https://www.southeastchristian.org/], who has been a strong partner of several new churches, including Renaissance Church [https://orchardgroup.org/projects/renaissance-church] and Epiphany Brooklyn [https://orchardgroup.

Becoming a Spiritual Grandparent

From Nick Parsons, Director of Recruitment Even though I am only 34 years old, I recently experienced the joy of becoming a grandparent. Before you start doing math on the ages of my wife and daughter, know that I am talking about being a “church planting grandparent,” not a physical

Connection Brings Strength

The Redwood groves in California are one of nature’s wonders. These trees can grow to 275 feet high and 25 feet in diameter – large enough to drive a car through! Some of these trees are over a thousand years old, withstanding floods, fires, and strong winds.  With the tops

How We Wait

This year, Americans will spend roughly 37 billion hours waiting in line. 37 billion. That’s a lot of waiting. If you’ve visited your local post office in December, you probably feel like you’ve added your fair share of minutes to that total. Nobody likes waiting. We are

Giving Tuesday and Partnerships

Over the last few years, The Tuesday after Thanksgiving has been informally named "Giving Tuesday."  The day was promoted via social media to encourage people to think charitably after the consumer-driven Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  The idea has grown rapidly.  Last year, $117 million was raised for

Below the Waterline

If you visit New York City and have a day to spare, take a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. The views of Manhattan and Brooklyn are spectacular. The bridge is an engineering marvel. When it was built, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Several controversies surrounded the

Church Planting Partnerships

The story of every church plant is also the story of partnering churches.  New churches get their start with the prayer, personnel and financial support of other churches! Lorenzo Smith of Collective Church [http://www.orchardgroup.org/church/collective/] in West LA shares of how that support is encouraging to

Part of the Family

Over a period of years, Jordan Rice became increasingly convicted about the need for spiritual growth and change in Harlem.  He left behind his law career to study theology and entered a training program for church planting.  A year and a half ago, he led the launch of Renaissance Church

We've Been Learning for a Long Time

from Brent Storms, President and CEO Orchard Group has been starting churches in and around New York City since 1948. That means a lot of organizational learning from trial and error, failures and successes. Three visionary leaders preceded me as President. Hundreds of board members have exercised sharp minds to

As The World Becomes More Urban, So Must The Church

When Orchard Group was established in 1948, the percentage of the world population living in cities was 30%. Today, more than 50% of the world lives in cities. By 2050, projections are that 70% will live in cities. When Orchard Group was started, there were only two cities — New York

Year-End Celebration

“Take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jesus must have known that his disciples needed to hear those words. Surely they remembered them often to find assurance and hope. Jesus’s statement is still powerful today. Facing a broken world, we can possess the same hope and peace. Jesus has

Orchard Group Starts Churches in Cities Around the World

PLANTING CHURCHES IN AND FROM NYC SINCE 1948 Orchard Group starts churches in challenging, strategic, and influential cities throughout the world. Thank you to Matthew Kern [https://vimeo.com/thematthewbk] for shooting and editing.

From Megachurch to New Church

> "Church planting is incredibly challenging work.  You wear a lot of hats - entrepreneur, preacher, fundraiser, pastor, vision-caster, administrator - and you're not always working in your areas of strength."  Toney Salva Toney Salva was recently featured in Ozark Christian College [http://occ.edu/]'

Orchard Group Exponential Conference Bonus Session

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

From Brent Storms, President and CEO of Orchard Group When you reflect on the events of a year, you are likely to remember some of the difficulties and challenges. Hopefully you’re able to make a longer list of things to celebrate! We’re grateful that the victories and successes

Around the World

From Brent Storms, President and CEO Over the past year, our staff has focused on defining “wins.” Some of the wins have to do with measurable signs of success in our mission – seeing people surrender to Christ, raising up leaders, and financial generosity. For instance, when a church has a

One Family, Three Churches

> I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 1:4 Joe Wilson, pastor at Fork Christian Church in Maryland (FCC), has long been a champion of missions and new churches.  At 120 years old, FCC is a well-established presence

This is Renewal Church

> "Out of 500 people, I was the only black guy in the room." Lead Planter Derrick Puckett, on his heart for Chicago, and the desire to be a part of a new church that has a vision to bring people of all backgrounds together. Renewal Church website

From Country to City

Because of our emphasis on urban church planting, we often write about our nation's cultural centers: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami. These hubs are centers of power that shape the conversation for the rest of the nation and the world. And yet, the tide of

Changing the World, One New Church at a Time

Brent Storms, President & CEO of Orchard Group shares why he feels new churches in cities are vital.