Connect with Other Community Listeners

A new offering from The Listening Church

When I created The Listening Church two years ago, I started with a simple idea: the church needs to change, and effective change begins with deep listening.

It’s been incredible to see how this newsletter and the Spiritual Listening Plan have been received. I’m quickly approaching 1,000 subscribers (thanks to many of you who have recommended it to others). I’ve heard from pastors who have used the listening activities to get to know their churches when they start a new role. I have heard from a mom who forwards the newsletter to her daughter to spark conversations about how they experience the world around them. I’ve heard from a church who is starting a coffee shop after doing the prayer walk and engaging in deep listening. I’ve heard from leaders who are starting new faith communities rooted in the listening practices they’ve learned about through the newsletter. Church leaders are listening to God and listening to their neighbors and some amazing things are happening!

Launching Paid Subscriptions

This two-year mark seems like a natural time to begin to offer a paid subscription option for the newsletter. I’ll be honest I’ve been resistant to offering a paid option for my newsletter. I’ve been in the church revitalization world for ten years now and have seen some economic models that don’t sit well with me. I am not in this work to make money off of churches longing for change.

However, I have learned that Substack’s algorithm rewards newsletters with paid subscriptions. It makes sense, they have staff to pay, and they get a cut from paid subscriptions. As an author, I’m not motivated by money, my main goal is for people to read the writing that I’ve spent my time creating.

So, to maximize the impact of my newsletter I’ve turned on paid subscriptions. I’ve set this up so that unpaid subscribers still have full access to new and old posts, which these days are coming out twice a month. As a paid subscriber you’ll get some additional support in your community listening as an added value. You’ll get exclusive access to a monthly community listening check-in call with me and fellow readers where we can ask questions and share experiences, learnings, and ideas from our community listening. I’ve set this to Substack’s minimum of $5/month. If you want to be a founding member, you’ll get a 1:1 community listening consultation call with me once a year in addition to the monthly calls.

If you’re a member of the Western NC Conference of the UMC (clergy or laity) I’ll comp you a paid subscription (your apportionments already pay me!), just send me a note. And if anyone of you would like to be a part of the monthly calls and can’t afford it, send me a note as well. I don’t want money to be a barrier to your community listening.

I’m grateful for all of you readers and look forward to continuing the journey with you!