We chose the name "The Narthex" because, traditionally, the narthex in a church is the entryway where people gather before and after services. We want to leverage digital platforms as a place between church and the real world – for both coming and going.

The Narthex seeks to expand a pandemic-prompted trajectory of online ministry, specifically for traditional, sacramental, liturgical churches, where digital capacities enhance (and don t replace) our traditional church offerings.

Our end goal is threefold:

1. Virtual community: Engaging content (aimed especially at the “nones” where they are––i.e., online), developing arovpiding resources to explore the life questions they are asking,

2. Digital whole-life discipleship resources reacquainting existing believers with ancient faith practices, accessible online and relevant to their Monday-through-Saturday lives and mission fields,

3. Learning cohort of likeminded Mainline churches committed to peer-mentoring and resource sharing, appropriate to our theological/ecclesiological sensibilities, size, resources, and ends.

Funded by a grant from The Lilly Foundation’s Thriving Congregation initiative, The Narthex project has a budget allocated for personnel, subgrants, consultants, supplies, equipment, travel, hospitality, and indirect costs. You can learn more about our budget breakdown in the Project Proposal.

After completing our initial 18-month cohort, we will expand the program to include an additional 25 parishes incorporated into a larger congregational learning community. The pilot cohort will serve as a steering committee for this expansion, with the end goal of 31 peer-mentoring parishes, with at least one lay and clergy leader from each parish. If you are interested in participating in the expanded learning community (the pilot cohort is complete), please fill out the form on the website.

The Narthex includes four key components for its participating churches:

1. Digital Ministry Assessment + Strategic Planning

2. Digital Capacity Subgrants + Learning Cohorts

3. Curating + Creating Online Content

4. Training + Capacity Building

Each pilot congregation will recruit and mentor an 18-month, 5-parish peer-learning cohort––with Christ Church Denver overseeing the whole network and project. Applicants to the expanded cohort will be offered up to $12,000 in matching digital capacity enhancement expenses (training, design, technical consultation, and necessary technological improvements––hardware, software, applications, etc.), alongside congregation-funded consultancies for their own digital ministry assessment and strategic plan development. The intended result will be a 31-parish, peer-mentored network by the end of 2026.

Both the initial pilot group and subgroups will be overseen by our Program Director, utilizing the peer mentoring framework of Caffeinated Church (a four-diocese communications collaborative that regularly convenes such cohorts) for a structured learning process, directly engaging lay/clergy-leader teams to form a supportive, resource-sharing network. All learnings and best practices will be culled, collected, and archived by Caffeinated Church for use by the wider church.

We invite ideas and connections relevant to The Narthex’s goals and plans. Please take a look at the detailed project proposal and be in touch if you have a specific expertise, connection, or idea that may align. Financial contributions to Christ Cherch Denver and The Narthex ensure its long-term sustainability.

The Narthex project aims to achieve several outcomes, including strengthened community engagement, enhanced digital capacity, and a deeper commitment to whole-life discipleship. We're excited to see the positive impact unfold.

“Mainline” refers to Protestant churches with akin theology, values, and practices to Christ Church Denver’s Episcopal tradition. This include churches in these denominations: United Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Presbyterian (PC-USA), American Baptist Churches USA (ABC-USA), United Church of Christ (UCC), and Disciples of Christ.

“Median” refers to the size of the church, measured by its average Sunday attendance. In this case, a median-sized church has 75-300 participants on any given Sunday.

Qualitatively:

• a heightened engagement with whole-life discipleship,in our parish and partner parishes

• clarity about our community engagement model,

• a deeper connection between individual (and dispersed) members and their parish mission/vision,

• a deeper connection between individual congregations/congregational leaders in our peer-mentoring cohorts

• a heightened missional urgency when it comes to discipleship and evangelism

Quantitatively:

• at least 31 congregational participants in our collaborative peer-mentoring cohorts (including Christ Church Denver as convener), with 60+ individual lay/clergy leaders committed to cross-congregational partnership,

• congregational participants in our hybrid discipleship offerings, both for our Christ Church Denver parish and partner parishes,

• new online resources created, including ~25 videos, blog posts, and study guides,

• innovative online ministries, including new and reimagined/revitalized ministries, reaching expanded audiences,

• virtual volunteers engaged in new, or revitalized/expanded, online offerings,

• funds raised through expanded outreach, especially to our growing online congregation.