Common Ground has gone through a lot of changes in the past 7 years.  One thing has remained constant – having a night of prayer the first Monday of every month.  We’ve called it Nehemiah Night and recently changed the name to Nehemiah Gathering, a change necessary since CGCC-West held their time of prayer in the morning.  Common Ground has always known the importance and power of prayer.  We feel that now is a good time to reevaluate our Nehemiah time and how it fits into who we're called to be as the body of Christ.  After all, we’re the Gospel locally – we’re called to be the church where we live.  Would it make more sense, given our calling, to also pray where we live instead of driving to a central location as we have for the last 7 years?

Following some good discussion with Nehemiah participants on Monday night, Jeff posed an experiment.  We’re going to move Nehemiah Gathering from the corporate level out to the house churches, effective immediately.  Instead of driving to Broad Ripple or to Eagle Creek Elementary to pray, we’re encouraging house churches to focus on prayer one week a month.  What will this practically look like?  Well, that’s up to the house church.  A night of prayer may replace a weekly meeting, or maybe a couple of house churches will gather in a neighborhood once a month to pray.  We’ll pray both globally – for our missions partners and the injustice in the world, and locally – for what’s going on in our neighborhoods.  The term coined for this on Monday was “glocally” – a little silly, but true.  This will allow us to be more intentional in our own neighborhoods, encouraging us to be even more deliberate in prayer and heeding to the Spirit where we live.  What we know for sure is that more people will be praying, and that’s a good thing.  We appreciate your grace and patience as we step out in faith with this change.  More information will be coming soon through your house church.

Common Ground believes that children are a gift from God and should be handled with love and care.  We also believe that God has appointed parents as the primary religious disciplers of their children and the church’s role is to assist in the cooperative effort of that task.  The children's ministry at Common Ground is intended to support the children and their parents by providing a nurturing environment that allows children to discover truths from God's Word that are fundamental to their spiritual development and establish a foundation for a relationship with Jesus Christ.  

Have questions about children’s ministry or would like to become involved?  Please contact Martina Gaughan, director of children’s ministry, at martina@cground.org.

Together we have experienced a good deal of newness in the past months. This month we were grateful to welcome two new babies into the world, Joshua Max Stroessler and Eden Joelle Zenz. We love kids and are grateful to have 13 kids under the age of 12 among us.

We are also in the process of sending a new cell group to the University Hill area of town. Our practice is to send a group of 4-6 people into a neighborhood with a vision to connect with the people around them. We have come to see that our cell groups can create a safe space where people can connect with God and one another. This will be our fourth cell group and we are excited about the fresh faith of the new leadership team.

Although we see our cell groups as the environment where people will most deeply connect with the church, we also gather together three Sundays a month for a time of worship and teaching. Recently God has blessed us by helping us connect with a more traditional church in town that has agreed to share their meeting space with us. We now gather on Sunday evenings and love that our new location is right in the center of Boulder - only a few hundred yards from the main restaurant, shopping and bar scene. We love being right in the mix and hope that having a presence in the center of the city will allow us to connect with even more people.

Thank you for your prayers and love.  Let’s believe together that God can do more than we can ask or imagine in both Boulder and Indy. Belief is the foundation of all things possible. We are grateful for your partnership with us in this redemptive project and pray for God’s incredible grace to drive your lives today.

Capital Campaign Collection Date - Sunday, September 30
Just a reminder that our first of two Capital Campaign collection dates is quickly approaching.  The first date is Sunday, September 30.  The next collection date is Sunday, December 9.  To learn more about the campaign, please visit our website.

It’s Coffee Time Again…But Only Until Service Begins
Yes, it’s back!  With the passing of summer comes the return of the much anticipated, and appreciated, coffee service at Common Ground.  Coffee is available prior to both morning services at our Midtown location.  It is served downstairs in the Community Room and is available until the beginning of worship service (which means coffee service is over at 9 am and 11 am sharp).  Come early, grab a cup and don’t forget your lid.  Interested in joining the team?  Email foodandbev@cground.org to learn more.