The Sharing Vitality Grants, created by the Vitality Ministry Council of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, are designed to help congregations explore creative and meaningful ways to gain, sustain, and recapture vitality. These $2,500 grants support new or expanding ministries that encourage churches to be ambitious, collaborative, and generative, while also creating opportunities to share what they’re learning with others across the NACCC.
At Stony Creek Congregational Church, a vision for growth began with a simple but powerful question: how can we deepen our life together while expanding our presence in the wider community? With support from a Sharing Vitality Grant through the NACCC’s Vitality Ministry Council, the church has taken meaningful steps to answer that question.
The journey began with the formation of a Strategic Planning Group made up of dedicated church members. Together, they engaged in reflection and conversation about how the church could grow both internally and externally. From this process, three key focus areas emerged: strengthening life within the church walls, reaching beyond the church into the broader community, and improving communication within the church and with the community. This clear framework provided direction and momentum for the work ahead.
Enhanced communication efforts is one of the immediate ways their Sharing Vitality Grant made an impact. The church invested in strengthening its social media presence, making it easier to share events, activities, and opportunities for connection. This increased visibility has helped Stony Creek Congregational Church better tell its story and invite others into its life and mission.
Beyond communication, the grant also supported hands-on outreach and community engagement. The church participated in and helped organize a variety of local events, including: hosting a table at Stony Creek Day, co-organizing the beloved “Blessing of the Fleet” alongside other community groups, offering “Popsicles in the Park” in support of a local summer children’s program, and sponsoring and hosting a community concert. These efforts not only brought the church into closer relationship with its neighbors but also created welcoming, joyful spaces for connection.
The work of the Strategic Planning Group has had a lasting impact. Their ideas and proposals now serve as a strong foundation for the church’s newly arrived pastor, offering both structure and flexibility to continue building on what has begun. Through intentional planning, creative outreach, and the faithful stewardship of resources, Stony Creek Congregational Church is living out what it means to share vitality – in ways that continue to ripple outward into the community.