The Church Is Changing. The Mission Hasn't.
The world around us is changing. But Jesus' call to make disciples of all nations remains the same. We believe it's time to recover a vision of the Church where every follower of Jesus participates in God's mission.
A Changing Landscape
The Church in North America Is at a Crossroads
For generations, churches have relied heavily on inviting people to gather for worship, teaching, and programs. Yet growing numbers of Americans no longer identify with a religious tradition, and many rarely participate in congregational life.
62%
Identify as Christian
Down from 78% in 2007
29%
Religiously unaffiliated
Up from 16% in 2007
33%
Attend worship monthly
U.S. adults, 2023–24
Source: Pew Research Center, 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study. The long-term decline in Christian identification has recently slowed.
We cannot assume that inviting people to Sunday worship will reach everyone.
The challenge isn't simply filling church buildings. It's cultivating disciples who live out the gospel wherever God has placed them.
From Consumers to Participants
A Church That Gathers
Worship, preaching, sacraments, teaching, and community are essential expressions of the Church.
A Church That Goes
Every believer is also called to love neighbors, make disciples, serve others, and participate in God's mission.
Every Believer Has a Calling
The Church was never intended to be a place where a few professionals do the ministry while everyone else watches. Scripture describes God's people as a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), equipped for works of service (Ephesians 4:11–16), and sent into the world as witnesses of Jesus.
We want to recover a Church where ordinary Christians are empowered to live as disciples who make disciples.
Every Believer Has a Calling
The Church was never intended to be a place where a few professionals do the ministry while everyone else watches. Scripture describes God's people as a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), equipped for works of service (Ephesians 4:11–16), and sent into the world as witnesses of Jesus.
We want to recover a Church where ordinary Christians are empowered to live as disciples who make disciples.
This Is Not a New Idea
A Movement Across Generations
Throughout Christian history, the gospel has spread through ordinary followers of Jesus, communities of prayer, shared life, hospitality, and mission. The expressions have differed, but the call to make disciples has remained.
The Early Church
1st–4th centuries
The gospel spread through households, relationships, travel, preaching, and local communities—long before Christianity gained imperial support.
Celtic Christianity
5th–10th centuries
Communities rooted in prayer, hospitality, learning, and missionary sending carried Christian witness across regions.
The Moravian Movement
18th century
A community of prayer and shared commitment sent missionaries across cultural and geographical boundaries.
The Methodist Revival
18th–19th centuries
Class meetings, bands, lay leadership, and intentional discipleship helped sustain a multiplying movement.
The Church in China
20th century
Amid dramatic political and social changes, Christian communities persisted and expanded through varied forms of local leadership, household gatherings, and networks.
The Global Church Today
21st century
Christian communities across Africa, Latin America, and Asia demonstrate the vitality and diversity of the global Church.
We're Not Alone in Reimagining Disciple-Making
Across North America and around the world, churches and networks are exploring ways to equip everyday Christians, cultivate missional communities, and multiply disciples.
BALM is learning from this broader conversation while pursuing a vision shaped by Baltimore's unique neighborhoods, churches, and communities.
A Movement for Every Community in Baltimore
We believe God is calling his people to something bigger than maintaining existing institutions. We envision churches renewed, new communities of faith taking root, leaders emerging, and everyday Christians living as missionaries in their neighborhoods, workplaces, and relationships.
BALM exists to help catalyze that movement—not by building one large organization, but by equipping and connecting people who multiply disciples and communities of faith.
The Next Chapter Is Still Being Written.
The question isn't simply what kind of churches we'll build. It's what kind of disciples we'll become—and who we'll help become disciples of Jesus.
There's a place for you in this movement.