Topic: Place-Based Ministry

This winter, the SPIRE Center invites clergy and lay leaders to join a six-session, online Place-Based Ministry Workshop. This series helps participants reimagine how faith communities engage their neighborhoods through asset-based development and community resilience. Each participant or team will walk away with a practical community engagement plan rooted in their local context.

Facilitator: Rev. Michael Anthony Howard

Michael has served as the Minister of Faith in Action for the Living Water Association since March 2019. Rooted in the wooded knobs of his Kentucky childhood, Michael brings a deep sense of place to his work as a teacher, community organizer, writer, and prophetic Christian leader. In addition to traditional pastoral ministry, Michael has co-founded and coached community organizations, nonprofits, and small businesses, always with a focus on building beloved community and strengthening the common good. His work integrates theology, social ecology, and community development, helping congregations discern how faith takes shape in the places they inhabit. Michael is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. He holds an MPA from Morehead State University and an MDiv from Drew Theological Seminary.