The Kuhnekt Initiative at The Grove, Charlotte, N.C.

The Grove reinvented itself from the former “Hickory Grove Presbyterian Church,” a primarily white congregation with declining membership and an aging congregation, into a revitalized and diverse congregation that knows, embraces and reflects its neighborhood. Beyond changing worship norms, the congregation sought to meet community needs and discovered a new challenge: how to build a strong web of relationships among congregants that sparks change and innovation in the communities around them.

The Kuhnekt Initiative is an experiment in fellowship. Borrowing from the traditional Christian directive to go out in pairs, the Kuhnekt Initiative innovates how people get to know one another in a highly scattered and fast-paced world. Each Grove community member who signs up gets paired with another person and is given sample discussion questions. The pair meets once and then shares a selfie with the hashtag #kuhnekt.

How does the Kuhnekt Initiative at The Grove exemplify traditioned innovation?
The Kuhnekt Initiative encourages a consistent, thoughtful and actionable process to strengthen the bonds within a dynamic, counter-cultural and diverse Christian community, using both technology and embodied presence to encourage relationship- and community-building.

For more information about the Traditioned Innovation Award, please contact us at leadership@div.duke.edu.