The Connect Church Program, facilitated by Faith in Rural Communities at the NC Rural Center, is a comprehensive initiative aimed at empowering rural churches to become catalysts for positive change in their local areas. Rooted in the principles of asset-based community development, the program offers training and nine months of in-person coaching to assist churches in engaging with their communities in new and impactful ways. By participating in the Connect Church Program, rural faith communities gain valuable coaching, resources, and networking opportunities to enhance their capacity for community engagement and foster positive social impact. Key Components: 1) New Process for Community Engagement: Connect Church introduces churches to a new process for community engagement that begins with identifying and leveraging their gifts and strengths. The church team also explores local community challenges through interviewing both local content and context experts. Then the churches create a plan to drive meaningful change at the intersection of their church’s gifts and their local community's challenges. 2) Action Plan Development: Based on the insights gained from asset mapping and analysis, participating churches work collaboratively to develop action plans for implementing missional engagement initiatives. The priority is to build community engagement that is strategic, relational, and asset-based. 3) Grant Funding Support: Through the program, churches may access grant funding of up to $10,000 to support the implementation of their action plan for a new or expanded missional engagement project. Past projects include initiatives such as establishing mental health programs in middle schools, providing meal delivery services, supporting expectant mothers, organizing community dialogue events, and offering a summer job apprenticeship program to high school students.