The Parish Project is a congregational cohort-based learning program centered around five markers of thriving: clarity, witness, abundance, kinship, and joy. The Texas Annual Conference believes that thriving congregations beget thriving communities, and thriving communities beget thriving counties, states, and the world. By focusing on the five markers of thriving, we hope to move congregations beyond traditional metrics of attendance, buildings, and cash that stymie imaginations and keep congregations focused internally. Working with cohorts of congregational leaders — lay and ordained — through a nine-month learning journey, this work is meant to cultivate imaginations and equip congregations to either develop new or strengthen existing outward-facing ministries.