Church Trainings & Partnerships

Empire Arising believes churches play a vital role in strengthening individuals, families, neighborhoods, and communities.

 Through practical trainings, community-focused resources, and collaborative opportunities, Empire Arising seeks to build genuine relationships with churches and support the important work they are already doing both within their congregations and throughout the communities they serve.

Founder Stephanie Reisdorph, MSW, LCSW, brings many years of professional experience in social services, mental health, community relations, program development, and community partnership building. Throughout her career, she has worked alongside nonprofit and community organizations, service providers, law enforcement, neighborhood leaders, schools, and other community partners to help address needs, develop programs and initiatives, connect individuals and families with resources, and bring people and organizations together around shared community goals.

Stephanie’s connection to churches and ministry is also deeply personal. Her background includes attending Bible colleges, volunteering and serving within churches, developing a homeless outreach ministry, and participating in personal evangelism and community outreach over the years. Her outreach experience has included ministry to individuals experiencing homelessness, nursing-home and hospital outreach, prayer and encouragement, and other efforts focused on sharing the Gospel while also caring for practical needs.

She especially enjoys finding creative and approachable ways to share the Gospel and reach people who may not otherwise walk through the doors of a church—whether through personal evangelism, prayer, community outreach, acts of encouragement, or initiatives that bring faith and practical support directly into the community.

Through Church Trainings & Partnerships, Empire Arising seeks to provide churches with useful trainings and resources while also creating opportunities for relationships and collaboration to develop naturally over time. The goal is not to change the unique mission or ministry of a church, but to come alongside churches where there is an opportunity to serve, share resources, build connections, and work together toward stronger churches and stronger communities.

Empire Arising currently offers and is developing trainings designed to address practical issues affecting churches, individuals, and families, including Church Safety & Security and the upcoming Healthy Relationships in a Digital Age training, with additional trainings, resources, and collaborative opportunities planned for the future.

Healthy Relationships in a Digital Age

Our relationships have never been more connected — or more distracted.

Technology can strengthen relationships, but it can also quietly compete with them. In a national Pew Research Center survey, 51% of partnered adults said their partner was often or sometimes distracted by their cellphone while they were trying to have a conversation, and 40% said they were bothered by the amount of time their partner spent on their phone. 

Social media can introduce another challenge: 23% of partnered adults whose partner used social media said their partner’s online interactions had made them feel jealous or unsure about their relationship. Among adults ages 18–29, that number rose to 34%. 

And this is not simply about “screen time.” A recent meta-analysis combining 52 studies and nearly 20,000 participants found that partner phubbing — ignoring or neglecting a romantic partner in favor of a phone — was associated with lower relationship and marital satisfaction, less intimacy and emotional closeness, and greater conflict and jealousy. 

Healthy Relationships in a Digital Age explores how comparison culture, social media, constant digital stimulation, online boundaries, communication habits, attraction, pornography and other influences can shape the way we view ourselves, our spouses, dating relationships, and God’s design for healthy connection.

Through a combination of biblical truth, psychological research, and practical real-life application, participants will learn how to recognize unhealthy patterns, establish healthier digital boundaries, communicate more effectively, cultivate contentment and gratitude, and build relationships based on wisdom, commitment, connection, and faith.

> DID YOU KNOW?

51% of partnered adults say their partner is sometimes or often distracted by their phone during conversation.

40% are bothered by the amount of time their partner spends on their phone.

34% of partnered adults ages 18–29 whose partner uses social media have felt jealous or unsure because of their partner’s social-media interactions.

Source: Pew Research Center

> Research involving nearly 20,000 people found that “partner phubbing” is associated with lower relationship satisfaction, less intimacy and emotional closeness, and greater conflict and jealousy.

2025 meta-analysis of 52 studies

About using divorce statistics

The CDC currently reports 672,502 divorces and annulments in 2023 among 45 reporting states and Washington, D.C., with a divorce rate of 2.4 per 1,000 population.