Over the last four weeks I've visited five mainline Protestant congregations in the Dallas - Fort Worth metro area that have recently reopened for worship. All five experiences required that I pre-register to attend, and that I commit to a covenant or list of expectations regarding my participation (i.e., not attend if I had a fever or was experiencing COVID-like symptoms, while attending wear a mask and remain socially distanced from others while indoors, etc.). Additionally, all five Read More …
singing
Just Going Through the Motions (#0710)
Thom Rainer, President & CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, recently shared several statistics from Brad Waggoner's The Shape of the Faith to Come (2008), including "47 percent of Protestant churchgoers admitted to just 'going through the motions' often during the singing and prayer portions of worship services." So What? How might your congregational leadership begin a conversation about this matter? What is an appropriate response to the statistic that roughly half of those Read More …