2012 was quite a year. The following video reviews the year's big news stories in 4 minutes. So What? As we near the end of the first week of 2013, I encourage you to remember many of the significant events of 2012 especially those that impacted you. Share a few of the stories featured in the video recap that impacted you the most. Share a few of the most memorable moments from your own life experiences in 2012. What word or phrase best describes your experience of 2012? Read More …
Shifts in Young Adult Protestantism (#0964)
The graph at right illustrates the shifts in young adult (ages 23-35) Protestant affiliation between 1972 and 2010 as compiled by Lifeway Research using data from the General Social Survey. Overall, during the "last 30 years, mainline protestantism is dying, black protestantism is steady, and evangelicalism is growing." More specifically, among young adults: Mainline Protestantism declined dramatically: identification dropped from 24% to 6% while worship attendance was cut in half Read More …
Top 10 Religious Stories of 2012 (#0963)
According to members of the Religion Newswriters Association (he world’s oldest and largest professional association for journalists who write about religion), the top 10 religious news stories of 2012 are U.S. Catholic bishops lead opposition to Obamacare requirement that insurance coverage for contraception be provided for employees. The government backs down a bit, but not enough to satisfy the opposition. A Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey shows that “nones” is the Read More …
Statement on Ministry (#0962)
Tiger population has declined by 90% over the last 50 years; those involved in creating a brighter future for tigers understand that extinction will be reality if significant changes are not implemented soon. The role of religion in America has changed dramatically and the size of mainline/progressive Protestantism has declined dramatically over the last 50 years; those involved in leading United Church of Christ communities today must be open to innovation and experimentation in order to Read More …
Top 10 Books of 2012 (#0961)
Over the course of the past year, I have reviewed nearly 50 books written in 2012. Today, I share my top ten: Bass, Diana Butler Christianity After Religion: The End of the Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening Borg, Marcus J. Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written Crossan, John Dominic The Power of Parable: How Fiction by Jesus Became Fiction About Jesus Gyatso, Tenzin (the 14th Dalai Lama) Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole Read More …
The Story of Jesus (#0960)
In the December 26, 2012 edition of the Christian Century, John M. Buchanan writes: The more I ponder the story of Jesus the more convinced I am that it's about a radical inclusivity that threatened and still threatens all who are invested in exclusivity of any kind, but particularly religious exclusivity. Jesus had no time for religion as a definer of who was "in" and who was "out," who was "us" and who was "them." The story still challenges every Read More …
Living or Loving? (#0959)
Bob Bohl is the former moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and pastor of Village Presbyterian Church. He is currently chairman of the Board of Trustees at Princeton Theological Seminary. In a sermon entitled "Living In the Direction of God's Dream," he offered these challenging words: I believe there are at least two kinds of churches...one is a living church and the other is a loving church. There is a distinct difference between the two. Living churches are judged by their Read More …
Review of Digital_Humanities (#0958)
Meet the Authors Five authors participated in the highly collaborative venture of shared authorship over a multi-year period. Johanna Drucker, Peter Lunefeld, and Todd Presner teach at UCLA. Drucker is the Breslauer Professor of Bibliographic Studies in the Department of Information Studies, Lunefeld is Professor of Design Media Arts, and Presner is Professor of Germanic Languages and Comparative Literature as well as the chair of the Program in Digital Humanities. Anne Burdick teaches Read More …
Socioeconomic Status & Facebook Friends (#0957)
According to new research conducted by the University of Virginia and the London Business School, the size of one's social network is correlated to one's socioeconomic status. Wealthier individuals are more likely than those who are less affluent to have large but shallow Facebook connections while those who earn low incomes are more likely to have small but deep groups of Facebook friends. Low income workers who move often are an exception to this generalization as is Read More …
Most Churches Plan Raises (#0956)
According to 2012 Leadership Network Economic Outlook Survey, most congregations will provide staff with modest raises in 2013. More specifically: 74% of those parishes surveyed plan pay increases of at least 1%. Only a small percentage of church workers will receive raises that outpace the projected increase in the cost of living. So What? Church budgets are showing signs of recovery after several challenging years during the economic downturn. Since human Read More …