Elizabeth Hagan, pastor of Washington Plaza Baptist Church (Reston, VA), recently asked two questions every follower of Jesus should seek to answer: Why do you pray? Why do you read the Bible? So What? People often presume Christians do certain things. While those lists vary, praying and reading the Bible are typically included. For those committed to following the way of Jesus, it is essential not simply to engage in these activities but to understand why one is doing Read More …
Learning from the Unaffiliated (#0908)
Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly recently featured Diana Butler Bass, author of Christianity After Religion (my review), about the religious implications of the rise of the religiously unaffiliated. While there is diversity within the growing group of religiously unaffiliated, Butler Bass claims, " . . . an awful lot of people who are in the unaffiliated categories - people who are spiritual but not religious or people who consider themselves to maybe to be Read More …
Review of Effective Staffing for Vital Churches (#0907)
Meet the Authors Since 1987, Bill Easum (pictured in the lighter colored shirt) and Bill Tenny-Brittian (pictured in the darker colored shirt) have directly served more than 1,000 churches, trained hundreds of thousands of church leaders, and created a wide variety of resources. While serving as a pastor, Easum founded 21st Century Strategies in 1987. In 2000, Easum merged his organization with Tom Bandy’s Thriving Church ministry to create Easum, Read More …
Worldwide Image of the USA (#0906)
The Pew Research Center offers you the opportunity to "test how much you know about the worldwide image of the United States" by taking a 10 question multiple choice quiz. After completing the quiz, I encourage you to learn the story behind each of the questions. So What? For me completing this quiz was an exercise in humility; I scored 60%, answering just 6 of the 10 questions correctly. When one lives within an empire, a culture, or a worldview it is all too easy to see Read More …
Effective Social Media Usage (#0905)
Bruce Reyes-Chow is a consultant who previously served as founding pastor of Mission Bay Community Church. His effective use of social media while serving as moderator of the General Assembly of the 2.3 million member PCUSA helped many mainline leaders appreciate the value of social media for ministry. In an October 2012 presentation to the Miami Valley Presbytery (Dayton, OH) on social media and the church, Reyes-Chow offered five tips for effective Read More …
Review of A Year of Biblical Womanhood (#0904)
Meet the Author Rachel Held Evans is a popular author and speaker. After working for a few newspapers, she began writing on her own. Her blog has won numerous awards and is consistently ranked among the most popular Christian blogs. Held Evans has written two books: Evolving in Monkey Town (2010) and A Year of Biblical Womanhood (2012). Her work has been featured on NPR, Slate, The BBC, The Washington Post, The Guardian(UK), The Read More …
Rethinking the Middle Class (#0903)
Steve Thorngate's October Christian Century article, "Defining the Middle: The Rhetoric and Reality of Class," challenges readers to reconsider what middle class means and who should be included in such a group today. Based on household income data available from the U.S. Census Bureau, Thorngate argues that the current political rhetoric suggests that 83% of households are middle class. He arrives at this number by excluding those below the poverty Read More …
Ministering to Mature Adults (#0902)
Richard H. Gentzler Jr., director of the Center on Aging & Older Adult Ministries at the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church, recently presented a new comprehensive plan for "Older Adult Ministries." Citing the rising numbers of American adults aged 65 or better, Gentzler's plan focuses on "leadership training and resourcing" in three key areas: The “new seniors”: how to minister to Baby Boomers, who are now joining the ranks of older adulthood. By Read More …
Dignity, Respect, Gentleness & Love (#0901)
Bill Tammeus, a Kansas City area author and religious blogger, recently offered practical wisdom that is worth reading often and living daily: All the great religions teach that we should treat people with dignity, respect, gentleness, love. And with good reason. All of us are fragile. All of us in one way or another are trying to handle the various -- and sometimes vicious -- curveballs life has heaved at us. So What? The way of Jesus is love. As a follower of Jesus, what Read More …
Unitarian Universalism is Growing (#0900)
Unitarian Universalism grew by 15.8% from 2000 to 2010 (in the USA). During that same time period, most progressive religious denominations experienced decline. While many factors are likely involved in this recent expansion, Bob Smietana mentions a few ways this group differs from many others: Unitarian Universalists would rather be kind than right. Instead of a common theology, Unitarian Universalists have a set of common values. So What? Unitarian Universalism Read More …