I have spent a considerable amount of time studying the landscape of American Christianity since the 1950s. Any time I make a presentation on the topic, people always ask about the future. In order to more fully answer those questions I devised a list of changes I believe to be most likely. The original list was created in 2006, before I entered the blogosphere. When I revised the list and turned it into a "top ten" in 2009, I published it on my blog. In light Read More …
Review of Revelations (#0696)
Meet the Author For the last thirty years Elaine Pagels has taught at Princeton University, where she currently serves as the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion. She has "published widely on Gnosticism and early Christianity, and continues to pursue research interests in late antiquity." Pagels' previous books include the New York Times bestseller Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas (2004) and the National Book Award winner The Gnostic Gospels Read More …
Effectively Welcoming Visitors (#0695)
Kevin Hendricks, founder of Monkey Outta Nowhere and author of Addition by Adoption: Kids, Causes and 140 Characters (2010), recently wrote a post for Church Marketing Sucks entitled "Making Visitors Feel Welcome (But Not Too Welcome)". In the article he reflects on the topic in light of his reflections after hearing Anne Lamott read from her latest book and talk about her own experience. Recognizing a one-size-fits-all approach is ineffective, Hendricks suggests those Read More …
Review of How God Became King (#0694)
Meet the Author N.T. (Nicholas Thomas) Wright has spent most of his life in academia. He taught New Testament studies for twenty years at Cambridge, McGill, and Oxford Universities before serving as Bishop of Durham in the Church of England from 2003-2010. Wright now serves as chair of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St. Andrews. He has written many highly regarded books including Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Read More …
What Was Truly Original About Jesus? (#0693)
In the April 2012 edition of Christianity Today, David Neff interviewed Amy-Jill Levine on the topic of "Jesus Through Jewish Eyes." Levine is one of three dozen Jewish scholars who contributed to The Jewish Annotated New Testament (2011). In addition to co-editing that work, she has written numerous volumes and teaches New Testament at Vanderbilt University. Her response to the question, "So, what was truly original about Jesus?" follows. He's the only person I can find Read More …
Churchgoing = Better Moods (#0692)
Recent research by Gallup finds, "Americans who attend a church, synagogue, or mosque frequently report experiencing more positive emotions and fewer negative ones in general than do those who attend less often or not at all." So What? Higher levels of religiosity correlate to higher levels of well-being according to other findings from Gallup's research (see my post on the benefits of being religious). Within that context, it makes sense that those who are most involved in Read More …
Associate Pastors & Technology (#0691)
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) recently released its first systematic look at associate pastors in an 88 page report "Associate Pastors in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)." The comprehensive report is based on a 2011 survey of associate pastors and a 2008 & 2009 survey of key leaders. The survey found associate pastors spent an average of 11 hours a week "emailing, text messaging, or using the Internet" in their personal lives. Professionally, these pastors used differing Read More …
Review of The Best of Will Willimon (#0690)
Meet the Author Since 2004, William H. Willimon has served as a Bishop in the United Methodist Church responsible for overseeing 57,000 members and 792 pastors in North Alabama. Previously, he served for twenty years as Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry at Duke University. Willimon is the author of over sixty books including two best sellers: Sinning Like a Christian: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Thank God It’s Read More …
Everyone is a Technologist (#0689)
Tech entrepreneur Daniel Gulati suggests "technology skills will be crucial for future employment prospects" in his recent post on the Harvard Business Review's Blog Network. Over the last fifteen years internet users have grown from 70 million to 2.2 billion, and the ability to use technology has become a necessary skill at all levels of employment. To help everyone attain and retain proficiency as a technologist, Gulati provides five recommendations: Be an end user Read More …
America’s Most & Least Religious States (#0688)
Last week Gallup released the newest list of how religious residents of each state are based on the percentage of respondents who self-identified as "very religious." A majority (51% or more) are very religious in seven states: Mississippi (59%) Utah (57%) Alabama (56%) Louisiana (54%) Arkansas (54%) South Carolina (54%) Tennessee (52%) A relatively small minority (less than 3 in 10) are very religious in five states: Vermont (23%) New Hampshire (23%) Maine (25%) Read More …