Meet the Author Thomas Groome is chair of the Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry as well as professor of theology and religious education at Boston College, where he has taught since 1976. Groome has written numerous books on religious education, including the now classic Christian Religious Education: Sharing Our Story and Vision (1980), which introduced his shared Christian praxis approach. His latest book is Will There Be Faith? A New Vision Read More …
Findings from 2011 Baylor Religion Survey (#0537)
Baylor University recently released the findings of its latest Baylor Religion Survey, which is characterized as "one of the most extensive surveys ever conducted on the religious practices, attitudes, beliefs and values of the American public." The 2011 survey is a follow-up to those released in 2006 and 2008 by Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion. (For more on the results of earlier surveys consider reading Rodney Stark's What Americans Really Believe. My review is Read More …
Trust/Mistrust in God & Worry (#0536)
A recent article in the Scientific American, co-authored by Sarah Estes Graham and Jesse Graham, considers a scholarly article in the July 2011 edition of the Journal of Clinical Psychology written by a group that includes professors from Harvard Medical School. The research found: Studying hundreds of devoutly religious Jews and Christians, the researchers explored what religious cognitions can lead to more or less worry. Specifically, they found that mistrust in God . . . was Read More …
Ministry in 2011 (#0535)
Jin An, IT Director at Quest Church and owner of 8 Four Consulting, recently wrote a guest piece for the New Media Project. He begins his article with observations about what he knows of life in 2011, including "I can have church on my phone or laptop." So What? For years, many have taught that ministry modeled after Jesus should do as he did. One implication of that philosophy is that those who follow the way of Jesus should meet people where they are. An provides updated Read More …
The Future of Seminary Education (#0534)
During the months of October and November, Patheos is providing a unique look into the future of seminary education. They have invited 25 leaders to write blog posts exploring the topic. In reviewing the October contributions, I found the following remarks of considerable interest: Jim Burklo: "I envision a time when seminaries are better known as retreat centers for lay people than as schools for professional pastors. If seminaries have a much wider cultural focus and Read More …
God’s Role in Your Halloween Candy Consumption (#0533)
"If God knows, will you eat that Halloween candy?" is a question worth answering, and the title of Cathy Lynn Grossman's USA Today article. As a means of answering that question she explores recent research: According to lead author Kristin Laurin of University of Waterloo, Canada, "This is the first empirical evidence that simple reminders of God can diminish some types of self-regulation, such as pursuing one's goals, yet can improve others, such as resisting temptation." So Read More …
American Faith at an All-Time High (#0532)
Joel Osteen is truly unique. He is Pastor of America's largest congregation; Preacher of happiness (above all else); and an Accidental popular author and preacher ("inherited" his dad's congregation and has no formal training - e.g. seminary). Cheryl Wetzstein's article in the Washington Post provides a look into his latest claim: "I see faith in America at an all-time high." So What? Of course, Osteen bases this lofty assertion on nothing more than his own incredibly Read More …
Pastors & Forced Termination (#0531)
Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, recently shared some observations on church staffing trends in a piece for the Christian Post. One of the six trends he discussed is the percentage of senior pastors who lose their jobs each year because of forced terminations. Over the last seven years, approximately 1.5% of senior pastors have been subject to forced termination each year. So What? Basic math indicates that over that 7 year period, 10.5% of senior Read More …
Surprising Statistics About Catholics (#0530)
David Gibson and Kevin Eckstrom recently wrote about an online survey of 1,400 adult Catholics. The research, conducted by D’Antonio, Gautier and Dillon in cooperation with the National Catholic Reporter, found: 86% don’t think that following the Vatican’s teachings is the only way to be a loyal member of the faith 83% say the clergy sexual abuse scandal has hurt the bishops’ moral and political credibility 74% said you could be a good Catholic without donating time or Read More …
Halloween at the Hell House (#0529)
Brian Kirk's recent article, "Christian Haunted Houses: Scaring the 'Hell' Out of Teens?," caught my attention for several reasons, including: fear based evangelism targeting teens remains a tactic used by fundamentalist Christians hell houses or evangelistic productions staged to "convert" teens and "save" them from hell are an extreme form deployed each year at Halloween I have been to the Hell House at Trinity Church (Assemblies of God) in Cedar Hill, TX (the "original" upon which so Read More …