The one million member United Church of Christ may be best known by its incredibly successful multi-year "God is still speaking" campaign. Perhaps you have heard the message: No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here. We believe in extravagant welcome. (For more information read The Language of God and Uniquely UCC then watch some of the original television commercials.) The United Church of Christ originated as the result of mergers that Read More …
Review of Captive to the Word of God (#0322)
Meet the Author Miroslav Volf is the Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School. He was born in Croatia, and studied at Evangelical-Theological, Osijek, Fuller Theological Seminary and received his doctoral degree from the University of Tübingen, where he studied under Jürgen Moltmann. As "a member of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. and the Evangelical Church in Croatia, Professor Read More …
Radical Inclusivity (#0321)
Christian leaders make news headlines on a daily basis, but are rarely portrayed as open minded or inclusive. Jonathan Devin's "Radical Preachers Buck Mainstream Christianity" tells the story of a growing interdenominational group of pastors known as Outlaw Preachers who are bound together by their shared belief in radical inclusivity. Founded in 2008, the group has grown to 300 members and recently held their first conference, which was attended by persons representing Read More …
If Your Church Won the Lottery . . . (#0320)
Americans spend more money on the lottery than on movies and sporting events combined. Many play the lottery believing the myth that winning big will solve all of their problems, but research shows that many of the biggest winners face financial difficulties and other unforeseen hardships within a few years of winning. In reality found money, including lottery winnings, is typically handled differently than earned money. It has been suggested that many of the winners would Read More …
Frequent Church Attendance and Obesity (#0319)
A new study shows that those who attend church frequently (at least weekly) as young adults are far more likely than the population at large to be obese in middle age. Julie Deardorff begins her article on the topic for the Chicago Tribune with these words: Many religions condemn overeating and gluttony. Yet young adults who frequently attend religious activities are 50 percent more likely to turn into obese middle-agers than those with no religious involvement, according to research Read More …
The Economic Worth of a Congregation (#0318)
David O'Reilly's Philadelphia Inquirer article, A Study Asks: What's a Church's Economic Worth?, explores the findings of a recent study investigating the economic worth of select local congregations in Philadelphia. The research was conducted last summer by Partners for Sacred Places and Ram Cnaan, professor of social welfare at the University of Pennsylvania. In additional to chairing the doctoral program in social welfare, Cnaan (pictured at Read More …
Statistical Surprises: Marriage and Divorce (#0317)
The Daily Number is provided by the Pew Research Center that "highlights an important finding or trend." A few days ago, the number looked at the unusually high rates of both marriage and divorce in the United States. When compared to the European Union, Americans are far more likely to experience marriage (51% higher) or divorce (76% higher). Interestingly, however, American divorce rates in the sample year (33% of the measured events) were similar to those in the EU Read More …
Review of The Truth Shall Make You Odd (#0316)
Frank G. Honeycutt. The Truth Shall Make You Odd: Speaking with Pastoral Integrity in Awkward Situations. Brazos Press, 2011. ISBN: 9781587432637. Meet the Author Frank G. Honeycutt is an ordained Lutheran (ELCA) pastor with twenty-five years of parish ministry experience who currently serves as Senior Pastor of the nearly 900 member Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Columbia, South Carolina. He is the author of six books including Marry a Pregnant Virgin: Unusual Bible Read More …
Reshaping Seminary Education (#0315)
Earlier this month, I wrote "A Shift in Theological Education" to highlight the shift in seminary education from primarily an on campus face-to-face learning experience to one that includes hybrid (using both face-to-face and online components) or online courses. This shift mirrors what has happened in higher education more generally where online enrollment grew 20% over the most recently available seven year period from 9% to 29%. Interestingly, The Reverend Dr. Frederick W. Read More …
Review of Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood (#0314)
Alan J. Roxburgh. Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood. Baker Books, 2011. ISBN: 780801072314. Meet the Author Alan J. Roxburgh is the President of the Missional Network (formerly Roxburgh Missional Network), which is "committed to resourcing missional leaders with the best training, consulting and hands-on resources for innovating missional life in local congregations and communities of faith." Previously he served in pastoral ministry for over twenty-five years. Read More …