Elizabeth Drescher is a religion writer and scholar of Christian spirituality. She writes commentary on religion, culture, and social media for the online magazine, Religion Dispatches and multiple other journals. Drescher's first book, Tweet If You Love Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation, will be published later this year. Currently she teaches in the undergraduate program in Religious Studies and the graduate program in Pastoral Ministry Read More …
What is Progressive Christianity? (#0287)
Progressive Christianity is a relatively new term that might not exist today without the work of ProgressiveChristainity.org. In 1994 when the Rev. Jim Adams (shown at right), then the rector of St. Mark's Church on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., founded the organization as The Center for Progressive Christianity there "was no known organization, scholar, or church leader publicly using the term, 'progressive Christianity.'" Within eight years, the term was regularly used "by scholars, Read More …
Review of Open Source Gospel (#0286)
Landon Whitsitt. Open Source Gospel: Ten Commandments for the Future of the Christian Faith. E-book, 2010. Available online at http://landonwhitsitt.com/open-source-gospel/ Meet the Author Landon Whitsitt is an ordained Presbyterian (PCUSA) pastor who serves as the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Liberty, Missouri, and as the Vice-Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), which is the second highest elected official in the 2.3 million Read More …
No More Interim Pastors? (#0285)
The Author Anthony Robinson is an ordained United Church of Christ pastor who currently serves as President of Congregational Leadership Northwest. He travels throughout North America as a speaker, teacher, preacher, consultant and coach serving congregations and their leaders. Robinson has taught at several schools including Toronto School of Theology, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle University, and Vancouver School of Theology. He is the author Read More …
Decoding the “I’m Not Being Fed” Complaint (#0284)
Steve Mathewson is the Senior Pastor of the Evangelical Free Church of Libertyville, Illinois and the author of The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative (2002). He wrote "What 'I'm Not Being Fed' Really Means" for the March/April edition of Collide. In the article he suggests five possible meanings people may intend when offering this remark: I really am not being fed The church is not meeting my needs You are not addressing my struggles and challenges I do not Read More …
Lead by Letting Go (#0283)
The Reverend Canon Dr. Frederick W. Schmidt, Jr. is an Episcopal Priest, Director of Spiritual Formation and Anglican Studies and Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. Previously he served as Canon Educator, Director of Programs in Spirituality and Religious Education, and Acting Program Area Manager at Washington National Cathedral. He is the author of seven books as well as numerous scholarly articles and Read More …
Internet Replaces TV News (#0282)
Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center released the findings of their latest national survey about Americans' main source of national and international news. The survey was conducted in December 2010 and included 1,500 adults. The chart at right illustrates how the results of this survey have changed over time. Among the significant changes: From 2002 to 2010, television showed a 16% decline (from 82% to 66%) In 2010, for the first time, the internet has surpassed Read More …
Interfaith Possibilities(#0281)
Hundreds of students from around the nation spent this past weekend at Princeton University for the 5th Annual Coming Together Interfaith Conference (CT5). The conference promoted "the importance of inter-religious engagement and understanding at American universities" and provided the student participants opportunities to "discuss how interfaith councils are formed, the role they have on campus and ideas for meaningful programs that promote unity and peace." Attendees at Read More …
Does More Education Mean Less Religion? (#0280)
Barry A. Kosmin is on the faculty of Trinity College serving as Director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture and as Professor in the Public Policy and Law program. He is the author of over 20 books and research monographs and more than 50 scholarly articles in the areas of sociology, demography, politics, philanthropy, and policy research. Additionally, Kosmin has been a Principal Investigator of the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) Read More …
An Overview of American Church Membership (#0279)
Earlier this week the National Council of Churches released its annual analysis of church membership: 2011 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. According to the Rev. Dr. Eileen Lindner, editor, the data in this year's report suggests that recent membership trends have continued: "That is, churches which have been increasing in membership in recent years continue to grow and likewise, those churches which have been declining in recent years continue to decline." The yearbook reports Read More …