James A. Forbes, Jr. Whose Gospel? A Concise Guide to Progressive Protestantism. The New Press, 2010. ISBN: 9781595583970. Meet the Author James A. Forbes Jr. is a leading voice in the progressive Protestant movement. In 1989 he became the first African American to serve as Senior Minister at The Riverside Church in New York City: a congregation well known for its promotion of progressive causes and self-described as interdenominational (American Baptist Read More …
Review of Jesus Died for This? (#0182)
Garrison, Becky. Jesus Died for This: A Satirist's Search for the Risen Christ. Zondervan, 2010. ISBN: 9780310292890. Meet the Author Becky Garrison is a contributing editor for Sojourners and has also written for Killing the Buddha, Religion Dispatches, The Revealer, Geez Magazine, The High Calling and the now defunct Wittenburg Door. Additionally, she has written several books in recent years including: Starting From Zero with $0: Read More …
Preparing Visitors for Communion (#0181)
Preparing Visitors for Communion/Eucharist/Lord’s Supper Most congregations celebrate Communion/Eucharist/Lord’s Supper in their corporate worship services on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, once a quarter, etc.). While those who attend regularly know what to expect, newcomers do not. As guests are seated and begin to prepare for worship they may note the elements and wonder: Is everyone welcome at the table or only those with certain beliefs or membership? Should Read More …
Reading the Whole Bible (#0180)
Who Reads the Bible? Considerable research has been done regarding Bible reading. Most research focuses on the percentages of people who read it and how often they engage in that behavior. In What Americans Really Believe, Rodney Stark reports that 28% of Americans (24% of women and 32% of men) read the Bible at least once a week (p.64). Very little research has been done regarding those who have read the entire Bible. Earlier this week, New Testament scholar Scot Read More …
Initial Experiences with RockMelt (#0179)
Meet RockMelt RockMelt is the new web browser everyone is talking about. Founded and financed by a group of Netscape alumni, which includes Marc Andreessen, RockMelt is based on Chromium: the open source project behind Google’s Chrome browser. RockMelt has been constructed with the understanding that most online activity today revolves around socializing on Facebook, searching on Google, tweeting on Twitter, and monitoring a handful of favorite websites. It is currently Read More …
The Missing Millennials (#0178)
Many denominations and local congregations worry about the increasing age of their members. Differing sources provide a variety of explanations for why fewer young people attend church or choose to affiliate with a religion. According to the graphic below, provided by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life, the youngest generations have the highest level of religious non-affiliation. By generation the numbers for those who claim no religious Read More …
Social Networking is . . . (#0177)
Yesterday, I explored the ever changing social network map. Today, I want to explore the meaning of the map as a whole: to consider what social networking means to you based on your own experiences. Spence Smith was the drummer for Big Tent Revival in the 1990s and has become a social networking guru in the 2000s. He currently works in artist relations for Compassion International and thinks of himself as "a connector, influencer, and thinker in the worlds of Read More …
Managing the Social Network Map (#0176)
Two maps offer a compelling visual case for the changing geography of social networking. The first map was created for XKCD in 2007. The second map was created by Ethan Bloch, Co-Founder and CEO of Flowtown. So What? Christian community has always been about helping people become and remain connected. Most local churches tend toward the extremes of being incredibly savvy or only marginally interested in social Read More …
How Ideas Spread (#0175)
Seth Godin is the author of twelve books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, change, and work. He earned his MBA from Stanford, and was called "the Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age" by Business Week. For more information visit his website or read his blog. He recently listed 20 reasons why people choose to spread ideas: I spread your idea because it makes me feel generous. ...because I feel smart Read More …
Common Strategic and Pastoral Myths (#0174)
Will Mancini is the founder of Auxano - a church consulting group with a unique approach to developing a church's vision frame before providing traditional consulting services. Mancini's pastoral experience includes helping lead two congregations to grow to over 3,000 in weekend attendance: Clear Creek Community Church and FaithBridge UMC. He is the author of Church Unique: How Mission Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement. To connect with Read More …