On Sunday I posted the following question on Facebook: When did you last attend an in person worship service? Responses I was surprised this post received nearly 250 comments. 116 people sharing when they last attended an in person worship service: Last attended in February or March: 61Last attended in August or September: 55 10 of the 55 (18%) of those who have attended a service during August or September noted that the service occurred outside. Since I did not Read More …
6 Months (and Counting) Without In Person Worship (#1888)
After participating in corporate worship weekly or more often for all of my life, I've now gone six months without doing so as a result of COVID-19. Both of the congregations I belong to continue to provide virtual worship alongside other virtual opportunities for connection and discipleship. And, both congregations have yet to set a date to return to offering worship services that parishioners can attend in person. The Unexpected: Virtual Worship Only As I reflect on Read More …
Great New Books – September 2020 (#1887)
My latest list of great books features ten volumes published in 2020: (5+) Philanthropy Revolution: How to Inspire Donors, Build Relationships, and Make a Difference by Lisa Greer and Larissa Kostoff (HaperCollins, 2020) (5.0) White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity by Robert P. Jones (Simon & Schuster, 2020) (4.5) Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work, Expanded and Updated by Jim Tomberlin and Warren Bird (Fortress Press, Read More …
Police Killings of Unarmed Black Americans (#1886)
Last week Public Religion Research Institute published "Summer Unrest over Racial Injustice Moves the Country, But Not Republicans or White Evangelicals." The article begins with an exploration perceptions of police killings of unarmed black men over the last five years. Based on surveys conducted in October 2015, October 2018, and June 2020 the trend is toward fewer Americans believing that recent killings of unarmed Black men are isolated incidents and a greater and greater number Read More …
Social Media in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic (#1885)
Social media has played such a significant role for so long that I rarely think about life before social media. Perspective When I stop and think about the arrival of social media - and the onset of my utilization of it - I recognize that I spent most of my life in a pre-social media world. I started using social media in my thirties. In 2009, I entered the world of social media when I joined Facebook. Later that year I started this blog and joined Twitter. I added LinkedIn in 2011 Read More …
Welcoming Newcomers to Virtual Worship (#1884)
Warm Welcome Nearly every congregation thinks it provides worship services that are warm and welcoming. In reality, effectively welcoming and engaging newcomers is a growing edge for most congregations. While I recognized this challenge during my years in congregational ministry, I only began to grasp how widespread the issue was more recently. During the five years leading up to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, I visited more than 50 congregations in the greater Dallas-Fort Read More …
Should Churches Offer in Person Worship? (#1883)
Perhaps no issue is as controversial in church life right now as the question of whether or not to offer in person worship. Yesterday, Pew Research published the findings of their survey of 10,211 U.S. adults conducted July 13 to 19, 2020. Notably 7 of 10 (70%) respondents who regularly attend worship believe the operating status of their congregation should be open. Readiness Varies by Group Opinions on whether churches should be open (like normal or with modifications) or closed Read More …
Great New Books – August 2020 (#1882)
My latest list of great books features ten volumes published in 2020: (5.0) Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez (Liveright, 2020) (4.5) Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World by Tara Isabella Burton (Public Affairs, 2020) (4.5) Coach the Person not the Problem: A Guide to Using Reflective Inquiry by Marcia Reynolds (Berrett-Koehler, 2020) (4.5) The Myth of the American Dream: Read More …
Most Congregations Now Offer In Person Worship (#1881)
How many Protestant congregations in America are offering one or more in person worship experiences on a given weekend? A survey of American Protestant pastors conducted July 20-22, 2020 by LifeWay Research indicates that 71% of congregations provided one or more in person worship experiences on the weekend of July 19. When COVID-19 began to impact decision making about offering an in person option the percentage of congregations doing so declined steadily from 99% in early March to just 4% by Read More …
10 In Person Worship Experiences from 2020 (#1880)
It has been over four months since I last attended a worship service alongside hundreds of other people. And, I have no idea when I might next have a similar - recognizing in a COVID-19 world that any future in person experience will be unlike what I knew prior to COVID-19 - experience. Today, I'm sharing ten images of worship experiences I had earlier this year at First Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth and Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ in Dallas. (All images were originally Read More …