The United Church of Christ (UCC) was formed in 1957 as the result of the union of two Protestant denominations: the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches. In 1957 the UCC included 8,283 congregations with 2,193,593 members. Every decade since the formation has featured a decline in both total congregations and total members (statistical data sourced from the Fall 2018 edition of United Church of Christ: A Statistical Profile) Declining Read More …
More and More Clergywomen (#1760)
"State of Clergywomen in the US: A Statistical Update," published earlier this month, finds that clergywomen continue have grown from 2.3% of all clergy in the United States in 1960 to 20.7% in 2016. Such growth, however, has not been equal across all traditions. Top Traditions The denominations with the greatest percentage of clergywomen are Unitarian Universalist - 57% United Church of Christ - 50% Disciples of Christ - 40% Episcopal - 37% Evangelical Lutheran Read More …
Leadership Development (#1759)
Leadership Network recently surveyed their readers about areas in which pastors wished they were better equipped. The question invited respondents to choose three areas of ministry. The top answer overall was leadership development. Since congregations of varying sizes have different challenges, the report also showed the top several responses within each church size with average worship attendance of 0-499, 500-999, 1000-1999, 2000-2999, 3000-4999, and 5000-9999. Read More …
World Communion Sunday 2018 (#1758)
Last Sunday I was not able to attend a worship service as I spent the day in meetings for my primary employer. This Sunday, I was determined to attend worship and to be a part of World Communion Sunday. First Presbyterian I participated in the 11:00 a.m. service at First Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in downtown Fort Worth. While this congregation normally celebrates Communion on the first Sunday of every month, this service had a clear emphasis on World Communion from the Read More …
Book Recommendations – October 2018 (#1757)
This month's list of the best books I've read over the last 30 days that were published this year is among the most diverse. (5.0) Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life by Eric Klinenberg (Crown, 2018) (4.5) Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas (Knopf, 2018) (4.5) Healing Our Broken Humanity: Practices for Revitalizing the Church and Renewing the World by Grace Read More …
The Bible Doesn’t Say That (#1756)
Yesterday, I worshipped at Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas. I heard the Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ preach "Everything Happens for a Reason" as part of the Cathedral's current sermon series: The Bible Doesn't Say That. The two earlier messages in this series are You've Got to Forgive and Forget Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin And, the remaining message will be "God Won't Give You More Than You Read More …
What Students Think of Me (#1755)
A few weeks ago I shared some reflections on my life as an adjunct professor. Since writing that post, I've spent some time looking back over the last eight years. Student Evaluations In higher education, students are usually afforded the opportunity to evaluate their professors. In my case as an adjunct professor at Hodges University, my students were provided an opportunity to complete an optional online questionnaire near the end of the semester. These anonymous Read More …
Book Recommendations – September 2018 (#1754)
This month's list of the best books I've read over the last 30 days that were published this year is filled with authors who have never before appeared on my blog. (5+) Loving and Leaving a Church: A Pastor's Journey by Barbara Melosh (Westminster John Knox Press, 2018) (4.5) 8 Steps to High Performance: Focus On What You Can Change (Ignore the Rest) by Marc Effron (Harvard Business Review Press, 2018) (4.0) Solus Jesus: A Theology of Resistance by Emily Swan and Ken Wilson Read More …
7 New American Religious Types (#1753)
A few days ago the Pew Research Center published The Religious Typology: A New Way to Categorize Americans by Religion. For those not inclined to read the full 99 page report, Pew also provides an in-depth blog post that effectively communicates the main elements of the research. Research Basics Started in 2014, "The American Trends Panel (ATP), created by Pew Research Center, is a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults" who "participate via monthly Read More …
My Life as an Adjunct Professor (#1752)
Education has long been a central part of what I do and who I am. A few weeks ago I shared the news that I was starting my twentieth professional position since graduating from college. Adjunct Life, Part 21 Today, I completed my responsibilities for teaching an undergraduate survey of world religions summer semester course. Submitting grades was my final responsibility to complete twenty-one consecutive semesters as an adjunct professor. Over that time, I've Read More …