Heidi Weaver, founder and president of LOVEboldly, recently shared her list of 16 reasons why the real historical Jesus is worthy of our love, including: because he is wild and passionate, zealous and out of line, unpredictable, defender of the defenseless, lover of the unlovable, friend of the most unlikely folks to receive anyone’s friendship; because he defied the meaningless and empty customs of his day in exchange for redemptive relationship, boundless mercy, and hospitality to Read More …
The Francis Effect (#1355)
Pope Francis has been incredibly popular, especially for considering the radical shift he represets. Despite high favorability ratings, early research from the Pew Research Center suggests there isn't strong evidence for a "Francis effect" that is leading to changes in how American Catholics approach their religion. More specifically: There has been no measurable rise in the percentage of Americans who identify as Catholic. Nor has there been a statistically significant Read More …
Ministry in 2014 (#1354)
Todd Rhoades, a prolific blogger on matters of faith, recently reminded his readers of the importance of churches doing ministry in the present using 2014 friendly approaches. Not only is Rhoades troubled by congregations that behave more like what one would expect in 1984, 1994, or 2004, he also believes many congregations that have moved beyond those years but are not quite up to date are nuts: If you’re using the same communication methods, technology, music, delivery style, and format Read More …
The Retirement Boom (#1353)
Casey N. Cep recently wrote about the importance of listening to the elderly. She notes that those age 65 and better are a significant part of the American population now, and that they will grow significantly over the next few decades: OLDER AMERICANS ARE ONE of the fastest growing demographics in our country: Baby Boomers began turning 65 in 2011, and by 2030 older Americans will number 72 million, nearly 20 percent of the total population. In a culture so obsessed with youth, Read More …
Best Youth/Student Ministry (#1352)
Jeremy Zach, a youth minister since 2002 and youth ministry blogger, recently shared his list of common characteristics found in great youth ministries. His list of seven shared attributes includes three that are not directly about the youth/students: maintain and train amazing and healthy leaders, engage 25% of their parents, and invite the senior pastor into the student ministry. So What? Zach is right: great youth/student ministry is never ministry in its own silo. Read More …
Drive-In Church (#1351)
After encountering several stories last week of walk up and drive through ashes for Ash Wednesday, it seems appropriate to start this week with the story of a new kind of church: the drive-in church. Over the past few days several people sent me a link to Amy Kiley's piece on Daytona Beach Drive In Christian Church (Daytona Beach, FL), which holds worship services in an old drive-in theater. From the comfort of their vehicles parishioners listen to worship on their radios. Read More …
Sermon: Harder Than It Looks (#1350)
Sermon Text: Matthew 4:1-11 Sermon Excerpt Change is a given. It is also something most of us dislike – perhaps more than we are willing to admit. Who among us wanted the time to change last night? Why did we have to lose an hour of life, especially an hour of sleep? Why does something so small tend to become something we hold on to and complain about for days or even weeks? Who among us wanted church to shift from ordinary time to Lent? Why did we go from the liturgy we knew and Read More …
Congregational Age (#1349)
While I was well aware the United Church of Christ includes many historic congregations that were founded long before the denomination itself was created in 1957, I was surprised to learn that nearly 7 out of every 10 current congregations were organized before 1900 (69.1%). Even more alarming is the fact that only around 1 in 10 were organized during the last 32 years (9.6%). So What? Congregational age matters. While a denomination can benefit from congregations with Read More …
What Do You Call Yourself? (#1348)
Douglas Lobb, retired minister and former executive secretary of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, recently wrote about an increasingly challenging and vitally important term often used as a means of identifying oneself with the Way of Jesus: Christian (The Congregationalist, Dec. 2013, p.21-23). Relating his own experience, Lobb writes: In the light of today's Christian world, I find that I have great difficulty calling myself a Christian; because what is Read More …
Postmodern Possibilities: Church 3.0 (#1347)
John C. Dorhauer, Conference Minister for the Southwest Conference of The United Church of Christ, is currently writing a book on innovation and something he terms "Church 3.0." Reflecting on his recent research efforts that included visits to multiple communities of faith, he suggests that the model of church we have known in recent years is dying and is being replaced by something that is radically different. The new form of church, Church 3.0., is an "entirely new way of Read More …