Eric Van Meter's recent commentary, "Can Our Denomination Overcome its Fear of Failure?," considers the decades old struggle facing mainline denominations: reversing the trend of declining membership. Van Meter writes, "We United Methodists have launched one initiative after another in the past four decades, only to watch our churches decline in every measurable category, except average age." Well aware of the many initiatives, past and present, undertaken by his denomination and the Read More …
Discipleship
Joining a Church – It’s Complicated (#0480)
Michael L. Lindvall, Senior Pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, wrote an article in the September 6, 2011 edition of the Christian Century about the mixed motives people have when joining a church. Sharing insight from his own experience and data to show that this is not merely a recent or American trend, he suggests that people do not join churches out of "pure conviction." He suggests that this assumption "underestimates God" and also "misunderstands Read More …
More Variety in Worship or Not? (#0478)
Jim Moss is the pastor of Clarksville Presbyterian Church in Clarksville, VA. He and I have interacted from time to time via Twitter, and I appreciate his willingness to discuss big issues. Recently, he reflected on a conversation he had with several others via Twitter about the future of the church. More specifically, he was surprised to find less openness from progressive clergy to the possibility of pursuing alternative styles of worship as one of many avenues toward the Read More …
Rethinking Religious Rules (#0476)
This morning I am preaching at Naples United Church of Christ in Naples, FL. You can read the full text of my sermon, Rethinking Religious Rules, here. For more information about the books referenced visit my review of One.Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow and my thoughts on The Jesus Creed, which was a part of my Who is Jesus? series. So What? In his recent book, One.Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow, Scot McKnight writes these words: “Every religious culture Read More …
Review of Missional Church in Perspective (#0467)
Meet the Authors Craig Van Gelder (at right in the lighter jacket) serves as tenured professor of congregational mission at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, having taken this position in 1998 following ten years as professor of domestic missiology at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI. He holds two earned Doctor of Philosophy degrees: Mission (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) and Administration in Urban Affairs (University of Texas at Arlington). Read More …
Is That Really in the Bible? (#0464)
"The Bible may be the most revered book in America, but it’s also one of the most misquoted. Politicians, motivational speakers, coaches - all types of people - quote passages that actually have no place in the Bible . . ." These words appear in John Blake's recent post on the CNN Belief blog. The following quotes are among those he listed as being wrongly attributed to the Bible: God helps those who help themselves. Spare the rod, spoil the child. God works in mysterious Read More …
High Levels of Education and Religion (#0458)
The claim that as levels of education increase levels of religious belief and practice decrease is stated so often that many simply assume it is true. Earlier this year, I shared Barry A. Kosmin's (Trinity College) work that provides substantive data suggesting the relationship between religion and education is far more complex than this generalization. In fact, in some areas those with post-graduate degrees have higher rates of belief or practice than those with less education, Read More …
So What? (#0457)
In the August 9, 2011 edition of the Christian Century the following item appeared, which had previously been printed in the July, 2011 edition of Interpretation: A young woman preaching her first sermon seemed to do everything right: her exegesis was sound; the text and title of the sermon matched well; the sermon was carefully organized and delivered in a clear and understandable manner. But the sermon was wrongheaded, especially in context -- an African-American congregation. Read More …
Review of Introducing the Practice of Ministry (#0456)
Meet the Author Kathleen A. Cahalan is an associate professor of theology at St. John's University School of Theology-Seminary, which is a Catholic and Benedictine school that educates both ordination candidates and lay ecclesiastical ministers. Previously, she taught at Christian Theological Seminary and as an evaluation coordinator for the religion division of the Lilly Endowment. Cahalan is the author of three books: Introducing the Practice of Ministry Read More …
Incarnational Christian (#0455)
Tony Jones, author of The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier and theologian-in-residence at Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis, MN, recently began calling himself an "incarnational Christian." In making the declaration, he suggests that others who use the term should understand it is not about being evangelical and the term should not be capitalized, politicized or commoditized. In a second blog post that explores the theology behind the term, he writes: to say Read More …