A few weeks ago Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church, a tiny church in Eastern Kentucky, "voted not to accept interracial couples as members or let them take part in some worship activities." This incredibly backwards and exclusion decision, made as the result of the fifteen members present who cast votes, received significant local and national media coverage. This past Sunday, the congregation reversed its early decision by unanimously (16 to 0) passing a motion in support of accepting Read More …
Discipleship
Please Slow Down (#0570)
Tis the season for many things . . . atop my list right now are people who simply will not slow down. Over the last 24 hours I have experienced several examples of this behavior, including: a very coffee-centered individual who asked if I was in a hurry or not because she really was (with my blessing and that of the couple ahead of me, she skipped to the head of the line at Starbucks) people who respond to various forms of communication in a manner that clearly indicates they failed Read More …
Review of The Bible Made Impossible (#0568)
Meet the Author Christian Smith is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame. His research areas include "religion in modernity, adolescents, American evangelicalism, and culture." Smith has written several books, including The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture (2011), Souls in Transition: The Religious & Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults Read More …
Reverse Mentoring (#0564)
Leslie Kwoh's Wall Street Journal article, "Reverse Mentoring Cracks Workplace," describes the practice and benefit of reverse mentoring in the workplace. A reverse mentoring relationship involves young employees mentoring old senior level staff. The relationship offers executives the opportunity to learn technology and social media skills while providing the younger workers with "a rare glimpse into the world of management and access to top-level brass." So What? The church, Read More …
Internet Technologies for Discipleship (#0563)
Kelly Walsh, Chief Information Officer at the College of Westchester and seasoned IT professional, recently updated his list of ten internet technologies about which educators should be informed. Walsh's current list has changed dramatically, including only five items from his original list. The new list, in order, follows: video and podcasting resources, digital presentation tools, collaboration and brainstorming tools, blogs and blogging, social networking tools, Read More …
How Christians Undermine Christianity (#0562)
James F. McGrath, associate professor of religion at Butler University, recently shared four ways Christians undermine Christianity: Demand that others, regardless of their religious tradition, wish you a Merry Christmas Promote the use of King James Version only Let Barnes and Noble define what is Scripture (what is contained between the covers of your Bible) Use circular reasoning So What? Plenty of people outside of Christianity do a great job of pointing out the shortcomings of Read More …
Review of You Lost Me (#0561)
Meet the Author David Kinnaman is best known as the co-author of the bestselling book UnChristian: What a New Generation Thinks About Christianity and Why It Matters (2007). Since joining the Barna Group in 1995, the 37 year old Kinnaman has designed and analyzed nearly 500 projects and supervised more than 350,000 interviews for client projects. Currently, he serves as president and majority owner. Book Basics UnChristian (2007) is an incredibly insightful, timely, and well Read More …
Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration (#0557)
Last night I went to Temple Shalom in Naples, FL where I participated in an Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration. This service of worship included people from Celebration Metropolitan Community Church, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Islamic Center of Naples, Naples United Church of Christ, Spiritual Assembly of Bahá’í's in Naples, Temple Shalom, and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Naples. Together we gave thanks in a service that included music, Read More …
New Interfaith Hunger Documentary (#0556)
"Peace of Bread: Faith, Food and the Future is a compelling and heart-felt look at how young, and not so young, faith leaders are trying to finally make a dent in this country’s 49 million people (17 million of which are children) that are experiencing hunger" (National Council of Churches News Service). Take a minute to watch this video introduction to the documentary. A Peace of Bread - opening sequence from Diva Communications on Vimeo. So What? This month has been as Read More …
Mission 1 – A Denomination Addresses Hunger (#0549)
In April, I wrote about Mission 1: a denomination wide initiative of the United Church of Christ to address hunger. Capitalizing on the number one, the event began on 11/1/11 and ended on 11/11/11. During that time, those within the denomination worked together to feed the hungry and address food-related injustice. The results include: 1.28 million items of food donated (exceeding the goal of 1 million) Over 35,000 letters to Congress (exceeding the goal of 11,111) Read More …