Cnn.com religion editor Dan Gilgoff shared the findings of a recent informal survey of the National Association of Evangelicals in a blog post. He writes: The survey, conducted by the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) among its 100-member board of directors, found that 42% of evangelical leaders believe the Bible requires tithing, while 58% do not . . . The National Association of Evangelicals, the nation’s biggest evangelical umbrella organization, would not say how many of its Read More …
Discipleship
What the Church Is and What it Should Be (#0328)
Jason Fairbanks, pastor of First Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) in Lake Worth, Florida, recently wrote a series of posts on his blog about what the church is and what it should be. In making his case for what the church should be he offered the wisdom given him by his father: A church is a hospital for those that find themselves hurting and on our doorstep. It is these that we have the opportunity to receive and to love. A church is a greenhouse for those interested in Read More …
Mission 1: Feeding the Hungry and Confronting Food-Related Injustice (#0323)
The one million member United Church of Christ may be best known by its incredibly successful multi-year "God is still speaking" campaign. Perhaps you have heard the message: No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here. We believe in extravagant welcome. (For more information read The Language of God and Uniquely UCC then watch some of the original television commercials.) The United Church of Christ originated as the result of mergers that Read More …
Radical Inclusivity (#0321)
Christian leaders make news headlines on a daily basis, but are rarely portrayed as open minded or inclusive. Jonathan Devin's "Radical Preachers Buck Mainstream Christianity" tells the story of a growing interdenominational group of pastors known as Outlaw Preachers who are bound together by their shared belief in radical inclusivity. Founded in 2008, the group has grown to 300 members and recently held their first conference, which was attended by persons representing Read More …
Reshaping Seminary Education (#0315)
Earlier this month, I wrote "A Shift in Theological Education" to highlight the shift in seminary education from primarily an on campus face-to-face learning experience to one that includes hybrid (using both face-to-face and online components) or online courses. This shift mirrors what has happened in higher education more generally where online enrollment grew 20% over the most recently available seven year period from 9% to 29%. Interestingly, The Reverend Dr. Frederick W. Read More …
Do you Attend a Living Church or a Dying Church? (#0312)
Sam Trumbore is a Unitarian Universalist (UUA) pastor who currently serves as minister of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany (New York). Previously, he was Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Charlotte County, Florida. Recently he wrote a piece contrasting the experiences of living churches with those of dying churches. This article was originally published in the newsletter of a Charlotte county church: Pilgrim United Church of Christ. More recently it Read More …
Nuclear Realities and Religious Responsibility (#0310)
Last week I attended Florida Gulf Coast University's annual Interfaith Clergy Seminar, which is organized by the university's Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Human Rights Studies. I have had the pleasure of attending this event three of the first four years it has been held. Each year I appreciate the intentional interaction with clergy of other faiths more than the previous year. While there has been a highly regarded speaker at each seminar, this was the first year that the Read More …
Face-to-Face vs. Digital/Virtual Worship (#0306)
Chuck Fromm has spent his life in the worship music business. Currently he is the publisher and founder of Worship Leader Magazine. Previously he served for twenty-five years as president of Marantha! Music, which he bought from his uncle Chuck Smith. His doctoral dissertation is titled Textual Communities and New Song in the Multi Media Age: The Routinization of Charisma in the Jesus Movement. In the March/April 2011 edition of Worship Leader Magazine, Fromm Read More …
Reality Check: A Typical Mainline Church in 2010 (#0305)
The Research Services Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA) just released the 2010 Survey of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Congregations, which was part of the Faith Communities Today (FACT) 2010 study of 10,000 congregations from 100 Christian denominations and other faith groups in the United States. The data was provided by leaders of 706 PCUSA congregations. Among the statistics worth noting: The median worship attendance for all Sunday morning services is 70 people Read More …
Theology in a Post-2004 World (#0301)
After writing about Philip Clayton's “Theology and the Church After Google: How This New Age Will Change Christianity” a few days ago, I found myself in several discussions about the topic. One of my conversation partners directed me to an article John Dyer wrote on the topic for Christianity Today's guest opinion column "Speaking Out," which was published this past weekend. Dyer is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary where he is now employed as Director of Web Development. Read More …