I grew up in a Mainline Protestant congregation. The congregation I was raised in belonged to one of the seven sisters of Mainline American Protestantism: the Congregational Church (now a part of the United Church of Christ), the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Methodist Church, the American Baptist Convention, and the Disciples of Christ. While my childhood congregation has remained a part of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Read More …
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Sermon: An Opportune Time (#1523)
Sermon Text: Ecclesiastes 3:1-6 Sermon Excerpt: A month before I graduated from seminary I started my first pastoral position. I was one of the associate pastors in the oldest continually meeting Protestant congregation in Dallas, Texas. My official job title was so long even I had a hard time remembering it. It included elements of congregational redevelopment with an emphasis on reaching new people – especially those who were younger. For some reason people assumed Read More …
Striking Religious Findings from 2014 (#1509)
Pew Research Center continues to be a leader in providing research and commentary on matters of faith that matter. During 2014 they published 150+ reports and 600+ blog posts considering what is happening in the USA and the world. At the close of the year they reviewed this massive body of work and created a list of 14 facts they "found particularly striking, as they illustrate some major shifts in our politics, society, habits or families." Read More …
Church Construction at All Time Low (#1507)
This year will go down as having the lowest level of construction of religious buildings in the United States since private records started in 1967. More specifically, Ben Leubsdorf notes the following statistics in his recent piece in the Wall Street Journal: space: 10.3 million square feet of religious construction is projected this year, down 6% from 2013 and 80% since construction peaked in 2002 ( Dodge Data & Analytics) dollars: spending on construction totaled $3.15 billion Read More …
Top Posts of 2014 (#1506)
According to the number of page visits during this calendar year, the most popular posts I wrote in 2014 are Sensory Maundy Thursday Which Disciple Are You? Pastoral Prayer: Love How Worship is Evolving Sermon: More Than Showing Up So What? As the year winds down I always enjoy reading a variety of top ten lists and other lists sharing top moments, experiences, and posts of the year. Share a link to the most interesting Top 10 or top list of 2014 you have read so far. Which of Read More …
Religious Symbols on National Flags (#1502)
According to a new Pew Research analysis, a third of the world's countries have national flags that contain religious symbols. The 64 flags with religious imagery can be categorized by religion as follows: Christianity - 31 Islam - 21 Other Religions - 6 Hinduism/Buddhism - 3 Buddhism - 2 Judaism - 1. So What? According to data gathered a few years ago by Pew Research, more than half of the global population are adherents to one of the world's two largest religions: Read More …
Attracting the Churchless (#1500)
Long ago I stopped counting how many times people have asked me what they need to do to help their congregation grow. Thankfully most who ask this of me are not primarily interested in transfer growth (sometimes called "sheep stealing" or more nicely redistribution) that comes when churched people choose to shift their allegiance from their current faith community to a new one. Most of my questioners are genuinely interested in helping their church welcome new people who are Read More …
The McMass Project (#1498)
Almost every day I encounter a religious story that is unusual or simply odd. About once a week I find a religious story that requires time to process. Roughly once a month I encounter a story for which I have no prior frame of reference. This last group tends to linger in my mind, and often leads me to start some interesting conversations. Introducing the Project The McMass project is among the most out there ideas I have encountered this year. When a colleague first Read More …
The Dones are Done (#1496)
Last week I wrote that the de-churched (those once involved in church who have stopped participating) not only account for 1 out of every 3 American adults, but are also the fastest growing group. Soon after posting those thoughts, I encountered a rather discouraging word to categorize a significant portion of the de-churched: "dones." Thom Shultz, founder of Group Publishing and Lifetree Cafe, recently reflected on sociologist Josh Packard's talk about the "dones" at Group's Future Read More …
Immigration Questions (#1494)
After six years of back and forth about immigration and over 500 days after the Senate passed a bipartisan immigration bill, President Obama announced his broad executive action designed to provide temporary protection for 5 million undocumented immigrants that will ensure they are not deported. The impacted immigrants will still need to wait on Congress to take action to provide a pathway to citizenship or another permanent opportunity to remain in the United States. In last Read More …