The desire of donors to ensure their dollars are spent wisely has led organizations to become increasingly transparent about their budgets and facilitated the rise in popularity of sites designed to offer clear data about many charities, such as Charity Navigator. Despite the ever increasing access to good information, some charities persist in practices that result in a very small percentage of their income being used to do actual charitable work. CNN partnered with Read More …
Trends
The End of Marriage? (#1126)
Philip Cohen, a sociologist at the University of Maryland, recently wrote a thought provoking piece in the Atlantic about the decline in marriage. The chart at right illustrates the marriage trend from 1940 to present with projections for the possible paths for the future. If nothing changes, presuming the current rate of decline simply continues, marriage will reach 0 in 2042. So What? Cohen rightly notes that the continued rapid decline toward zero is unlikely. He Read More …
Parenting in the Age of Digital Technology (#1123)
The Center on Media and Human Development in the School of Communication at Northwestern University recently published "Parenting in the Age of Digital Technology: A National Survey," which highlights ten key findings. This list includes: parents still turn to family and friends for parenting advice far more often than to new media sources like websites, blogs, and social networks, parents do not report having many family conflicts or concerns about their children’s media use, and Read More …
Southern Baptist Decline (#1121)
2012 was another rough year for the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). More specifically, "according to the Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions, most of the ACP metrics declined in 2012 including membership, average attendance, baptisms . . ." Expressed as percentages, the declines are membership: 0.7%, average worship attendance: 3.1%, and baptisms: 5.5%. So What? While the SBC still Read More …
Poverty: Appropriately Covered? (#1115)
A few days ago Margaret Sullivan, public editor at the New York Times, wrote an intriguing post about how well the Times and other newspapers cover poverty in the United States. Her questions include: But is it enough? Is it the right kind of coverage? Where are the gaps, and what is the big picture?" Sullivan provides a troubling statistic about the state of poverty coverage (at least on the front-pages of newspapers): The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Read More …
Child Sponsorship Works (#1112)
Bruce Wydick, professor of economics and international studies at the University of San Francisco, recently published study findings that show that child sponsorship works. The academic paper appears in the current edition of the Journal of Political Economy. Wydick provided an overview of the material for a lay audience in the June 2013 edition of Christianity Today (p.20-25). Based on research done using a grant from USAID to analyze the impact of child sponsorship Read More …
Future Church: Another Perspective (#1111)
Carey Nieuwhof, lead pastor of Connexus Community Church, recently shared his thoughts on how the church will evolve over the next decade. Nieuwhof identified 11 traits that he believes will be common among those congregations that have a significant impact over the next ten years: The ability to say no Outsider focus Quick decision making Flexibility A willingness to embrace smaller to become bigger A quicker, lighter footprint Valuing online relationships as real Read More …
Religion Is Losing Influence (#1109)
According to the latest Gallup survey, "Over three-quarters of Americans (77%) say religion is losing its influence on American life, while 20% say religion's influence is increasing." While the overall view tends toward pessimism, this year's results are the most pessimistic about the influence of religion since 1970. So What? At a time when the vast majority agree that religion is declining, an almost equal number (75%) believe that it would be positive for our nation if more Read More …
International Religious Freedom (#1102)
Earlier this week the U.S. State Department released its annual report on religious freedom around the world. Suzan Johnson Cook, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, stated that the report shows much work is yet to be done. With this in mind, she called upon governments to "fulfill their responsibility to condemn religious intolerance and bring to justice perpetrators of abuses." So What? People who follow the way of Jesus must advocate for Read More …
Life After Seminary (#1100)
For generations, seminaries were primarily designed to train people for pastoral ministry. Today, less than half of all graduates of the typical seminary degree for pastors (master of divinity) plan to engage in full-time church ministry. According to the Association of Theological Schools the shift has taken place in just a few decades. At that time, over 90% of students planned to enter full-time church ministry. The percentage has declined ever since, reaching 52% by Read More …