Philip N. Cohen, professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, recently wrote two posts (A and B) on his blog about the declining popularity of the name Mary. To put the trend in perspective he offers these remarks: For the first time in the history of the United States of America, the name Mary is not in the top 100 given to newborn girls. Mary was the #1 name every year in the Social Security name database from 1880 — it’s first year — to 1961 (except Read More …
Trends
Thursday + Friday = Maximum Facebook Engagement (#0340)
Buddy Media released "Strategies For Effective Facebook Wall Posts: A Statistical Review" earlier this month, which amounts to a comprehensive analysis of more than 200 of their clients' Facebook pages over a two week period. The full report (available as a free download after registering) features fifteen pages of information including a detailed breakdown by industry of the best days to post. Overall, for all industries considered, the best days for engagement are Thursday and Read More …
American Sex Ed is Atypical and Ineffective (#0335)
The documentary Let's Talk About Sex is generating considerable discussion. It aired on TLC last weekend and the DVD was released a few days later. Directed by James Houston, an Australian fashion photographer currently based in New York, the 62 minute offering shows how very different sexuality is when comparing American teens to teens from other nations. While American teens and European teens become sexually active at about the same age the results are very Read More …
The Nature of the Church in the 21st Century (#0334)
Cynthia Holder Rich is currently the Interim Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Muskegon, MI and serves on the Special Committee on the Nature of the Church in the 21st Century of the Presbyterian Church (USA). In the latter role she posted five questions, which were developed by the committee: What is your vision for the church in the 21st century? What characteristics will draw the great diversity (racial ethnic, age, gender, etc.) of our country into our community of Read More …
No Generation Left Behind: Social Media in Ministry (#0331)
Earlier this year I wrote about generational differences in online activity based on data from a Pew Research Center study that showed how many people in each generation participate in various online activities. The percentage of people who participate in a given category tends to decline from generation to generation, but even the oldest generations still engage in a significant amount of online activity. Increasingly the digital divide or gap between those who Read More …
Is Tithing Required? (#0330)
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 …
Has Church Giving Rebounded? (#0325)
Last week the findings of the third annual "STATE of the PLATE" shows that after two years of steep decline, giving to churches increased slightly in 2010. Writing for USA Today, Cathy Lynn Grossmann summarized the research with four bullet points: Giving is up: 43% of churches saw increased giving in 2010, up from 36% in 2009. The decline has stabilized: 39% of churches said giving was down in 2010, 38% last year. December offered a boost: Christmas-time generosity often puts Read More …
Learning from Gen Y: Thoughts of a New Reformation (#0324)
Bradley N. Hill, a minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church, recently wrote an article for the Christian Century suggesting that the way most churches operate (an attractional model) will never effectively engage Generation Y (those he characterizes as being born between 1976 and 2000) for many reasons including: . . . advertisement is just part of the background white noise of our culture. No impersonal website or advertisement, no program or event flyer, poster or radio spot will entice 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 …
Statistical Surprises: Marriage and Divorce (#0317)
The Daily Number is provided by the Pew Research Center that "highlights an important finding or trend." A few days ago, the number looked at the unusually high rates of both marriage and divorce in the United States. When compared to the European Union, Americans are far more likely to experience marriage (51% higher) or divorce (76% higher). Interestingly, however, American divorce rates in the sample year (33% of the measured events) were similar to those in the EU Read More …