Earlier this week the National Council of Churches released its annual analysis of church membership: 2011 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. According to the Rev. Dr. Eileen Lindner, editor, the data in this year's report suggests that recent membership trends have continued: "That is, churches which have been increasing in membership in recent years continue to grow and likewise, those churches which have been declining in recent years continue to decline." The yearbook reports Read More …
Trends
Is Virtual Community Real Community? (#0278)
While most followers of Jesus who have been on the journey of faith for many years grasp both the theological and pragmatic need for community, newcomers to the faith may be unfamiliar with the concept given the increasingly individualistic society in which we live. Many local congregations would benefit from a renewed focus on Christian community. One helpful example of restoring an intentional emphasis is Our Savior's Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Circle Pines, Read More …
Previously Unheard of Church Jobs (#0270)
Earlier this week, Jim Sheppard shared excerpts of a conversation he had with two members of the Vanderbloemen Search Group, which seeks to help "churches and large parachurch ministries find the right senior leaders." William Vanderbloemen (pictured at right), founder and CEO, has fifteen years experience as a Senior Pastor as well as human resources experience with a Fortune 200 company. Justin Lathrop, Executive Search Consultant, has ten years of local church ministry Read More …
The Presbyterian (PCUSA) Church is Deathly Ill (#0267)
"Where Have All The Presbyterians Gone?" could be the title of a denominational funeral hymn for the 2.3 millionmember PCUSA, but is actually the title of a recent Wall Street Journal article by Russell Moore. Moore (pictured at left) is a Southern Baptist minister who currently serves as the Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and as a preaching pastor at Highview Baptist Read More …
Dramatic Increase in Church Foreclosures (#0266)
Local churches often finance the purchase of a new "house of worship" (or expansion of an existing one) with a mortgage much like their parishioners do when purchasing their own homes. Historically churches have had low default rates, but more recently high unemployment and easy access to funding have contributed to increases in distressed (see image at right) properties. Foreclosures have also risen dramatically. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article Read More …
Do Americans Share a Common Morality? (#0264)
Yesterday I wrote a review of America’s Four Gods: What We Say About God - & What That Says About Us by Paul Froese and Christopher Bader. One of the book's more interesting findings hints at a common American morality, which is shown in the chart below (p. 66). The authors write: But note the relative ranking of moral issues for all believers -- they are exactly the same. Specifically, no matter what kind of God a person believes in, he ranks the comparative Read More …
What I Learned from Writing 100 posts in 100 days (#0260)
I did it: 100 posts in 100 days! After taking roughly 21 months to write my first 160 blog posts (roughly 7.6 a month), I needed just 3.3 months (100 days) to add another 100. This dramatic change in writing habits revealed: Blogging can be a spiritual discipline Writing more frequently led to reading more online content (I read more blogs than I ever had before, engaged several people I didn't know previously, and plan to continue to interact with those people and their work) Read More …
Pastors: Embrace Social Media or Quit (#0257)
Maurilio Amorim is CEO of The A Group, a media, technology and branding firm in Brentwood, TN that consults with some of the country’s largest ministries, leading churches, and Christian publishers. Founded in 2001, The A Group has transitioned from a traditional marketing agency into a marketing technology and branding firm, leveraging social media and mobile technologies. To connect with Amorim, friend him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter, or read his Read More …
Online Worship: Should My Church Offer It? (#0255)
What it means to be church, especially in the area of worship, has changed dramatically due to recent technological advances. Douglas Estes' SimChurch (2009) continues to be an important book in this emerging field (you can read my review here). In that text Estes focuses on this new way of being church, which he labels third wave. In the first wave churches used the virtual world as a marketing billboard, primarily via a website with little or no interaction. The Read More …
Jesus Hates Obama Ad Canceled (#0253)
Several news sources, including the UPI, are reporting that Fox has refused to air a proposed Super Bowl commercial for Jesus Hates Obama: a conservative comedy website that sells anti-President Obama merchandise. For those who would like to view the spot and make their own decisions, the video can be seen below. For those who are not sure that they want to watch this type of material, consider this summary from the Huffington Post: The ad shows Read More …