The Future of Mainline Denominations Recently, I have written several articles designed to introduce my readers to a variety of perspectives related to the future of mainline denominations. Leaders within the mainline denominations understand that change is essential to reverse the decades of decline. In recent posts, I have shared many voices including those of Peter Wallace, Bruce Epperly, and Bruce Reyes Chow Stephen Sterner Landon Whitsitt Read More …
Trends
Text Ministry (#0155)
Just a few years ago, most people thought of cell phones primarily as phones. In 2010, a cell phone means much more to teenagers. According to recent research conducted by the Pew Research Center, "Text messaging has become the primary way that teens reach their friends, surpassing face-to-face contact, email, instant messaging and voice calling as the go-to daily communication tool for this age group." According to even more recent research by The Nielsen Company, the average teenager Read More …
What if No One Comes? More Decline in the Mainline (#0154)
Fewer and Fewer Worshippers For the last several decades, membership in mainline denominations has been declining. Over time, membership has become a less helpful statistic in part due to a change in how younger people view church membership. Given these changes and others, church attendance has become the sociological standard measuring growth or decline. Lovett H. Weems Jr., distinguished professor of church leadership and director of the Lewis Center for Read More …
The Future of Mainline Denominations (#0151)
The Future of Mainline Protestantism As a group, mainline Protestants have experienced ongoing decline in membership for multiple decades. In recent years some have replaced "mainline" with terms like "old line" or "sidelined." Looking forward, almost everyone agrees that unless something changes significantly the decline will continue. While some writers have focused on the decline including the likely causes and others are calling for the end of Read More …
Religious Knowledge in America (#0147)
Religious Knowledge in America I encourage you to test your religious knowledge by taking a fifteen question multiple choice survey. Once you complete the survey you will learn how your religious literacy compares to those who participated in the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey. The results of the survey suggest the average American isn't very knowledgeable about religion. In fact, the average participant answered Read More …
Megachurches Shaping American Protestantism (#0144)
Leadership Network just released their bi-annual Large Church Salary and Benefits Report, which explores the results of their latest survey of many of the largest Protestant churches in America and Canada. For the purpose of the research "large churches" are those with 1000+ in average weekly worship attendance while "megachurch" status is reserved for those with 2000+ in weekly worship attendance. For those interested in more details, the full 31 page Read More …
Poorer = More Religious? (#0143)
Gallup recently published an article explaining the results of their 2009 survey on global religiosity, which consisted of telephone and face-to-face interviews with approximately 1,000 adults in each of 119 countries. The data shows that "religion continues to play an important role in many people's lives worldwide." Specifically: The global median proportion of adults who say religion is an important part of their daily lives is 84% Money matters: lower per-capita income is Read More …
Celebrating my Twitterversary (#0142)
Happy Twitterversary Sowhatfaith I joined Twitter one year ago today, which makes today my first twitterversary. Initially, I tweeted sparingly (between 31 and 56 times a month). Once I felt more familiar with the discipline , I tweeted a bit more (between 89 and 97 times a month). Last month I fully embraced tweeting and posted more than ever by some margin (276 tweets). This month I am on pace for about the same number of tweets as last Read More …
Glenn Beck the Spiritual Leader? (#0138)
Glenn Beck is best known as a conservative news commentator and host of The Glenn Beck Program. In recent months, he has made comments and taken actions that lead many to believe he is seeking or has assumed a new role as a religious leader. During his March 2 radio program he said: I beg you, look for the words "social justice" or "economic justice" on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Read More …
Review of Christians are Hate-Filled Hypocrites . . . and Other Lies You’ve Been Told (#0137)
Wright, Bradley R. E. Christians are Hate-Filled Hypocrites . . . and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media. Bethany House, 2010. ISBN: 9780764207464 Meet the Author Bradley Wright is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut. After keeping quiet about his Christian faith early in his career, Wright became more open after gaining tenure. His specialties include religion, social Read More …