Two Competing Views Author, theologian and progressive Christian thinker Marcus Borg suggests that there is often a disconnect between what pastors learn in mainline seminaries and what many Christians believe. In a recent Washington Post article, he explains the two conflicting views. To summarize the beliefs of most Christians, Borg creates a term: "common Christianity," which he explains to mean: . . .what most Christians took-for-granted until a generation or two ago - Read More …
Trends
One Pastor’s Plea for Marriage Equality (#0114)
The Presbyterian Decision Like many mainline denominations, the Presbyterian Church USA has been considering changes on the denominational level that would allow for marriage equality. According to the Presbyterian Outlook, the overture made at the 219th General Assembly that would have allowed "Presbyterian pastors to perform marriages for same-gender couples in states where these marriages are legal" was tabled. Effectively this decision means that Presbyterian pastors Read More …
The Changing Faith Practices of American Teens (#0113)
The Barna Group just released the results of its annual YouthPoll, which considers the faith practices of American teenagers. The article characterizes the faith of teenagers as a "picture of contrasts": Teenagers are consistently among the most religiously active Americans, with nearly six out of every 10 teens engaged in some type of group spiritual activity in a typical week. Yet, the spirituality of teenagers is also remarkably diverse and fluid. According to David Read More …
The M&M Church (#0112)
The Sunday Morning Divide I cannot count the number of times I have heard someone say that 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning is the most racially divided hour of the week. I can, however, count the small number of occasions when I have been involved in a group discussion designed to move a given local congregation toward becoming intentionally multiracial and/or multicultural. Silence empowers the separation. Moving Forward or Standing Still? George Barna, author, researcher and Read More …
Happy Social Media Day! (#0110)
Mashable, one of the best known Internet news blogs, has proclaimed June 30 as the first Social Media Day and invites everyone to celebrate “the revolution of media becoming a social dialogue.” One way they suggest to celebrate is by participating in one of over 600 meet ups. According to blogger Vadim Lavrusik: Today we acknowledge and celebrate the revolution of media becoming social. A day that honors the technological and societal advancements that have allowed us to have a Read More …
Denominational Decline, Death, or Reform (#0107)
Denominational Realities I recently wrote a series, One Faith: Many Traditions, outlining how my Christian faith has grown as a result of my experiences in several traditions. By focusing on the positives from seven of these groups, I sought to share part of my journey of faith and to encourage my readers to treasure the contributions of the traditions they have experienced. I struggled to limit my list as there are many other movements that have influenced me. I was also very Read More …
The First MultiFaith Seminary (#0105)
In a bow to the growing diversity of America's religious landscape, the Claremont School of Theology, a Christian institution with long ties to the Methodist Church, will add clerical training for Muslims and Jews to its curriculum this fall, to become, in a sense, the first truly multi-faith American seminary. Those words begin Mitchell Landsberg's article in the Los Angeles Times that explains the school's recent announcement. Claremont School of Theology (CST) has been affiliated Read More …
Forming/Reforming Educational Ministry (#0087)
Educational Ministry is Changing In recent years, educational ministries in the local church have changed in significant ways. These changes impact not only what is taught, but also when and how. Additionally, there are now a number of ways churches refer to this ministry, including Christian education, discipleship, enrichment, growth, religious education, and spiritual formation. Meet Bruce Stewart Bruce Stewart is a Church of Christ minister who currently serves as Preaching Read More …
Tweeting in Worship (#0086)
Tweeting in Worship For years, church growth teams/committees (also known as evangelism, marketing/public relations, and outreach) have struggled with how to invest limited dollars to market the church to the larger community. Interestingly, research continues to show that word of mouth produces far greater results than direct mail, television/radio/newspaper ads, or other traditional marketing. Of course, this means motivating those already active in the community to share their experiences Read More …
Review of Tribal Church (#0077)
Merritt, Carol Howard. Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation. The Alban Institute, 2007. Meet the Author Rev. Merritt is an ordained Presbyterian Church, USA pastor. She has served congregations in Louisiana and Rhode Island. Currently she serves Western Presbyterian Church - an intergenerational church in Washington D.C. She and Bruce Reyes-Chow co-host the Internet talk radio show The God Complex. Tribal Church is Merritt's first Read More …