I have never really understood the popularity of the so-called "reality tv shows." I have never really understood, although I have studied it at far greater length, the popularity of megachurch pastor Joel Osteen. I don't pretend to know what will come of the agreement Osteen made to develop a reality tv show with "famed reality tv producer Mark Burnett." Each episode of the show will apparently feature 300-500 of Osteen's faithful (members of his Lakewood Church in Houston, TX) Read More …
A Free Mainline Seminary Education (#0577)
Recently Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary announced that they will become the first mainline seminary to charge no tuition for "students in its master’s degree programs in divinity, marriage and family therapy and religion beginning in 2015." Rather than cutting costs or quality, the school intends to finance this initiative by increasing its endowment and decreasing the number of students admitted (moving from 150 to 130). So What? Many students begin their seminary Read More …
Viewing the Bible as Holy (#0576)
M. Craig Barnes is the Robert Meneilly Professor of Pastoral Ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the Pastor of Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA. His "Faith Matters" article in the December 13, 2011 edition of the Christian Century explores how his view of the Bible developed over time. It includes these words: The more I understand about the Bible's dust-and-grit humanity, the more holy it becomes to me. Long after I'd left behind my Read More …
Church as Social Network (#0575)
Brandon Vogt is a Catholic layperson who blogs at ThinVeil.net and wrote The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet (2011 - read my review here). In the December 2011 edition of Christianity Today, he was one of three authors who answered discussed virtual fellowship or, more specifically, "What are we to make of social networking in churches (p.54)?" Vogt begins his response with these words: At its core, the church is one giant Read More …
What About Twitter is Appealing? (#0574)
Carol Howard Merritt, a Presbyterian pastor and the author of Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation (2007 - read my review here) and Reframing Hope: Vital Ministry in a New Generation (2010 - read my review here), recently was interviewed by the Christian Century. Among other things, she was asked to "say more about what you find so appealing about Twitter." Her response, in part, follows: I use Twitter in a couple of ways. It's a news stream for me . . Read More …
Blurry Lines (#0573)
Francine Hardaway is "an experienced marketing strategist with special expertise in startup companies," a "geek-to-human translator," and the co-founder of Stealthmode Partners. In a recent blog post she shared how to make your business more successful: The root cause of any business failure is the neglect of a simple, ancient Buddhist idea: the line where I end and you begin is blurry. As the Beatles used to sing, “I am you and you are me together.” As the founder of a business, the line Read More …
Church Announcements = Epic-Fail (#0572)
Adam Stadtmiller's recent post, "The Epic-Fail of Church Announcements," explores a problem that deserves far more attention than it often receives. Stadtmiller offers this hyperbolic analysis of the problem: Nothing in the history of Christendom, save perhaps the Second Crusade, rivals the ineffectiveness of the church’s ability to accomplish an intended purpose more than the medium of in-service announcements. So What? Regardless of denominational affiliation (or non-denomination Read More …
Interracial Couples Denied Church Membership (#0571)
A few weeks ago Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church, a tiny church in Eastern Kentucky, "voted not to accept interracial couples as members or let them take part in some worship activities." This incredibly backwards and exclusion decision, made as the result of the fifteen members present who cast votes, received significant local and national media coverage. This past Sunday, the congregation reversed its early decision by unanimously (16 to 0) passing a motion in support of accepting Read More …
Please Slow Down (#0570)
Tis the season for many things . . . atop my list right now are people who simply will not slow down. Over the last 24 hours I have experienced several examples of this behavior, including: a very coffee-centered individual who asked if I was in a hurry or not because she really was (with my blessing and that of the couple ahead of me, she skipped to the head of the line at Starbucks) people who respond to various forms of communication in a manner that clearly indicates they failed Read More …
The Happiest Job (#0569)
Steve Denning's article on Forbes is one of many that report on the ten happiest jobs, based on the recent General Social Survey by the National Organization for Research at the University of Chicago. The top five are #5 - special education teachers #4 - authors #3 - physical therapists #2 - firefighters #1 - clergy So What? The original article in the Christian Science Monitor notes that psychologist, firefighter, and clergy all make the top ten: Since experts say that social Read More …