Who Reads the Bible? Considerable research has been done regarding Bible reading. Most research focuses on the percentages of people who read it and how often they engage in that behavior. In What Americans Really Believe, Rodney Stark reports that 28% of Americans (24% of women and 32% of men) read the Bible at least once a week (p.64). Very little research has been done regarding those who have read the entire Bible. Earlier this week, New Testament scholar Scot Read More …
Initial Experiences with RockMelt (#0179)
Meet RockMelt RockMelt is the new web browser everyone is talking about. Founded and financed by a group of Netscape alumni, which includes Marc Andreessen, RockMelt is based on Chromium: the open source project behind Google’s Chrome browser. RockMelt has been constructed with the understanding that most online activity today revolves around socializing on Facebook, searching on Google, tweeting on Twitter, and monitoring a handful of favorite websites. It is currently Read More …
The Missing Millennials (#0178)
Many denominations and local congregations worry about the increasing age of their members. Differing sources provide a variety of explanations for why fewer young people attend church or choose to affiliate with a religion. According to the graphic below, provided by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life, the youngest generations have the highest level of religious non-affiliation. By generation the numbers for those who claim no religious Read More …
Social Networking is . . . (#0177)
Yesterday, I explored the ever changing social network map. Today, I want to explore the meaning of the map as a whole: to consider what social networking means to you based on your own experiences. Spence Smith was the drummer for Big Tent Revival in the 1990s and has become a social networking guru in the 2000s. He currently works in artist relations for Compassion International and thinks of himself as "a connector, influencer, and thinker in the worlds of Read More …
Managing the Social Network Map (#0176)
Two maps offer a compelling visual case for the changing geography of social networking. The first map was created for XKCD in 2007. The second map was created by Ethan Bloch, Co-Founder and CEO of Flowtown. So What? Christian community has always been about helping people become and remain connected. Most local churches tend toward the extremes of being incredibly savvy or only marginally interested in social Read More …
How Ideas Spread (#0175)
Seth Godin is the author of twelve books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, change, and work. He earned his MBA from Stanford, and was called "the Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age" by Business Week. For more information visit his website or read his blog. He recently listed 20 reasons why people choose to spread ideas: I spread your idea because it makes me feel generous. ...because I feel smart Read More …
Common Strategic and Pastoral Myths (#0174)
Will Mancini is the founder of Auxano - a church consulting group with a unique approach to developing a church's vision frame before providing traditional consulting services. Mancini's pastoral experience includes helping lead two congregations to grow to over 3,000 in weekend attendance: Clear Creek Community Church and FaithBridge UMC. He is the author of Church Unique: How Mission Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement. To connect with Read More …
Inviting Ellen – A Lesson in Silly Creativity (#0173)
The United Church of Christ, a progressive mainline denomination with 1.1 million members, recently launched a creative campaign designed to land Ellen DeGeneres as a keynote speaker at their General Synod, which will be held from July 1-5 in Tampa, Florida. Geoffrey A. Black, the UCC's General Minister and President, wrote a letter explaining why and how the denomination is pursuing Ellen: Your life, values and humor represent the best of what our church hopes to embody Read More …
Uniquely UCC (#0172)
The United Church of Christ's Still Speaking Campaign is the most well known marketing campaign undertaken by a mainline denomination in recent years. The campaign started in 2004 with television ads, which can be viewed here. In April 2010, the campaign moved online with an ad designed to spread via social media called The Language of God, which I wrote about on my blog. Today Uniquely UCC launched in conjunction with Still Speaking's National Read More …
Theological Humility(#0171)
Roger Olson is Professor of Theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University. He is widely regarded as one of the important evangelical voices and writes prolifically for both popular and academic audiences. Olson has written a number of books including How to Be Evangelical Without Being Conservative, The Story of Christian Theology, and The Westminster Handbook to Evangelical Theology. His next book, Against Calvinism: Rescuing God’s Read More …