The past seven days have been unusually stressful for many Americans. The Presidential election produced record turnout and vote counting took longer than many expected. Now, we know that Joe Biden is President-elect. Preaching Pastors have faced unexpected challenges throughout 2020. Nearly all pastors in congregational ministry have learned to preach to a virtual audience or have worked to improve competency. On top of the ongoing (and recently worsening) pandemic, today pastors Read More …
Great New Books – November 2020 (#1896)
My latest list of great books features ten volumes published in 2020: (5.0) Always a Guest: Speaking of Faith Far From Home by Barbara Brown Taylor (Westminster John Knox, 2020) (4.5) Sanctuary: Being Christian in the Wake of Trump by Heidi B. Neumark (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020) (4.5) Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World by Tyson Yunkaporta (HarperOne, 2020) (4.5) The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket Read More …
No Longer Presbyterian (#1895)
Donald Trump was raised in the Presbyterian church, and in recent years continued to identify as Presbyterian despite not holding membership in a Presbyterian congregation or regularly attending worship. One week ago today Trump attended worship at the non-denominational International Church of Las Vegas. A few days after this experience, Trump changed his religious affiliation from Presbyterian to non-denominational Christian. Rather than announcing this shift in a televised event, Trump Read More …
Practice Christian Kissing (#1894)
Passage for reflection: 1 Peter 5:14 Churches are some of the friendliest and most welcoming places around. Whether navigating as newcomer or returning as a regular, people expect to receive a warm welcome. In reality, first-time experiences fall short of the ideal more often than not. When I visited one of the fastest growing congregations in the country I stood alone in the lobby for an extended period of time before and after worship watching people pass me by without receiving a single Read More …
Staying Put (#1893)
Passage for Reflection: Jonah 2:1-10 Jonah’s time in the belly of a whale – or, more likely, just a big fish – is one of the best-known stories from the minor prophets. The story is simple enough for even the youngest listener to picture yet nuanced enough to keep the serious scholar engaged. How did Jonah find himself in such a predicament? What’s it like to live for such a long time in such a strange situation? The top story of 2020 is the global pandemic of COVID-19. As this story Read More …
Great New Books – October 2020 (#1892)
My latest list of great books features ten volumes published in 2020: (5+) Make Change: How to Fight Injustice, Dismantle Systemic Oppression, and Own Our Future by Shaun King (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020) (5.0) Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity by Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons (Broadleaf Books, 2020) (5.0) Veritas: A Harvard Professor, A Con Man, and the Gospel of Jesus's Wife by Ariel Sabar (Doubleday, 2020) (5.0) After Evangelicalism: The Path to a Read More …
Consistently Progressive Christians Outnumber Consistently Conservative Christians (#1891)
Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons devotes an entire chapter in his timely new book - Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity (Broadleaf Books, 2020) - to explaining that consistently progressive or liberal Christian adults in the United States outnumber consistently conservative Christian adults by a margin of almost two to one. Graves-Fitzsimmons relies on research conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in 2018 for his Read More …
In Person Worship: Worship Capacity in the UCC (#1890)
In recent months I've seen hundreds if not thousands of images of empty sanctuaries or other sacred spaces used for worship shared on social media. And, I've seen nearly as many images with just a few people who are leading or preparing to lead virtual worship services during the COVID-19 pandemic. While average weekly worship attendance has long been among the common statistics used to communicate the size of a congregation that statistic usually stands on its own with no mention of how Read More …
Most Have Not Returned to In Person Worship (#1889)
On Sunday I posted the following question on Facebook: When did you last attend an in person worship service? Responses I was surprised this post received nearly 250 comments. 116 people sharing when they last attended an in person worship service: Last attended in February or March: 61Last attended in August or September: 55 10 of the 55 (18%) of those who have attended a service during August or September noted that the service occurred outside. Since I did not Read More …
6 Months (and Counting) Without In Person Worship (#1888)
After participating in corporate worship weekly or more often for all of my life, I've now gone six months without doing so as a result of COVID-19. Both of the congregations I belong to continue to provide virtual worship alongside other virtual opportunities for connection and discipleship. And, both congregations have yet to set a date to return to offering worship services that parishioners can attend in person. The Unexpected: Virtual Worship Only As I reflect on Read More …