I recently received the latest statistics about the Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ. Between 2000 and 2010 membership declined 23.6% and giving through congregations to Our Church's Wider Mission (provides funding for the work of UCC Conference and National ministries) declined 42.7%. So What? The Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ is not unique. Mainline churches have been experiencing membership decline for decades. In Read More …
United Church of Christ
Good Followers . . . (#0604)
Anthony B. Robinson is an ordained United Church of Christ pastor who currently serves as President of Congregational Leadership Northwest, and who has written several books including Changing the Conversation: A Third Way for Congregations (2008 - read my review here). His article in the January 11, 2012 edition of the Christian Century highlights five ways people can be good followers: Good followers recognize that leadership is necessary, important and Read More …
Top 11 Posts of 2011 (#0589)
Based on the number of unique hits, the following are my top 11 posts in 2011 Best Church Logos Contemporvant Worship: Too Close To Reality? Review of Not a Fan Preferred Frequency for Communion / Lord's Supper / Eucharist Managing the Social Network Map The Influence of Technology The Presbyterian (PCUSA) Church is Deathly Ill Review of The Jesuit Guide To (Almost) Everything The UCC, General Synod, and the Trinity The Acceptable Year of the Lord - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Read More …
A 30-Second Christmas Message (#0588)
Enjoy the latest addition to the United Church of Christ's Still Speaking campaign: "Don't Let Them Lie To You." Read More …
New Interfaith Hunger Documentary (#0556)
"Peace of Bread: Faith, Food and the Future is a compelling and heart-felt look at how young, and not so young, faith leaders are trying to finally make a dent in this country’s 49 million people (17 million of which are children) that are experiencing hunger" (National Council of Churches News Service). Take a minute to watch this video introduction to the documentary. A Peace of Bread - opening sequence from Diva Communications on Vimeo. So What? This month has been as Read More …
God is Still Speaking – the First Decade (#0553)
Ron Buford is the lead architect of the United Church of Christ's (UCC) Still Speaking campaign which began in 2002. He recently accepted a call to serve as Interim Minister for Discipleship at Old South Church in Boston, and authored an article about Still Speaking in the denomination's magazine (Vol. 2, Issue 2 - p.54-56). In that piece he explores his experiences over the last decade, including his travel to congregations in all but two of the UCC Conferences. Read More …
Mission 1 – A Denomination Addresses Hunger (#0549)
In April, I wrote about Mission 1: a denomination wide initiative of the United Church of Christ to address hunger. Capitalizing on the number one, the event began on 11/1/11 and ended on 11/11/11. During that time, those within the denomination worked together to feed the hungry and address food-related injustice. The results include: 1.28 million items of food donated (exceeding the goal of 1 million) Over 35,000 letters to Congress (exceeding the goal of 11,111) Read More …
Prayers of the People – A Different Approach (#0547)
At Naples United Church of Christ the pastoral prayer follows the same basic pattern each week: Pastor provides a prayer focus and invites people to pray Time of silent prayer Pastor offers the prayers of the people Musical response Yesterday, we chose to do things differently. The Rev. Catherine O'Connell, Associate Pastor, and I co-wrote then co-led the prayers of the people, which included a congregational response. The pattern we used was: Pastor provides a prayer focus Read More …
A New Day in the PCUSA (#0516)
The Presbyterian Church (USA) or PCUSA has been in the news more this past week than any time this year. The denomination officially amended its constitution earlier this year to allow gays and lesbians to serve as ministers and lay leaders. Last Saturday, the Rev. Scott Anderson was ordained as the denomination's first openly gay pastor. He told CNN: "It's an exciting time for me personally to be the first openly gay person ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and Read More …
How to Reverse Mainline Decline (or not) (#0510)
Rev. Cameron Trimble is the Executive Director of the Center for Progressive Renewal, which seeks to "renew Progressive Christianity by training new entrepreneurial leaders, supporting the birth of new liberal/progressive congregations, and by renewing and strengthening existing progressive churches." Recently, she spoke in Connecticut to a group of seventy-five United Church of Christ pastors and educators. In her speech, Trimble made the historical observation that Read More …