Thanksgiving is a lifestyle, not simply a holiday scheduled the fourth Thursday of November. In the spirit of continuing the focus on thankfulness, today I'm reflecting on and giving thanks for the ten different ministry settings I've served. These settings vary in many ways, yet are all committed to making more real God's kin-dom on earth Founding: Less than 10 years ago to more than 150Size: Less than 100 active participants to more than 2,000Denomination: 5 Mainline Protestant Read More …
United Church of Christ
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 …
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 …
UCC Decline Enters 7th Decade (#1853)
Sixteen months ago I wrote a post titled "6 Decades of Decline in the United Church of Christ," which presented a detailed analysis of the decline in number of congregations and number of members from the time the denomination was formed in 1957 through 2017. (I was surprised to learn this was my second most popular post of the 2010s since I published over 1,800 posts during the decade). In recent days, I learned that the first year of the denomination's 7th decade resulted in continued Read More …
Open and Affirming: Significant New Stats (UCC) (#1848)
I have long been an advocate for the full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in the life of the Christian church, and have been privileged to be a part of three Open and Affirming (ONA) congregations in the United Church of Christ (UCC): Naples United Church of Christ - Naples, FLFort Myers Congregational United Church of Christ - Ft. Myers, FLCathedral of Hope United Church of Christ - Dallas, TX Note: According to the denomination: ONA is the UCC's designation for congregations, campus Read More …
Are 10,000 Churches Closing Every Year? (#1822)
For years, I've heard people claim that 10,000 churches are closing every year in America. A quick web search shows that this big, bold, round number can be found on its own or, more often, as the high end of a range on dozens of websites. These sites include pieces by largely unknown bloggers alongside articles by those many consider to be authorities in field. For example, last year Thom Rainer - a leading Evaneglical voice and the former president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources - Read More …
We are the Kindom of God (#1808)
Over the last few days, I've been watching my social feeds for updates on the United Church of Christ's General Synod in Milwaukee, WI. Yesterday afternoon, I was able to watch the livestream of the worship service that included a sermon given by Rev. Traci Blackmon. Rev. Blackmon is Associate General Minister of Justice & Local Church Ministries for the United Church of Christ, and she serves as Senior Pastor of Christ The King United Church of Christ (Florissant, MO). I had the Read More …
Visiting 50+ Churches in Dallas – Fort Worth (#1779)
Since relocating to the Dallas - Fort Worth metropolitan area in September 2015, I've worshipped in 52 different congregations. Denomination The vast majority (87%) of my visits have been to congregations in Mainline denominations. A complete list of denominational affiliations follows: So What? When I share the number of churches I've visited in recent years the first question I'm usually asked is "why?" My answer is always the same: "I searched for a church on relocating Read More …
Majority of UCC Congregations Worship 50 or Fewer (#1778)
The percentage of all congregations in the United Church of Christ with average worship attendance of 50 people or less has been increasing since 2000. During that time the percentage nearly doubled from a little more than 1 in 4 congregations (27.8%) to 1 in 2 (50.9%). During the same time period, the largest congregations in the United Church of Christ (average worship attendance of 400+) declined from 1 in 50 (1.9%) to 1 in 200 (0.6%). So What? The dual trends within the Read More …
Be the Book (#1774)
In her sermon this morning at Cathedral of Hope UCC, Bishop Yvette Flunder called on those present to follow in the Way of Jesus - the very Jesus who read the from the Book of Isaiah, sat down, and became the Book (Luke 4:14-21). Jesus' Reading Isaiah 61 (NRSV) begins with these words: The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release Read More …