• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Sermons
  • About
  • Contact

So What Faith

Greg Smith

  • Books
  • Discipleship
  • Social Media
  • Leadership
  • Trends
  • Prayer

United Methodist

Religion in America: A Map (#1275)

2013/12/24 By Greg

This map, based on the 2010 census data, shows the largest religious groups in each county of the U.S.                                   So What? While the Catholic Church is the largest religious tradition in more counties than any other group, the Southern Baptists are a close second and are a majority in the vast majority of counties in the s0-called Bible belt. Take a moment to review Read More …

Chuck Knows Church (#1024)

2013/03/06 By Greg

Chuck Knows Church is a relatively new educational resource funded by the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church.  Every Thursday, a somewhat goofy yet always personable, pastoral and knowledgeable man named Chuck shares a new 2-4 minute YouTube video on a basic topic related to Christianity.  Past topics include liturgical colors, the offering plate, the Narthex, the baptismal font, and Lent.  The latest video is on the Lord's Prayer: So What? In Read More …

Review of The Post-Black & Post-White Church (#0841)

2012/09/03 By Greg

Meet the Author Efrem Smith is an evangelical minister who serves as superintendent of the Pacific Southwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church, and as an itinerant speaker for Kingdom Builder Ministries.  Previously, he served as founding pastor of Sanctuary Community Church in Minneapolis, MN.   Smith is the author of three books, including Jump: Into a Life of Further and Higher (2010). Book Basics The Post-Black & Post-White Church explores what it means Read More …

Review of Mainline Christianity (#0774)

2012/06/28 By Greg

Meet the Author Jason S. Lantzer is an adjunct professor of history at Indiana University, Purdue University and Butler University.  His BA (History & Political Science), MA (History) and Ph.D. (History) were all earned from Indiana University.  Lantzer is the author of two books: Prohibition Is Here to Stay: The Reverend Edward S. Shumaker and the Dry Crusade in America (2009) and Mainline Christianity: The Past and Future of America's Majority Read More …

Review of The Best of Will Willimon (#0690)

2012/04/05 By Greg

Meet the Author Since 2004, William H. Willimon has served as  a Bishop in the United Methodist Church responsible for overseeing 57,000 members and 792 pastors in North Alabama.  Previously, he served for twenty years as Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry at Duke University.  Willimon is the author of over sixty books including two best sellers: Sinning Like a Christian: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Thank God It’s Read More …

Why Are You Still in Church? (#0679)

2012/03/25 By Greg

Much is being written about why people are leaving church, especially those in younger generations.  Emily Case, Associate Pastor at Kennesaw United Methodist Church in Kennesaw, GA, recently wrote about why she has chosen to stay: Why do I stay? Because I believe that just like I am broken, the church is broken, that we all are broken. But, I believe that God can often work best through brokeness. Why do I stay? Because I have seen lives changed because someone held their hand Read More …

New Church Growth Via Social Media (#0473)

2011/09/01 By Greg

Out of the Box Worship Center in Hillsville, VA is a non-traditional United Methodist  small town church that is gaining attention for its dramatic social media driven growth. Launched in January 2011 as an extension of First United Methodist Church of Hillsville, VA, the new church start has grown enough to need two services in their 180 seat worship center. So What? Out of the Box's pastor, Ronnie G. Collins, stated, "When the church first started, we placed one full-page ad Read More …

Seminaries Are Failing Us (#0451)

2011/08/10 By Greg

Sky McCracken is the new Paducah District Superintendent in the Memphis Conference of the United Methodist Church. In June, he blogged about his frustrations with the current seminary system.  This material was published a month later as a commentary by the United Methodist Reporter.  His most thought provoking remarks follow: The most sobering thing I’ve learned is that there is no correlation between education of clergy and clergy effectiveness. I am convinced more than ever Read More …

Why Your Ministry Should Have a Blog (#0444)

2011/08/03 By Greg

Guy Chmieleski has served in campus ministry at four institutions of higher education associated with three different denominations (Baptist,  United Methodist and Church of Christ).  On his blog, he shared his own experiences as a blogger, a bit about a presentation on why blogging is important that he made recently to the United Methodist Campus Ministry Association, and four reasons why he will be integrating a blog into his campus ministry work and thinks other Read More …

The End of the Pastor’s Study (#0402)

2011/06/22 By Greg

Joe Smith is the pastor of St. John Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Lakewood, WA.  Recently, he blogged about how overrated office space is for pastors.  Then, a few days later, he continued the discussion of the topic with a guest post by Kirk Jeffery, an ordained United Methodist pastor who currently serves as a church growth consultant.  Together these two posts effectively argue that while the pastor's study served a significant purpose in an earlier era it has outlived Read More …

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Greg Smith

Greg is a follower of the Way of Jesus who strives to make the world a better place for all people. Currently, he serves as Chief Executive Officer of White Rock Center of Hope and as Interim Senior Pastor of Advent Lutheran Church. He has served ten congregations, taught religion to undergraduates for eight years, and helped three organizations provide quality healthcare to underserved populations. (Read More)

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Going Electric! (#2229)
  • Living by Faith (#2228)
  • Fewer Master of Divinity Students (#2227)
  • Welcoming Everyone (#2226)
  • The Increasingly Purple Mainline (#2225)

Tags

Advent Lutheran Church Bible blogging Catholic change Christian Christianity church COVID-19 Dallas decline Diana Butler Bass discipleship education ELCA Episcopal Evangelical facebook faith Jesus Leadership love mainline Mainline Protestant marcus borg membership Ministry Naples United Church of Christ ordination pastor PCUSA Pew Research Center Prayer preaching Presbyterian Protestant religion Scot McKnight social media technology theology twitter United Church of Christ United Methodist worship

Copyright © 2025 · So What Faith, a member of The Faith Growth Digital Ministry Network