Pastors are seeing a surge in church members, colleagues and friends emotionally battered from months of relentless dread generated by national politics. Psychologists have even coined a term for it: Trump anxiety. Julie Pennington-Russell has seen plenty of it. Recently,…
Former Southern Baptist youth pastor, now LGBTQ activist, booted from annual SBC meeting
Brandan Robertson said he has yet to become fully accustomed to the feelings of public condemnation and rejection that come with his work as a bisexual Christian seeking LGBTQ inclusion in evangelical churches. Robertson, 24 and a former Southern Baptist…
In U.S., post-Christian cities overtaking Bible-believing urban areas
Used to be, research and polling organizations interested in American religious life regularly documented how much Christians are, or aren’t, going to church. The Barna Group did just that in a recent survey which found that residents of Chattanooga, Tenn.;…
Author dispels small thinking behind small-church myths
A lot of Christians share the assumption that the bigger the church, the more blessed it is. One of the biggest flaws in that assumption is that it’s poor theology. “God is not more concentrated because there are more of…
‘Tiny House Nation’ helps Baptist minister launch Hawaii retreat center
A very small home, a pastor’s Baptist identity and her evolving spiritual direction have found unlikely expression on the hit reality series “Tiny House Nation.”
Research finds Americans are obsessing over morality — again
The human penchant for worrying about the state of morality is ageless. In the 1950s, the popularity of rolled-up jeans, slicked back hair and rock’n’roll music frightened Americans so much that many feared juvenile delinquency would be the ruin of…
Besides gore, zombie films offer rich spiritual formation lessons, prof says
Zombie dramas are known for being full of blood and guts, horror and death — lots and lots of death. But is it possible they also offer lessons in ethics and spiritual formation? Greg Garrett, a Baylor University professor, author and…
Songwriter sees ‘good news’ in declining role of church music
Some people were surprised — and worried — to learn from an April poll that sermons are a much stronger draw to church attendance than music. And it was worse than that for music lovers. The Gallup survey presented a list of…
On one of the churches’ most contentious issues, advocate tries to navigate way forward
Matthew Vines’ calling, it seems, is to a ministry of the improbable, if not the impossible: convincing the world’s Christians to embrace gay people. Maybe so. But he is undaunted — and confident. “The global church will be fully LGBTQ…
Biblical skeptics outpoll literalists for first time, survey shows
Americans who see the Bible as fable now outnumber those who believe it to be the literal word of God. Gallup announced the shift in a survey it released Tuesday titled “Record Few Americans Believe Bible is Literal Word of God.”…
Churches urged to drop Millennials in favor of newly identified ‘generation’
Churches, businesses and media outlets fixated on Millennials may want to widen their focus on a newly identified group: Perennials. The term was coined last year by a California blogger Gina Pell, who was tired of being stereotyped by her…
Research finds Christians hold dizzying array of historically non-Christian beliefs
If there ever was a time when Christians shared a single, unified worldview rooted in scriptures and church, it’s over now. The Barna Group announced this week that it found only 17 percent of practicing Christians have an actual biblical…
The expansion of Google Maps is changing the way missionaries operate
Services such as providing church planters with the religious makeup of specific communities were once the monopoly of denominations and other large groups. Now they are also available from third-party providers.
Does breastfeeding in church cross a line? Not for these ministers.
The notion that men will be distracted by breastfeeding may say more about the over-sexualization of women’s bodies than about the alleged inappropriateness of breastfeeding in public.