Churches from around the state are mobilizing to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of a North Carolina pastor whose wife died in a Christmas Eve fire. “People are rallying around this family and this church,” said Larry Hovis,…
Latino churches adapting to declining Hispanic identity, pastor says
It would be understandable for pastors of Hispanic churches in the United States to worry about new data showing that Latino identity is fading across generations. Wouldn’t that ultimately portend membership declines for ethnic congregations as fewer and fewer self-identify…
People of faith contribute to ongoing ‘season of booze’
Americans may disagree on politics and religion, but many of them are in step when it comes to booze. As in, they like it. And that embrace of alcohol is on obvious display leading in to the New Year.
Why gratitude may be the best gift under the tree this year
If you’re reading this story on the new laptop or tablet or phone you just got for Christmas, be thankful. But don’t forget also to be grateful, which, many spiritual leaders say, is not necessarily the same thing.
Uh-oh, American church: Here comes Gen Z
Congregational and worship consultants are practically guaranteed job security in the coming decades thanks to the coming of Generation Z, aka Gen Z. Experts anticipate that churches which have long used coaches, books and seminars just to tread water with Millennials will be even more challenged by that up-and-coming group whose older members are just reaching college age.
Secular Americans not alone in doubting Christmas story
Many Church of Christ members have historically drawn a sharp distinction between Christmas and the birth of Christ, usually dismissing the former as a commercial, even pagan, observance. Nowhere in the New Testament, preachers and Sunday school teachers have counseled,…
Angry that the religious right has hijacked the word ‘evangelical’? Let it go, experts say
Thinking of ditching the term “evangelical” to identify yourself as Christian? Get in line. Clergy, scholars, congregational coaches and innumerable laypeople are expressing increasing anger and disgust that the once respected term no longer describes their commitment to Christ and church.
More white men choosing guns over God and church, survey finds
Guns and their inherent power restore in some people a sense of control stripped away by the economic consequences of globalism, say the authors of a new study.
Rough week for LGBTQ Christians, as a wedding cake takes center stage
It’s been a rough week for the nation’s LGBTQ Christians thanks to Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. And for some gay and lesbian Christians, it’s been too much.