Frustration transformed into innovation for a Washington State youth minister tired of losing young people to other activities and smartphones. His solution: pay them. It all started for Matt Overton with a growing trend of absenteeism in his youth group…
Waco attorney, minister answers calling with new nonprofit legal services firm
A Waco, Texas, attorney long accustomed to taking on long-odds cases is betting that his latest cause — a new nonprofit legal services firm — has a good chance of success. Kent McKeever said he knows from experience that low-income clients will…
For ministers, lean finances sometimes means stronger marriages and families
Ministers yearning for higher salaries may be wealthier than they think, a new study suggests. The tighter a pastor’s financial situation is, the fuller her or his relationships will be, according to the Barna Group. The organization says it finds…
Ending isolation saves careers, minister peer groups find
In ministry, going it alone can be downright depressing and, in extreme cases, deadly. Isolation, real or imagined, can lead ministers into burnout, emotional distress, heart disease and sometimes suicide. It prompts the age-old question: who pastors the pastors? Religious…
Focus on passion, not numbers, in nurturing new congregations
Church planting has never been easy, but it seems to be getting a lot harder in an age of nones, dones and young people who just don’t join things. As a result, those new to the field of launching new…
A not-so-hot reaction to Trump’s promise to fuse church and politics
Donald Trump has vowed to “destroy” federal rules prohibiting religious groups from engaging in partisan politics. Politically conservative Christians may favor the idea of church and state being connected at the hip. They may perceive it as translating into more…
Most faith groups value formal education, new research shows
There are times when mixing religion and education is desirable. And there are times when it isn’t. Critics of Betsy DeVos have claimed the nation’s new education secretary is definitely an example of the latter. From her nomination last month…
Faith-based groups lead the way in serving nation’s homeless
Religious groups lead the way in cutting-edge approaches to serving the homeless, according to new research. The Baylor University study, which was released Feb. 1, illuminates the energy and innovation churches and other faith-based organizations commonly devote to people living…
White Christian America declining, but still packs punch
Conservative evangelicals have lost their cultural and political clout as their numbers and vitality wane, author Robert Jones argues in his book The End of White Christian America. The book was published in the summer of 2016 — just a few…