By John Chandler An extensive Expedia “Road Rage” survey this past spring revealed that seven of 10 American drivers rate their fellow drivers who are texting, emailing or talking while driving as among the most irritating motorists on the road….
Closing the confidence gap
By John Chandler Imagine a tightrope stretched over a gorge. There are two figures attached to it. One is striding assuredly on top of the rope. The other is hanging on for dear life beneath the rope. According to a…
The changing shape of denominational tribes
By John Chandler Seven years ago, I was asked about the future of local Baptist associations. My response was to say that while I felt the future of Baptists associating was still very strong, the future of local Baptist associations…
Selfies
By John Chandler In a recent New York Times op-ed piece, columnist Charles Blow interprets Pew Research on Millennials (North Americans ages 18-33). Unsurprisingly, he details some of the now-tiresome broad brushstrokes of their political and socioeconomic mores: they are,…
New South demographics
By John Chandler I grew up in Greensboro, N.C., in a neighborhood that occasionally welcomed “exotic” newcomers. Our city was home to several large corporations, and middle management job transfers sometimes brought families from faraway places to our neighborhood. On…
The new face of generosity
By John Chandler I grew up bringing my Baptist “Six Point Envelope” to church: Present. Bible Brought. Bible Read Daily. Lesson Studied. Giving. Worship. Note that the scorecard was on an envelope intended for my Sunday school offering — which…
Antibiotics: When “cheap and now” turns deadly
By John Chandler In his 1945 speech accepting the Nobel Prize for discovering penicillin, Alexander Fleming proved himself to be a prophet as well as a scientist. While hailing the cure for diseases that killed scores of our ancestors, and…
Edutainment
By John Chandler According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are over 4,000 public and private institutions in the American college and university system. They awarded nearly three million degrees last year to more than 17 million enrolled…
All in for multisite churches? Not so fast.
By John Chandler Multisite churches are a “new normal” in American Protestantism. According to Leadership Network, multisite churches statistically: • Reach more people evangelistically than single-site churches. • Tend to spread healthy churches to more diverse communities. • Have more…
The new normal — multisite churches
By John Chandler I have to hand it to my friend and Virginia Baptist colleague, Glenn Akins. In the early 2000s, Glenn came back from meeting two relatively unknown pastors, Dave and Jon Ferguson of Community Christian Church in the…
Disruptive innovator competencies: temperance and courtesy
By John Chandler My friend from Fork Union (Va.) Baptist Church, Karen Bowles, runs The Etiquette School of the Commonwealth. This successful start-up works with businesses, children, Jefferson Scholars at the University of Virginia and Uptick young leaders. Karen teaches…
How well does your staff improvise?
By John Chandler In the last “Trending” column, I suggested three pairs of leadership competencies that I believe will be critical for innovative disrupters. Last time, we examined agility and alertness. Next, we will look at the relational dynamics of…