Time in Argentina will give you a snapshot of the world that is coming to North America. The trend will be that our culture becomes increasingly multicultural (and multilingual) and highly urbanized. Like the current global south, the North American…
VITAL SIGNS: Why your church building-use policy matters
I know firsthand how utterly boring and laborious creating a building-use policy can be. Every church I have ever served has entered into a major building project. The debate around building use has been a constant. It also has evolved…
HERITAGE: This old house
Anyone who has ever lived in an old house knows that it requires periodic upkeep. Some things have to be replaced. Sometimes new parts are installed to make it energy efficient. And once in a while an old house requires…
Super Bowl big day for traffickers
By Daniel Wallace While Baltimore and San Francisco fought it out on the gridiron Sunday in New Orleans, law enforcement and ministries across the city were waging a battle against the modern version of the slave trade: human trafficking. Authorities…
‘Fresh expressions’ of church in NC
By Robert Dilday About 80 percent of North Carolina’s 9.7 million people don’t attend church and reaching them will require a “mixed economy” of both existing congregations and new forms of church, a group of Baptist leaders was told Feb….
Super Bowl tradition with a twist: Charlottesville church blends shelter ministry with viewing party
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — University Baptist Church, like many American congregations, has a Super Bowl tradition, but for the Charlottesville, Va., church there’s a twist — the viewing audience is homeless men seeking shelter from the sub-freezing temperatures typical during February…
John Leland Center partners with Prison Fellowship to train students in justice advocacy
ARLINGTON, Va. — The John Leland Center for Theological Studies is partnering with Prison Fellowship International to provide training and educational opportunities for the seminary’s master of divinity students. The collaboration, announced Jan. 30, is part of Leland’s ministry rotation…
OUT LOUD
“Evangelicals sat on the sidelines in the civil rights discussions but we must not this time!” Bill Hamel The president of the Evangelical Free Church of America made a statement supporting an “immigration prayer challenge” to encourage Christians to support…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Deacon ministry to the homebound
Among those church families most needing ministry are those who can leave their homes only with difficulty. These “homebound” members often find their worlds have shrunk to their immediate surroundings and are sometimes desperate for human contact and news of…
LEADERSHIP LINK: The family needing ministry most may be your own
“Servants in the church are to be committed to their spouses, attentive to their own children, and diligent in looking after their own affairs.” (1 Tim. 3:12, The Message) In the list of deacon qualifications (1 Timothy 3:8-13), Paul makes…
VITAL SIGNS: Staff-led or staff-controlled?
One of the key predictors of strong congregational health is the type of leadership the ministerial and paid staff of a congregation offers. When the staff of a congregation functions out of strong spiritual and organizational health, the entire faith…
OUT LOUD
“Worshiping communities that pay attention to the waxing and waning that we find in Scripture … are the healthier for it.” Richard Wilson The professor of Christian theology at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., was discussing the value of following…