By Bill Wilson RA — shorthand for Royal Ambassadors. It was a weekly group for grade-school boys that sought to blend scouting-type activities with a call to missions. Lawndale Baptist church in Greensboro, N.C., where I grew up in the…
The ‘next America’ demands change from churches
The headline for this column is misleading. The “next America” actually is the “now America.” To paraphrase the late cartoon character Pogo, “We have seen the future, and it is here.” And it means most Baptist congregations and their denomination…
Churches on the chamber of commerce list
Economic development. Networking. Community engagement. These phrases may come to mind when someone thinks about chambers of commerce. Varying in size and capacity, they mobilize businesses and organizations in order to promote economic growth. And, yes, they’re known to engage…
Spring forward! Are churches talking chronos or kairos?
We did it again. In almost all locations throughout North America we performed our annual spring ritual. We set our clocks forward one hour over this past weekend. We know to spring forward — and eight months from now to fall…
10 ways to increase value of and engagement in church participation, part 2
It seems so sad that church has become a place to go rather than an experience to have each day of life. Too often the routines of our church participation fuels disengagement more than deepening our engagement in the faith…
The day that Alice Cooper came to church
On President’s Day weekend, one of those long weekends when “School’s Out,” Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Damon Furnier, better known as Alice Cooper and his wife Sheryl, joined us for worship at First Baptist Pensacola, unannounced. In fact, there was…
‘Christ has no body but yours’
By Molly T. Marshall Contrary to the many who speak about the church dying, I think it is actually a time of rebirth. We are actually in the process of tossing out some old stuff that wasn’t necessary and finding…
Essential practices for young congregations, part 3
Impacting the Vitality and Vibrancy of Churches For Decades to Come The ministry practices congregations establish during their first seven years of life, that must be re-envisioned and renewed every seven years thereafter, are institutionalized by the time congregations are…
10 ways to increase value of and engagement in church participation, part 1
A noticeable and disturbing trend that is beginning to catch the attention of church consultants, coaches and denominational leaders is that believers are losing interest in church. Not only is there an avoidance of church by many unbelievers, there is…
This Lent, try using the ‘F’ word more
I don’t always use the “F” word, but when I do, it frequently happens to be Lent. What I like most about using the “F” word is that it has so many different meanings, connotations and contexts to it. It…
Essential practices for young congregations, part 2
Impacting the Vitality and Vibrancy of Churches For Decades to Come The ministry practices congregations establish during their first seven years of life, that must be re-envisioned and renewed every seven years thereafter, are institutionalized by the time congregations are…
The multi-church movement
Upon reading the title of this article, you might wonder, “Does he really mean ‘multi-church’ and not ‘multi-site’?” Nope! The multi-church movement is taking hold in England and is serving rural congregations exceptionally well. The Arthur Rank Center (a rural-church…