The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the decline facing most congregations in America, but the effects are not evenly distributed among all churches, according to the most comprehensive study to date of the pandemic and congregational life. The “Exploring the Pandemic…
Silent majority, we need you now
Silent majority, I know you are kind-hearted people who just want to peacefully worship God and love others. We all want that. Silent majority, I know you had no idea this was going on in your church. You keep your…
Six ways to survive the fall of evangelicalism and the rise of emergence
Fall is my favorite time of year, and this year I find in it a metaphor for the current identity crisis within the evangelical church. Just as the leaves fall from the trees, so it seems that evangelicalism is falling…
Pastors in a no-win situation
“How many people should I be visiting a month?” I asked them. They blinked at me, confused by the question. “What I’m asking is, what will satisfy you? Is it 10 people? Twenty?” “Well,” she asked, “how many are on…
American young people report huge gaps between what matters to them and what appears to matter to the church
Young people in America do not believe churches care about the issues that are important to them — by double-digit disparities — according to a new national survey released today. Springtide Research specializes in data and resources related to the…
As the American population grows older, church ministries need to shift
There’s one important reason for the graying of America’s churches that often gets overlooked in the rush to “attract more young people.” That reason is simple and obvious to anyone who reads demographics: America as a nation is graying. In…
Not your typical Pastor Appreciation Month
I confess, I haven’t given too much thought to Pastor Appreciation Month in years past. Most of my career was spent as part of vocational ministerial teams in local congregations. Asking for “appreciation” for oneself is certainly not apropos. Truth…
The pastor as chief encourager
Clergy have been called many things through the ages. We are the “chief among sinners,” after all. In some ways my own ordained ministry has been guided by the wisdom of my graduate advisor at Duke Divinity School, Bishop Will…
Get ready: There’s a second wave of church conflict coming
A pastor who works to encourage other pastors recently posted on Facebook that he personally knows 28 pastors who have left the ministry in the past year. That’s one graphic illustration of what the season of our discontent has wrought…