Religion News Service reporter Bob Smietana broke the story this week that famous Bible study leader Beth Moore is leaving the Southern Baptist Convention and ending the mutually lucrative publishing relationship with their Lifeway group. She claimed that the SBC…
How to shrink your church
There are few things in life one can guarantee. Nevertheless, here’s one for which I’m very close to issuing written guarantees. When your aspiration is to shrink your church, there’s one strategy that stands head and shoulders above all others….
How I learned to care about social justice growing up Southern Baptist in Oklahoma
“How did you come to have a passion for social justice issues?” That was one of the questions put to me this week when the tables got turned and I was the interviewee instead of the interviewer. The answer immediately…
Christian symbols and sedition at the Capitol: The church has work to do
It may be low-grade trauma. I have found it difficult to focus since the events of Jan. 6, when the United States Capitol was overthrown, with lawmakers huddled inside. My lack of focus has left me doom scrolling, watching countless…
Religion Notes: Many young adults believe while most aren’t so sure
-5,000 immigrants anticipated
-American Baptist office on the move
Many Christians quitting church in search of relevant ministry
In the U.S. there are an estimated 65 million dones – Christians who have quit church due to infighting, politics and committee structures. Yet few clergy and congregations seem to be aware of who they are and why they leave.
Signature ministries: ‘The art of human contacts’
The Catholic Worker Movement, one of the most important Christian social ministries of the modern era, began in 1933 in New York during the Great Depression. The founders, Catholic Peter Maurin and journalist/Catholic convert Dorothy Day initiated the movement, Day…
More white men choosing guns over God and church, survey finds
Guns and their inherent power restore in some people a sense of control stripped away by the economic consequences of globalism, say the authors of a new study.
Teens may not be lazy after all, new study shows
Those lazy kids. It’s a centuries old refrain that’s become popular in recent years as faith leaders look for the causes of church decline. But new research suggests teenagers may not be as much to blame as many think. It…