Putin’s war machine understands the power of faith and has deliberately sought to destroy Ukrainian churches. Both sides have relied upon Christian themes during the fighting — Putin to justify the unjustifiable and Zelensky to inspire the Ukrainian nation to stand firm in the…
This year, view your church through the lens of a newcomer
A few weeks ago, I received a phone call from a friend seeking a reference for a place for him and his family to worship. His family is living in a suburb about half an hour from the capital city…
ECFA study finds pandemic hit church finances harder than for other nonprofit ministries
Individual evangelical churches struggled financially much more during the COVID-19 pandemic than other kinds of ministries and nonprofits, leaders of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability revealed in a webinar hosted to unpack ECFA’s “2022 State of Giving” report. “Unfortunately,…
Once ordained, always ordained?
Long ago, Carlyle Marney, an irascible Baptist preacher of blessed memory, praised Ralph Waldo Emerson for leaving the ministry because his conscience prevented him from serving the Lord’s Supper. Marney noted if he ever left the ministry, it would be…
Pew reports on how faith communities were treated during first year of COVID worldwide
Religious groups in nearly 25% of the world’s countries were subjected to government force to prevent in-person gatherings during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and even more endured social hostilities and conspiracy theories blaming them for the spread…
Moderates are an endangered species in the pews, but they aren’t completely extinct at the ballot box
Moderates are such an endangered species that even when you see one in the wild, they’re easy to miss. Pick your favorite hot button topic of the day and you can likely summarize what the left and what the right…
Before you make church property decisions, consider your mission and calling
Congregations must put faith and calling before revenue when contemplating renting, leasing or selling church property in response to declines in giving and attendance, said Dominic Dutra, author of Closing Costs: Reimagining Church Real Estate for Missional Purposes. Church leaders…
Report from Ukraine: ‘In the midst of the suffering, God is at work’
As the war in Ukraine has passed its seventh month, a shift has occurred. Ukrainian forces have reclaimed parts of occupied territories causing Russian state rhetoric to become even more extreme and desperate. Fighting has intensified in the east and…
Why can’t churches get handling abuse right?
Yet another evangelical megachurch is repenting for mishandling clergy sex abuse. Every few days, it seems, we’re hearing about a different instance of a pastor or church leader who has abused women and/or children and a church (or denomination) that…