Pastors who have other pastors as trusted friends have found special nurture in these relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to panelists on a recent session of the Barna Group’s “ChurchPulse Weekly” podcast. Friendships that helped pastors maintain emotional health…
Baylor, ‘biblical sexuality’ and the good news
On May 14, the Baylor University board of regents released a statement on human sexuality and identity. In it, the regents affirmed the dignity of all students “regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,” committed to providing a supportive educational…
American pastors are older, and getting older, than ever
If you’re noticing a lot of gray in the pulpit at your church these days, you’re not alone. Pastors are getting older. “The aging of pastors represents a substantial crisis for Protestant churches,” David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group,…
Study: evangelicals at odds with rest of nation on police and racial bias
Unlike most Americans, evangelical Christians do not believe that law enforcement treats minorities unfairly, new research by The Barna Group has found. “Overall, only 29 percent of evangelicals believe police unfairly target people of color,” the Christian research organization said…
Survey finds Christians using Jesus to pursue ‘way of self’
Christian beliefs and values are disappearing from American life and the culture is filling the void with an individualism and moral relativism that even many Christians adhere to, new research shows. The study by The Barna Group, “The End of…
Embrace ‘extremist’ Christianity to counter hate, ministers say
Joe Phelps admits he is a Christian extremist. For years, he’s being spreading his brand of faith all over Louisville, Ky., where he’s the pastor of Highlands Baptist Church. And now he admits he’d like to see it catch on…
A new political imagination for today’s church
By Sam Speers and Kristopher Norris As the 2016 election cycle begins amid much pomp and fanfare, American Christians will once again face the question of how to navigate a fraught, and curious, political arena. In what has already been…
Want millennials back in the pews? Stop trying to make church ‘cool.’
Rachel Held Evans is a blogger and the author of “Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church.” Bass reverberates through the auditorium floor as a heavily bearded worship leader pauses to invite the congregation, bathed in the light…