As the 2024 election looms over us like a dark cloud, many Americans are fearful of the outcome. Will Donald Trump win a second term? Even asking the question has driven me to my Bible and my bourbon (Pappy Van…
Why is the SBC so influential? Look at the number of congregations
If you want to understand why Southern Baptists are in the news so much, one simple chart produced by Ryan Burge might show the answer. The SBC counts 51,379 congregations in the United States, far more than any other denomination….
Moving lightly through this world: Reflections on the weight of white Christian innocence
In the wake of recent travels, I’ve been thinking about the novelty of the experience against the backdrop of the pandemic. What was routine now seems exotic; what was comfortable seems unsettling. I’ve seen a lot of discussion about the loss…
It’s now a war of LGBTQ labels: ‘Don’t Say Gay’ versus ‘Grooming’
As the nation turns its attention to the controversial Florida bill critics have labeled “Don’t Say Gay,” two competing ideas are being amplified in the debate over LGBTQ rights. Gallup reports that the percentage of U.S. adults who self-identify within…
What comes after the pulpit swaps and cultural awareness dinners?
The biblical command to welcome the stranger must be applied not only to immigrants and refugees but also to the way church members relate to demographically diverse people in their own congregations and communities, according to Daynette Snead Perez. Her…
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…
See America’s religious diversity in nine charts
If you’re looking for the most religiously diverse counties in America, head to New York. If you’re looking for the least religiously diverse counties in America, head to Mississippi and Alabama. That’s the top-line takeaway from the most comprehensive documentation…
Who left on those lights? That electricity costs the church money!
During a recent research visit with a congregation, I was waiting in the hall for the pastor to finish a conversation with a staff person before we began our dialogue. A well-dressed older gentleman–probably in his late 70s– came up…
They want their next pastor to do what?
Beyond the ability to be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, what else do congregations want from their next senior or solo pastor? At the request…