In April 2025, the Bible Society released The Quiet Revival, an online report detailing the results of two YouGov surveys commissioned by the charity in 2018 and 2024 to measure attitudes of adults in England and Wales toward Christianity and…
The guest preacher who was a fortune teller
You don’t often get fortune-telling in a Baptist church, so when it happens, you sit up and take notice. Perhaps “prophecy” is a better descriptor. I was about 13 years old, slightly more concerned with whether a boy was going…
Younger adults driving decreased support for death penalty
Overall support for the death penalty has dropped to 1970s levels due in large part to disapproving younger adults, Gallup reported in a new study. Fewer than half the Millennial and Gen Z generations — namely all those born after…
Gerontocracy
Lately, I’ve been thinking about gerontocracy. It’s hard to miss in our current news. Many debates are raging about President Biden’s age. Sen. Mitch McConnell has had a couple of super public uncomfortable health scares. Both leaders are part of…
With record levels of loneliness, young men need mentors, research shows
Young men desperately need mentors and safe, understanding communities to help overcome the loneliness they are experiencing at record levels, according to a panel of experts hosted by Springtide Research Institute. “What I’m continuing to hear is they are looking…
Online religion content isn’t luring Millennials away from in-person church
Faith leaders needn’t worry too much that the growing availability of online religious content and activities will lure Millennials away from houses of worship, a recent study suggests. On the contrary, faith content and activities available virtually are in some…
Panel proclaims the power of today’s Black church to engage younger adults
A panel of African American Christian leaders expressed optimism that the Black church is emerging from the COVID-19 and a concurrent civil rights crisis as a robust social justice movement increasingly trusted by rising generations. “We’ve seen a lot of…
Women need more than your affirmation
A networking community called The Pastor’s Common, whose council is made up entirely of men, drafted three resolutions for the Baptist General Convention of Texas on advocating for leadership among young ministers, unity across divides and the affirmation of women….
Gen Z Christians more open to share their faith than Millennials
Teenage members of Generation Z are much more open to sharing their Christian faith than their Millennial predecessors, but mostly by emphasizing behavior and personal example over traditional approaches to evangelism, new research by the Barna Group shows. The survey…
America 2021: Got church and steeple but where are the people?
Growing up in Texas during the Southern Baptist Iron Age, I learned this bit of gospel doggerel somewhere between Sunday School, Vacation Bible School or Romper Room (Google it) and the hand-signals that accompanied it: Here is the church, Here…
Is missions giving ‘paying dues’? And what counts as ‘missions’ anyway?
Several years ago, in my previous life as a pastor, a well-meaning member of our Missions Committee looked at the church’s missions budget, noted the large sum of money we were sending to state and national denominational groups and declared…
Survey says: Millennials prefer contemporary worship; reality says: Not so fast
The idea that Millennials are attracted mostly to contemporary worship services is largely an outdated stereotype — at least in moderate and progressive Baptist settings, say ministers who serve young adults and youth. Instead, young adults are hungry for churches…