Thursday's Catch: '1 in 6 Protestant Churchgoers Attend Megachurches' And More

1 in 6 Protestant Churchgoers Attend Megachurches

Megachurches account for less than 1% of U.S. Protestant churches, but they draw 17% of churchgoers.

Unreasonable Hospitality: What Most Leaders Get Wrong
Every leader loses customers. Few know how to win them back. Will Guidara, the restaurateur behind Eleven Madison Park and author of Unreasonable Hospitality, joins me to talk about taking the anxiety out of service, the customer-service pet peeves that drive him crazy, what AI is actually doing to hospitality, and the lesson Simon Sinek taught him about leading people.

8 Reasons Most Churches Do Not Do Outreach - Part 1
In this episode of The Church Answers Podcast, Thom and Jess Rainer begin a two-part discussion on the widespread neglect of outreach in local churches. They unpack the foundational barriers that keep churches from obeying the Great Commission.

Also See: 8 Reasons Most Churches Do Not Do Outreach - Part 2

Embracing Creative Outreach in Your Ministry
In 1992, Saddleback Church became one of the first churches on the internet. Back in those days, the internet was an uncharted frontier: no web browsers, no search engines, just a few tech-savvy pioneers exploring a digital wilderness.

Yet, when we saw the internet as an opportunity to reach people in a new way, we jumped in with both feet, using FTP, Gopher, and Mosaic to share the gospel. Creative outreach is one of 10 values that we built Saddleback Church on, and that creative spirit has never left the church.

I believe every church should embrace creativity to reach new people with the gospel. Any church can learn to do this if they live out these five principles.

What Should a Pastor Do When One or Two Key Donors Keep the Church Doors Open
Josh and Sam discuss a scenario that is more common than most realize: when a key donor or two are the only ones keeping the church afloat.

The Benefits of Bivocational Ministry
While full-time ministry offers important advantages, the benefits of bivocational ministry are often forgotten in our “specialized world”. Bivocational ministers provide essential support to the broader church, particularly helping smaller and more rural congregations, and in turn receive significant benefits themselves.

4 Ways Pastors can Refill their Depleted Souls
Have you ever felt depleted? As a pastor I have. Some time back I heard the president of Heritage College and Seminary located near Toronto give an uplifting talk about how pastors can refill their depleted souls. He spoke at a monthly gathering of pastors and Christian business leaders in London, Ontario, where I serve as a pastor. With permission, I share his insights...

The Danger of Thinking Machines (It’s not AI)
Earlier this year InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, an evangelical Christian ministry to colleges and universities, announced a technology partnership with Gloo. Gloo’s website describes their purpose as to “shape technology as a force for good — serving those who serve, to help them scale their purposes, so people flourish and communities thrive.” Among other technology and information services, Gloo provides, as a press released posted on Religion News Service describes, “values-aligned AI.”

This raises the question: Is there such a thing as “values-aligned AI”? InterVarsity’s move follows a long pattern of evangelical usage of emerging technologies. We can include John Wesley’s use of the printing press to produce pamphlets. Billy Graham and others used the radio to reach the world, and Graham quickly began using television. During the COVID-19 pandemic, evangelical churches were at the forefront of live streaming services.

Why 'sorry' is the beginning of divine healing
At the heart of an apology is the recognition of moral responsibility. To say “I am sorry” is to admit that one’s actions have had consequences for another person, whether intended or not. Without that acknowledgement, reconciliation becomes difficult because two people are no longer working from the same understanding of reality: one carries the experience of hurt, whilst the other maintains a sense of innocence. Even if both are sincere, they remain divided in perception.

Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (August 13, 2026) Is Now Online

Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows.

In this evening’s message we give thought to how God speaks to us through the prophets of the Old Testament. The warnings they gave to the people of their time also contain warnings for us in our time.

Readings: Jeremiah 7:9-15; 1 Corinthians 12:1-12

Message: A Warning from the Past

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2026/08/thursday-evenings-at-all-hallows-august_0446429819.html

Please feel free to share this link with anyone who may be interested.

If you are new to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows, you may find these directions helpful:

-It is recommended that after reading or hearing a lesson to take time to reflect on what you read or heard during the period of silence which follows the lesson. It is also recommended that you do the same thing after reading or hearing the message.

-When you open the link to a video in a new tab, check auto-play to make sure it is in the off position. Otherwise, a second video with a different song will follow the first.

-If an ad plays when you open a link to a video in a new tab, click the refresh icon of your browser until the song appears.

-If a song begins partway through the video, click pause, move the slider to the beginning, and then click play.

-An ad may follow a song so as soon as the song is finished, close the tab.

May Thursday Evenings at All Hallows be a blessing to you.

Wednesday's Catch: 'The Brain Rot Problem Nobody's Talking About' And More

The Brain Rot Problem Nobody's Talking About
Should you use AI to write your sermon? Maybe not. Three years after ChatGPT, we don't just sound the same. We're starting to think the same, or not think at all. Enter brain rot.

In this episode, I walk through seven tells that give away AI writing, show you how to find the voice only you have, and unpack a new study on cognitive surrender that every pastor needs to hear before next Sunday's sermon.

Your Brain Does Not Belong to You
From the Moore to the Point newsletter: How you can protect yourself from brain rot—and why it matters to the rest of us.

AI Writing: The Day of Reckoning
Last week’s announcement of The Gospel Coalition’s AI policy prompted many, varied reactions. Some hated the move (especially on X). Others loved it (especially on Instagram). Several friends and even TGC staff members reached out with specific concerns. Many believe the policy is too restrictive when it comes to AI-assisted research and editing. They guarantee we’ll change this unrealistic policy within two years. More than a few have pointed out that TGC depends in dozens of ways on AI for tech services.

Also See: Our Line in the Sand on AI: TGC’s Missional Opportunity

AI in Writing: My Manifesto
Although there really is no excuse for being shocked by social media scuffles, I confess I once again find myself surprised. The Gospel Coalition put out what strikes me as an incredibly reasonable stance on the use of AI, and it caused something of a splash. I was genuinely surprised by the kind and volume of criticism and mockery they received...

Christians in both ministry, the pews must prepare for 'impersonation problem' of AI fakes: American Bible Society warns
Failure to act could 'risk treating a person made in God’s image as raw material'

AI & The Church Summit
A national church summit on artificial intelligence will open with the story of a fight the tech industry lost.

What Everyone Gets Wrong About the Unchurched - Webinar
The unchurched population in the United States is undergoing significant changes. In this webinar, we present the top five insights about the unchurched that almost no one knows. Drawing on new research, Thom and Sam reveal what every church leader needs to know about the demographic shifts among those who rarely or never attend religious services. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn more about the unchurched population in the United States! Join us for the webinar on Thursday, August 13, at 1:00 PM Eastern. Register now to secure your spot and discover valuable insights that every church leader needs to know.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Why Bigger Is Not Better (Going to a Smaller Church)
For decades, the pattern for most pastors was to "climb the ladder" from a small church to a mid-size church, then land at a large church. What if bigger is not better? Josh and Sam discuss why some pastors may decide to go to a smaller church. They cover issues of personal fit, season of ministry, financial considerations, geography, culture, and community.

The danger of calling Democrats communists and Republicans patriots 

As if we were all in the evangelical equivalent of the film Groundhog Day, America awakens in the Garden of Eden every morning. There’s always a talking snake offering us poisonous fruit. And our current snake — President Donald Trump — presents fruit infused with two concepts: Patriotism and communism.

Trump pushes “patriotism” as a positive trope and “communism” as a negative trope. Patriotism is for feeling good, communism is for experiencing fear. Within this simple MAGA binary, Republicans are the patriots and Democrats are the communists.

Our talking snake is not subtle. He has digital trading cards of himself as Captain America and as Superman. He has been photographed hugging the American flag in an erotic embrace. Trump sells patriotism as if it were a simple commodity.

Smearing as "Communists" those who do not share your opinions and take a different position from yours on political, social, and economic issues is not unique to the President. On social media I have been witness to more than one pastor publicly smear devote Christians and respectable members of the community with that label simply because they did not share his opinion on a particular issue. Demonizing those who do not agree with you has become all too common in the United States.

Pawleys Island Community Church, Under Fire for Volunteer Sex Offender, Closes Its School
Pawleys Island Community Church (PICC), which is at the center of litigation and controversy because some of its church and school leaders allowed a registered sex offender to volunteer on campus, has closed its school, Pawleys Island Christian Academy (PICA). Church elders made the announcement in a church email Monday, Aug. 10.

Also See: SC church sued for allowing registered sex offender access to children

Churches Believe They’re Welcoming to Those With Disabilities
Almost all churches believe those with disabilities would feel welcomed, even if pastors have grown less confident.

The Broken System Burning Out Pastors Everywhere with Tyler Staton
Most young leaders try to sound like someone else long before they sound like themselves. Tyler Staton, lead pastor at Bridgetown Church, talks about finding your voice as a preacher and writer, what a season of sickness taught him about pace, why addiction thrives when you’re moving too fast, and the gift of imagination you’re probably wasting. Slow down for this one.

Picking Your Successor?
From time to time a pastor will come to the end of his service at his church. In some cases it’s simply time for him to retire. In other cases, personal circumstances dictate when you might leave, or maybe another church has issued you a call. When this happens, churches naturally turn to their pastor, you, to ask for help in finding their next pastor. How should you handle this situation? In the end, such an event calls for wisdom, but in my personal opinion, I think it’s best not to be involved in picking your successor. Why?

The Return of the Sermon as Event
Arguments about artificial intelligence and preaching seem to be mostly about sermon preparation: whether a faithful preacher may use these tools at all, and if so, how much. The Saint Dunstan’s Pledge, written this spring by the Rev. Emily García and signed by 150 preachers, answers with a clean line: no generative AI at any point in brainstorming, planning, drafting, or writing. I admire the seriousness of the signers, and I share their underlying conviction that sermon preparation forms the preacher and that a congregation deserves a pastor who has wrestled with the text. I have declined to sign, for reasons I have written about elsewhere.

There is, however, another aspect to this conversation which needs highlighting. It is probable that AI is going to accelerate the push away from manuscript preaching, which has already been taking place over several decades.

Your Teenager's First Relationship May Be With an AI
Most pastors think AI companionship is a niche problem for weird apps they've never heard of.

It's not.

Your teenager's first relationship may be with an AI. And 72% of American teenagers are already using one. The same tool your staff used to prep for last weekend is the same tool a kid in your congregation is using as his therapist at 2am.

The church has been caught flat-footed on social media. This is the moment to not make that mistake twice.

In this video, I break down what's actually happening to teenagers right now, why AI companionship is categorically different from the social media problem, and what pastors and youth leaders need to do before another family finds out too late.

Mobilize Your Church to Serve Local Schools
Each school night, the gym and athletic fields at the high school near our church are full. Student-athletes on the football team, soccer teams, cheer team, and basketball teams are practicing and playing games, often late into the evening. With rates of parent involvement down, many local high schools need help feeding these teams dinner. That’s where our church has stepped in.

Our church prepares an evening meal for the football team every Friday of the season—from August to November. That shakes out to hundreds of hot meals served to student-athletes. It’s also many hours of interaction between church members and public school students and their coaches.

Missional opportunities like this abound. Because of their many volunteer needs, local public schools provide our churches an untapped (and unexpectedly open) opportunity to share the gospel through word and deed. Here are three ways to mobilize your church for this mission.

Tuesday's Catch: "What the Unchurched Really Think About Your Church" And More

Kew Gardens

What the Unchurched Really Think About Your Church
Thom and Jess discuss what research reveals about the unchurched and why many churches misunderstand the people living around them.

What Everyone Gets Wrong About the Unchurched - Webinar
The unchurched population in the United States is undergoing significant changes. In this webinar, we present the top five insights about the unchurched that almost no one knows. Drawing on new research, Thom and Sam reveal what every church leader needs to know about the demographic shifts among those who rarely or never attend religious services. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn more about the unchurched population in the United States! Join us for the webinar on Thursday, August 13, at 1:00 PM Eastern. Register now to secure your spot and discover valuable insights that every church leader needs to know.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Why Some Churches Reach New People and Others Don't
Jess and Thom explore why some churches consistently reach new people while others struggle to do so.

Voices: Gen Zs like me are speaking 451 words fewer every day – and I know why
A few weeks ago, I misplaced one of my headphones. It was a weird feeling, being forced to opt-in to my surroundings. I’m 24; keeping everything outside at arm’s length is usually how I function. Much weirder, though, was the altogether unnatural feeling of being compelled to converse with almost every stranger whom I happened upon. Whether it be a woman walking her dog or a man shopping in the same aisle as me, we chatted. And it was... oddly incredible.

A study published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science this month found that among respondents the average daily number of spoken words dropped by about 338 words per day each year between 2005 and 2019. That is a massive number. It’s roughly a 28 per cent drop – or about 20-30 sentences a day. This number rose for participants under the age of 25, who lost 451 words for each year that passed since 2005. Younger participants lost about 44 per cent more words a year than older participants.

‘We garden on our knees’: Kew Theology & Gardening project explores faith, nature and climate
In a corner of west London, an Anglican church is using its proximity to one of the most famous botanical gardens in the world, Kew Gardens, as a reason for a new venture linking theology and nature.

The Archbishop of Canterbury: An International Relations Perspective
The Archbishop of Canterbury now exercises office at a moment when institutions are no longer taken for granted—either within the societies they serve or across the global communities they once helped to shape. The authority once associated with Canterbury has not disappeared, but it is now contested, fragmented, and often conditional.

Vatican urges international community to make homelessness a priority
The Holy See has urged governments around the world to place homelessness at the heart of housing and urban policy, warning that access to a safe home is fundamental to human dignity rather than simply an economic issue.

The appeal comes as homelessness remains a pressing issue in the UK.

Also in the United States.

We need a biblical view of American history
A nationalism that ignores the failings of leaders and people is not biblical.

Trump’s deportation scheme is completely overwhelming the courts
President Donald Trump’s sweeping mass deportation scheme is completely crushing the U.S. court system—and that’s by design, Politico reported Sunday.

On July 8, 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement published a two-page memo expanding its policy on mandatory detention without bond to apply not only to immigrants who were caught illegally crossing the U.S. border, but to any undocumented immigrant.

One-third of agricultural land accounts for two-thirds of global impact, study reveals
Agriculture covers more than 40% of Earth's habitable land and plays a central role in both climate change and biodiversity loss. Yet the impact of agriculture is far from evenly distributed across space.

In a new study published in Nature Food, Baoxiao Liu and her colleagues from Leiden's Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) mapped where agriculture causes the greatest damage worldwide.

In 1971 Frances Moore Lappe drew attention to how a large proportion of arable land was used for meat production in Diet for a Small Planet and advocated for more equitable and sustainable ways of feeding the planet's human population.

Starving in Silence: How the Church Can Care for Those with Eating Disorders
Here are four practical ways the church can support individuals living with eating disorders.

Natalie Sleeth's Journey to 'Hymn of Promise'
Natalie Sleeth offered to us a now familiar and much-loved hymn that marks all manner of new beginnings and resurrections. “Hymn of Promise,” also known by its first line, “In the Bulb There Is a Flower,” has become Sleeth’s best known hymn and appears in well over 20 denominational and ecumenical hymnals. Many United Methodists may be familiar with her other hymns and her choral music, such as “Joy in the Morning.” She composed for a shorter time than many since she did not begin to compose until midlife and died at a relatively young age.

See Also: "Hymn of Promise" (with lyrics)

Trump's 'astoundingly stupid' claim leaves jaws on the floor
President Donald Trump drew ridicule and alarm after claiming "nothing bad can happen" from his executive order to limit childhood vaccines.

Trump signed the executive order Monday in the Oval Office, calling for the number of diseases vaccinated against to be reduced to 11, according to CNBC.

Monday's Catch: 'What We Learned from Over 100 Commissioned Research Projects' And More

What We Learned from Over 100 Commissioned Research Projects
One of the greatest lessons we’ve learned is that healthy organizations follow the evidence, even when it challenges long-held assumptions. Sometimes our research confirms what leaders already suspect. Just as often, however, it uncovers opportunities they hadn’t considered or reveals obstacles they didn’t know existed.

What Everyone Gets Wrong About the Unchurched - Webinar
The unchurched population in the United States is undergoing significant changes. In this webinar, we present the top five insights about the unchurched that almost no one knows. Drawing on new research, Thom and Sam reveal what every church leader needs to know about the demographic shifts among those who rarely or never attend religious services. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn more about the unchurched population in the United States! Join us for the webinar on Thursday, August 13, at 1:00 PM Eastern. Register now to secure your spot and discover valuable insights that every church leader needs to know.

We look forward to seeing you there!

£650,000 appeal launched to save two crumbling churches
An appeal is seeking to raise £650,000 in order to preserve a pair of abandoned historic churches.

National charity Friends of Friendless Churches (FFC) has worked to save 71 churches over its 70 year history. The group has now turned its attention to St Helen’s, Biscathorpe, in Lincolnshire and St Tyfi’s, Dinefwr, Carmarthenshire.

Also See: Leicester church vows to rebuild after devastating fire

Church of England's reparations plan is 'unpopular, ill-judged and highly political'
Anglican Reader and barrister Charles Wide has said that the Church of England's decision to press ahead with Project Spire is “unpopular, ill-judged, [and] highly political”.

Project Spire is the controversial commitment by the Church Commissioners to set up a £100m “fund for healing, repair, and justice”. The money will go towards projects supporting ethnic minority groups allegedly impacted by the transatlantic slave trade.

Episcopal seminary elects new president after firing leader for 'inappropriate relationship'
An Episcopal Church seminary in Texas has elected a new president after firing its previous leader last year over an “inappropriate relationship” with an employee.

The Board of Trustees of Seminary of the Southwest in Austin elected the Rev. Ruthanna B. Hooke to be their next president and dean. She is slated to take office on New Year’s Day 2027.

Innovative Program Supports Seminarians’ Learning
The Bible and Common Prayer Book Society is launching a new program to provide Bibles, books, authorized liturgies, and study guides at no cost to new seminarians in the ordination process to assist in their theological education.

The books have been distributed recently to students who are beginning coursework at Episcopal seminaries and accredited educational institutions with Anglican studies programs who are sent by their dioceses.

Religion, immigration and abortion could shape key US Senate races, new polling suggests
New polling suggests religion, immigration and abortion could shape key US Senate races in battleground states ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Research by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) highlights significant differences in public opinion across Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Ohio and Michigan.

How the manosphere made Jesus into a MAGA poster boy
Last week, Donald Trump’s defence secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the US military will begin screening all troops for low testosterone levels and offering hormone replacement therapy to those who qualify. On the face of it, it’s a bizarre policy – testosterone levels fluctuate naturally, and the military isn't known for catering to soldiers’ hormonal profiles – but the announcement makes more sense when you consider that Hegseth’s spiritual mentor is Douglas Wilson, the Idaho pastor who preaches that women shouldn’t vote and who champions a militant, aggressive vision of Christian masculinity.

It’s the manosphere entering government through the side door of evangelicalism – and it’s exactly what historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez predicted in her book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.

"White evangelical Protestants were the only major religious group in which a majority (60%) agreed that 'society has become too soft and feminine'." This finding mentioned in the previous article reminded me that I had bookmarked this article for future posting. It offers an explanation for why White evangelical Protestants think this way.

Hindu students ask schools to discern the swastika from the Nazi Hakenkreuz
‘I think it’s very important that young people are told that the swastika has a very positive meaning, but it has been taken and used as a racist symbol,’ said Baijayanti Roy of Goethe University Frankfurt. ‘The swastika does not have any negative connotations, whereas the Hakenkreuz stands for evil.’

If you’re already afraid, just wait until you hear about Manhattan Project 2.0
On May 23, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders to further the Department of Energy’s “Manhattan Project 2.0.” And just like the original, the second iteration of the Manhattan Project has plenty of secrets of its own.

The executive orders came at the behest of tech giants like Amazon, Meta, Google and Microsoft, who want cheap, abundant nuclear power to run their AI data centers. And according to the United Nations, these data centers will have doubled their voracious consumption of electricity and water by 2030.

Is Theology Beer Camp right for you?
Theology Beer Camp began as an experiment in “pub theology.” A few “theology nerds” delving into deep subjects like God, the universe and the meaning of life over a few brews.

The Episcopal campus minister for my local university frequented a popular college student watering place to conduct this type of ministry. Recalling my own college beer drinking days, I must wonder how much college students remember of these conversations after downing two or more quart jugs of beer. Alcohol not only affects people's memories, it also loosens their inhibitions. This may result in ministers who undertakes this kind of ministry finding themselvesss in compromising positions. In the hook-up culture bars are one of the places to go to meet casual sexual partners of the opposite or one's own sex.

A cheap knockoff of paganism
A PCUSA study on pastoral monogamy has all the markings of the denomination’s long slide into irrelevance.

Have We Accidentally Drifted Toward Therapeutic Christianity?
As another ministry year begins, I know many of us are doing what we always do this time of year. Calendars are filling up, Bible studies are being selected, retreats are being planned, and leadership teams are gathering around conference tables, dreaming about what God might do in the months ahead. I genuinely love this season because I believe planning matters. Every event we host, every study we teach, every conversation we have, and every volunteer we equip is another opportunity to help women know Jesus more deeply. But before we finalize another calendar or order another workbook, I think there is a more important question we need to ask ourselves.

Have we accidentally drifted toward therapeutic Christianity?

How to Lead When Your Family Is in Crisis
Ministry doesn’t slow down; other problems don’t become less. So how to you continue to lead your church when your family is in crisis?

Colorado cathedral’s ‘wilderness’ services embrace tradition, modernism through seasonal worship
St. John’s Cathedral in Denver, Colorado, aims to serve its 2,000+-member congregation by offering various ministries and programs throughout the year.

For parishioners who want a worship environment that’s in between “high church” traditions and “low church” modernity, or who prefer to sleep in on Sunday mornings, the Episcopal cathedral offers “The Wilderness,” an evening Eucharist that since its founding in the early 2000s has based worship on season-specific prayers and blends old and new liturgy.

The service’s name comes from the cathedral’s original name, St. John’s Church in the Wilderness. When the parish was being established in the 1860s, Colorado was still a territory, and the closest Episcopal church was over 700 miles east in neighboring Kansas. It’s also a reference to Isaiah 40:3: “A voice cries out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”

The Preacher’s Progress
It is a solemn task—teaching preaching—and for centuries this training has been part of a formal theological education. Students will receive lectures in homiletics, just as they will receive lectures in dogmatics, church history, Old Testament history, and Greek grammar. Yet historically, instruction in preaching has always been a hands-on endeavour.

Let’s Stop Imaging Jesus
Give me one children’s storybook bible free of images of Jesus, and I’ll commend it to the world. Why? Because it will tell a better story.

Fix your attention span, biblically.
Everywhere we hear that our focus issues are a brain problem.

We’re told our brains have been “rewired,” that it’s all about dopamine regulation, reward loops, and the like. And there is truth to this. Living in a fallen and cursed world, it shouldn’t surprise us that physical limitations plague us even in our ability to focus. And where it makes sense, we should address those physical problems. But my point is that is not the whole story. You are more than a brain.

Often in our naturalistic, medicalized world we can forget that the heart plays a part in our attention too.

How To Show Hospitality When You Live in a Small Home
For obvious reasons, hospitality can be more challenging for those in a small home than for those in a much larger one. It can be a bit more awkward, too...

So here are some tips.

Saturday Lagniappe: 'The Four Domains of Successful Outreach to Families with Children' And More

The Four Domains of Successful Outreach to Families with Children
To help raise well-rounded young men and women who know they are loved by God, one church has created a focus on MASS: Mental, Athletic, Spiritual, and Social. Brian Kelly from Northside Church in Liverpool, NY joins Sam on the show to discuss how his church has used MASS to engage families in their community.

Obey the Greatest Commandment . . . While You Sleep
More than just a practical recharge, sleep can be a doxological liturgy.

Women's Ordination: A Five Part Series from The Anglican
The ACNA founders knew they could not settle every theological disagreement among the bedfellows leaving TEC, or being pushed out. However, one of the most significant practices of ordaining women to the priesthood was set to one side. Rather than divide over the issue, the Province adopted what Archbishop Bob Duncan famously called “dual integrities.”

We agreed that faithful Anglicans held different convictions, and those differing convictions would be respected as we sought to build a new Anglican Province together.

The issue of women's ordination has been roiling the water in the ACNA for sometime now. The late Jack Iker, an Anglo-Catholic bishop strongly opposed to the ordination of women declared that a state of impaired communion existed been him and the dioceses that ordained women or licensed them to serve as clergy within the diocese. What I have observed in the ACNA is the growth of the kind of factionalism over this issue, which infects the larger culture. I hear opinions expressed that I would have at one time expected to hear only from those on the fringes of the North American Anglican community. Whether this issue will cause a major split in the ACNA remains to be seen.

Women’s Orders and the Anglican Knot: A Commentary on David Roseberry’s Five-Part Series
In a five-part series published through his Substack newsletter *The Anglican* over the past few weeks, the founding rector of Christ Church Plano and veteran of more than four decades of ordained Anglican ministry has attempted what most of his colleagues have long avoided: a sustained, candid, publicly accessible examination of women’s ordination as it sits at the beating heart of the Anglican Church in North America’s present crisis. The series deserves careful reading. It also deserves honest assessment.

In Tennessee, anti-Muslim Republican candidates face defeat
Rep. Andy Ogles, who has said Muslims don't belong in the US, narrowly lost his reelection bid, while state Rep. Monty Fritts, who campaigned to ban mosques, placed third in the Republican primary race for governor.

A new bipartisan bill in Congress would create protest-free buffer zones around houses of worship
The bipartisan bill is intended to prevent protests. It follows a rowdy demonstration outside a Manhattan synagogue last year.

Why You Shouldn’t Be a Covocational Pastor
I want to see every guy considering covocational ministry for these reasons to banish them from his consideration.

The Extras Are Tired
People are getting more sick of influencers, even as the job becomes more important.

Our Line in the Sand on AI: TGC’s Missional Opportunity
It’s an offense to the word “writing” to apply it to AI-arranged words and sentences. What AI produces is an impressively polished, usually helpful, sometimes cheeky string of words. But it’s just instantaneous pattern recognition and data organization. It’s soulless slop that can mimic and masquerade as brilliant writing. It’s aggressively efficient, speedily rendered, sycophantic information.

But it’s not writing.

Panic as another AI model escapes its system, sparking safety scramble by experts
Moonshot AI's latest Kimi K3 model was able to bypass a cybersecurity testing sandbox built by the U.K. government's AI Safety Institute, according to U.S.-based research firm Frontier Security.

As part of cybersecurity evaluations, AI models are put in isolated sandboxes to cut off outside access in order to test how well they can work through problems on their own. The China-based public model from Moonshot AI was able to circumvent one such environment built by the U.K. government, according to Reuters.

Is yours an equipped church?
Church leaders who claim to be serious about leading a disciple-making church aren’t going to get very far with such a claim if their flock isn’t equipped. But the equipping of the saints for ministry is one of the greatest failures among church leaders today.

It’s remarkable that we miss the mark regarding equipping since it is such a blatantly stated responsibility of leaders...

Sundays at All Hallows (August 9, 2026) Is Now Online

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.

This Sunday, August 9, 2026, is the Tenth Sunday after Trinity. 81 years ago, on this date the second atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.

Urakami Cathedral sat near ground zero during the bombing and was damaged beyond repair. More than half of the Catholics in the Urakami district of Nagasaki – approximately 8,500 of the cathedral’s 12,000 parishioners – were killed.

Cruelly persecuted from the late sixteenth century on, Nagasaki’s Catholics practiced their faith in secret until a series of reforms in the mid-nineteenth centuries enabled them to once more practice their faith openly.

You are invited to join with people around the world in observing a moment of silence for the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and praying for a ban on all nuclear weapons. You are also invited to pray for persecuted Christians throughout the world.

The topic of this Sunday’s message is making Jesus Christ known.

Readings: Genesis 37: 1-28, Romans 10: 5-15, and Matthew 14: 22-33

Message: Heralds of Jesus Christ, Messengers of Salvation

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2026/08/sundays-at-all-hallows-august-9-2026.html

Please feel free to share this link with anyone who may be interested.

If you are new to Sundays at All Hallows, you may find these directions helpful:

-It is recommended that after reading or hearing each lesson to take time to reflect on what you read or heard during the period of silence which follows each lesson. It is also recommended that you do the same thing after reading or hearing the message.

-When you open the link to a video in a new tab, check auto-play to make sure it is in the off position. Otherwise, a second video with a different song will follow the first.

-If an ad plays when you open a link to a video in a new tab, click the refresh icon of your browser until the song appears.

-If a song begins partway through the video, click pause, move the slider to the beginning, and then click play.

-An ad may follow a song so as soon as the song is finished, close the tab.

May Sundays at All Hallows be a blessing to you.

Friday's Catch: 'The Episcopal Church in 2050' And More

The Episcopal Church in 2050
Bishop John Shelby Spong wrote a book in 1999 entitled Why Christianity Must Change or Die. The Episcopal Church has, largely, followed Bishop Spong’s lead. It has changed and it is dying. If you altered one word of the title, making it Why Christianity Must Change and Die, Spong’s book was indeed prophetic.

Predictions are circulating that the Episcopal Church will be dead by 2050. This article examines how likely this is and how its deep decline might be slowed and even reversed.

David Goodhew makes a number of cogent points in this article which he wrote five years ago. While it is tempting to put on a brave face as denominational leaders are doing in both the Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church, a growing number of churches in these two denominations are looking at a bleak future. On a visit to a local Episcopal church I was forced to listen to a retired woman priest prattle on about how it was unEpiscopalian to evangelize the unchurched and to observe members of the congregation emphatically expressing their agreement with what she was saying. This was the attitude many Episcopal clergy took toward evangelism in the 1990s, the Decade of Evangelism, and with which they infected their congregations. Over two decades later Episcopal clergy are still peddling this poisonous KoolAid and Episcopalians are eagerly drinking it!

SBC Named as Co-Defendant in Federal Class Action Over Pawleys Island Community Church Scandal
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and the SBC Executive Committee (EC) are named as defendants in a new, federal lawsuit against Pawleys Island Community Church (PICC), Pawleys Island Christian Academy (PICA), and certain church and school leaders.

The class action lawsuit is the sixth suit to be filed since it came to light that a convicted sex offender was volunteering on the South Carolina church and school’s campus. It is the first suit filed in federal court and the first to name the SBC.

COVID infection linked to disturbing side effect, says new study
A new study suggests that COVID-19 may reactivate dormant viruses already hiding in the body.

That process, researchers say, is linked to more severe illness and may contribute to lingering symptoms such as fatigue associated with long COVID.

The financial dilemma that wound up helping US churches thrive
American churches could not rely on the state for financial support. Private philanthropy helped them survive – and shaped the country’s religious diversity today.

3 Surprising Effects of Finding Your Confidence in God
Though impossible to measure, my general observation is that “confidence” is at a pretty low point in the world right now. I don’t necessarily mean self-confidence, though that might also be low right now. Instead, I mean our collective confidence in those institutions and people which once held the implicit confidence of society.

Is it still possible to imagine a brighter future?
Two views from the past.

How to Fix the #1 Blind Spot Stalling Your Ministry
If you need people more than you feed people, you will soon be leading from empty.

Handling Ungodly Criticism
Matt Emadi offers pastors four suggestions for handling ungodly criticism from members in a way that honors Christ and builds up his church. Drawing from Scripture and pastoral experience, Emadi reminds us that pastors should desire the good of those who criticize them, know their people well, learn from criticism, and stay near the cross.

When Repetition is a Good Thing
There are many contemporary Christian worship songs that, when used during Sunday service, are put on repeat to the end that they are simply mind-numbing. There is no substance, only emotion. The mind is not being used. It is thrown out the window in the name of an “experience.”

Is it inherently wrong to have the same phrase in a song an exorbitant amount of times? I think the fair answer would be it depends. It depends on the song, setting, and context. But there are no doubt many songs that are focused less on directing your mindful gaze to the Lord of glory and more focused and helping you feel good. We don’t worship to feel good, but to give God glory. We worship him no matter how we feel.

Godfather of AI: Brace for more rogue AIs
The smarter artificial intelligence gets, the harder it will be for humanity to control it, according to Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel Prize-winning computer scientist known as the “godfather of AI.”

Even Hinton was alarmed by the sophisticated AI agents that recently caused real-world damage after escaping their human-built testing environments.

What the panic over Gen Z’s reading habits gets wrong
A trove of recent articles bemoan the collapse in recreational reading among younger Americans, with COVID-related reading declines, artificial intelligence and social media often described as causes.

But as the authors of “How Gen Z Discover and Consume Books,” we think many claims about Gen Z’s reading behaviors miss the mark.

Trump’s plans for Head Start could leave kids behind
The Trump administration announced on Thursday plans to overhaul Head Start, the early education, nutrition, and health program which serves hundreds of thousands of low-income children. The proposed rule to rescind the majority of the program’s standards of care could have far-reaching effects for the nation’s most vulnerable families.

Early social media use leaves children six months behind at school
Children who start using social media at a young age perform worse in exams than peers who delay online engagement, a study suggests.

Research from the University of Milano-Bicocca found that pupils who opened accounts at the start of secondary school performed poorer in a variety of tests by the age of 16.

Get the Complete Christianity Explored Course—Free
Instant digital access to the updated seven-session course and the resources you need to lead it.

Christianity Explored helps people discover who Jesus is, why he came, and what it means to follow him. Built around Mark’s Gospel, each session includes a short film and time for open, honest conversation.

Image Credit: Grace Episcopal Church, Paducah, Kentucky

Thursday's Catch: 'Faith groups organize for anti-nuclear war action this week' And More

The Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Memorial

Faith groups organize for anti-nuclear war action this week

Faith groups around the world are preparing to host prayer events to mark the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.

“Nuclear Prayer Day” on Aug. 6 and the “Global Days of Prayer and Action” on Aug. 9 are intended to refocus international attention on the ongoing threat of nuclear war, according to organizer Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons, an outreach of the United Religions Initiative.

Also See: The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)

What Everyone Gets Wrong About the Unchurched - Webinar 

The unchurched population in the United States is undergoing significant changes. In this webinar, we present the top five insights about the unchurched that almost no one knows. Drawing on new research, Thom and Sam reveal what every church leader needs to know about the demographic shifts among those who rarely or never attend religious services. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn more about the unchurched population in the United States! Join us for the webinar on Thursday, August 13, at 1:00 PM Eastern. Register now to secure your spot and discover valuable insights that every church leader needs to know.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Spokane Parish: Members Evacuate, Lose Homes
Many parishioners of St. David’s Church in Spokane, Washington, had to evacuate over the weekend as a series of wildfires across Spokane County spread across thousands of acres on the afternoon of August 1. One family that has been part of the parish lost its home in the fire, and at least one, if not two, other families are at risk of losing their homes.

Also See: Spokane bishop responds to region’s wildfires

Instead of going on an expensive guilt trip, why doesn't the Church of England spend £100m on parish vicars?
Conservative MP Nick Timothy says the £100m the Church of England plans to spend on slavery reparations should be going on church building repairs. But how about spending the money on frontline parish vicars?

Also See: Archbishop of Canterbury faces continued backlash over slavery and reparations stance; Government child poverty report highlights role for churches

Church leaders not bound to report sexual abuse confessions, Arizona Supreme Court rules
Arizona justices unanimously ruled on Thursday (July 30) that trial courts couldn’t interfere in church leaders’ decision to report sexual abuse cases disclosed in confession, according to their own interpretation of religious doctrine.

Removing pastors and other church leaders as mandatory reporters is not a positive development. Churches do not have a good record of properly handling child abuse cases. They are apt to protect the organization rather than the child and further traumatize the victim. They are also apt to blame the victim for the abuse.

Court spares New York nuns — for now — from complying with assisted dying law
One can only hope that sanity prevails. The life you save may be your own.

Tennessee gubernatorial candidate would ban mosques
With a toothy laugh, Tennessee GOP primary gubernatorial candidate Monty Fritts defends his pledge to ban Muslim mosques and other “pagan” houses of worship. The primary election is August 6, and state representative Fritts faces two opponents: Sen. Marsha Blackburn and U.S. Rep. John Rose — both vying to be the most like Donald Trump.

Also See: Islamic group files suit against Broken Arrow for denying zoning permit

“pagan” houses of worship? Could Catholic, Episcopal, and other mainline churches be on that hit list?

Why making Anthony Fauci the enemy will harm US public health for years
Katie Miller, an erstwhile Trump administration official and wife of Stephen Miller, once relied on Dr Anthony Fauci to get through Covid. Now, she’s calling for his imprisonment – a reversal that illuminates the politicization of Fauci and of public health writ large, a trend that could have major repercussions for America’s preparedness for future crises.

Meta says its AI has gone rogue and hacked other companies
One of Meta’s AI systems hacked into another company while it was being tested, Meta has revealed.

The announcement adds even more concern that increasingly capable AI systems are increasingly launching cyber attacks – without their creators’ knowledge.

It follows similar incidents at OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, and Claude’s Anthropic.

Also See: AI designs new virus not found in nature

Connecting Young Adults to Mentors in Your Church
Young adults need mentors when the job disappoints, a relationship strains or ends, the prayer seems unanswered, or obedience becomes costly.

The back-to-school mistake that could put your child at risk of injury
As students head back to school, doctors and teachers are warning parents to take a closer look at what's inside their children's backpacks, saying overloaded bags can increase the risk of injury and make the school day harder.

Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs
Wait! Don’t stop reading! I know what you’re thinking. “We’ve all heard this before. Why even write on this?” Because you need to hear it. Because I need to hear it. So you’ve heard it before? Good. Listen close then. If you really want to show Christian love, then something has to happen when “wrongs” occur. These can be real or perceived wrongs. In the ESV, 1 Corinthians 13:5 is translated as “resentful”. A more literal interpretation is that love does not keep an accounting of wrongs. I want to dig into what this means and why a record of wrongs is not only unloving, but in the most basic sense it is unChristian.

Why Evangelism Demands Patience
Gospel seeds can wait years before they grow.

Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (August 6, 2026) Is Now Online

Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows.

On this day, August 6, in 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, 1945, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. The loss of life from both atomic bombings was horrific. Roughly 80,000 people were killed immediately or shortly afterwards at Hiroshima. By the end of 1945 the total number of dead had risen above 140,000 due to serious injuries and radiation sickness. A further 74,000 died at Nagasaki. Of the dead, an estimated 38,000 were children.

Kokura had been the intended target of the second atomic bomb but heavy cloud cover over that Japanese city caused the bomber’s commander to switch to the alternative target, Nagasaki. The two atomic bombings ushered in a new age in warfare, the nuclear age in which a single bomb could destroy a city and a war fought with nuclear weapons could wipe out not only human civilization but also all life on earth.

This knowledge, however, has not deterred nations from seeking to possess nuclear weapons and from developing nuclear weapons far more destructive than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The world now lives in fear of such weapons falling into the wrong hands, the hands of someone who feels no moral restraint or any other compunction against using them.

This evening’s message is a reflection on an ancient prophesy in the Book of Isaiah and how Jesus fulfills that prophesy.

Readings: Isaiah 2: 1- 5; 1 Timothy 2:1-10

Message: The Peaceable Kingdom

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2026/08/thursday-evenings-at-all-hallows-august.html

Please feel free to share this link with anyone who may be interested.

If you are new to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows, you may find these directions helpful:

-It is recommended that after reading or hearing a lesson to take time to reflect on what you read or heard during the period of silence which follows the lesson. It is also recommended that you do the same thing after reading or hearing the message.

-When you open the link to a video in a new tab, check auto-play to make sure it is in the off position. Otherwise, a second video with a different song will follow the first.

-If an ad plays when you open a link to a video in a new tab, click the refresh icon of your browser until the song appears.

-If a song begins partway through the video, click pause, move the slider to the beginning, and then click play.

-An ad may follow a song so as soon as the song is finished, close the tab.

May Thursday Evenings at All Hallows be a blessing to you.

Wednesday's Catch: “Church Renewal in a Changing World” And More

“Church Renewal in a Changing World” featuring Lovett H. Weems Jr. and Allen T. Stanton
Is the future of the church dependent on institutional growth, or is faithful discipleship the key? In this episode, Jonathan Page is joined by Allen Stanton and Lovett Weems, author of An Aura of Hope: United Methodism’s Next Chapter in the United States, to discuss the future of Methodism, the strengths of small and rural congregations, and how churches can thrive by focusing on discipleship, mission, and community impact rather than simply chasing growth.

Episcopal, United Methodist, and other mainline churches share similar characteristics and face similar challenges--aging congregations, declining attendance, shared or no clergy, denominational or diocesan (or equivalent) priorities that place unrealistic demands upon smaller churches or affect their public image and create barriers between them and the community

Be Undeniable: A Christian Alternative to Engaging In the Culture Wars
The world isn’t looking for someone to win the latest debate in the culture war. They’re looking for an alternative to the whole mess.

Are Americans actually getting dumber? Here's what we know about the reverse Flynn effect
Just over a hundred years ago, the Binet IQ test was developed in France and soon after, brought to the United States, where it was given to public school kids, physicians, and immigrants at Ellis Island.

From the 1930s, IQ scores seemed to be inching up – with each new generation scoring a little higher than the last. Throughout the 20th century, average intelligence scores rose by about 3 points a decade, even when researchers used different tests and metrics...

It was expected that this increase would keep going, even if at a slower pace, as humanity advanced.

And then people started getting 'dumber'.

Why are so many young women leaving Mormonism?
More than half of young adult women who grew up LDS have now left. Many are reacting against politics, purity culture and powerlessness.

Three ways to know I am a real Christian
It is a common question from earnest and sincere people: how can I know I am a Christian? There are all sorts of answers we might give, some probably more helpful than others. But it would make most sense to look at the scriptures and see some of the signs it would highlight. So, to that end, here are three biblical signs that you are a genuine Christian.

Also See: Struggle Against Sin Doesn’t Signal Defeat

The Wise Sage: The Pastor-Administrator
Three and a half years ago, I received a text from a good friend. “You treading water yet?” he asked.

You see, I was about six months into my role as rector of a small and struggling parish, and my friend—a rector on the other side of town, serving a parish marginally larger & “healthier” than my own—knew from his own experience how overwhelming this work can be. Wonderful & deeply satisfying, yes … but also at times overwhelming.

AI Is Changing Discipleship in Ways Most Churches Haven’t Considered
You know this as a preacher: Patience is a Christian virtue, something you’re probably working on, and something you encourage people to develop.

Well, welcome to the age of AI, which brings with it a host of new challenges. Like this one. AI answers every question instantly. God, as you know, sometimes doesn’t answer at all.

That gap is about to become one of the biggest discipleship challenges the church has faced.

Why Disciple Making is the Best Leadership Development Strategy
Jesus never recruited leaders, but He did make disciples. The greatest leadership development system the church has is the Great Commission.

Small Group Participation Linked to Higher Discipleship Scores
U.S. Protestant churchgoers who regularly attend a small group Bible study, such as Sunday School, have the highest discipleship scores.

The optimal size for a small group is 5 to 7 People. A group larger than 12 people is no longer a small group and the dynamics that make a small group effective will no longer work. Sunday School classes from what I have observed frequently exceed 12 people and the dynamics that make a small group effective are missing. To benefit from small group dynamics a large Sunday School class will need to be reorganized into smaller groups of the optimal size. Members of the class are likely to resist such a reorganization. One option is to have the small groups formed from the class to meet periodically as a large group to socialize over a meal.

Why We Still Believe in Short-Term Mission Trips for Churches
Josh and Sam discuss why churches should still believe in short-term mission trips when they are approached with the right biblical purpose and practical care. While these trips are sometimes criticized for being expensive, shallow, or more about the travelers than the mission field, they can still be powerful tools for gospel partnership, spiritual growth, and leadership development. When done well, short-term trips do not replace long-term missions. They support and strengthen missions, and help churches cultivate a deeper heart for the nations.

Image Credit: Trinity Episcopal Church, Fulton KY

Tuesday's Catch: 'What You Need to Know about Staffing Your Church' And More

What You Need to Know about Staffing Your Church
Jess and Thom welcome Matt Steen, Co-Founder of Chemistry Staffing, to The Church Answers Podcast.

The Great Volunteer Burnout Problem
Thom and Jess discuss why so many church volunteers are burned out and how leaders can better care for them.

Growing interest in Christianity reported among UK military personnel
Rising numbers of baptisms, growing chapel attendance and greater demand for Bibles are pointing to increased openness to Christianity among military personnel.

Also See: Is spiritual revival stirring in Britain’s Armed Forces?

Airline Boots Evangelist After She Proselytizes Plane Passengers
One week after the Washington Post wrote about the trend of in-flight evangelism, preacher Whitney Lynn was escorted off an Alaska Airlines flight after addressing passengers with a religious message.

While preaching to a captive audience like the passengers on an airplane in flight may be gratifying to the preacher, I question its effectiveness as a method of evangelism. Lynn was preaching AT the other passengers, not TO them. Her motives are open to question. What she was doing has the marks of being self-serving: she was drawing attention to herself and making herself feel good, but whether her message was reaching receptive ears is an entirely different matter.

The liturgy wars are back. Spoiler: They never left.
As prominent prelates clash over the traditional Latin Mass, Pope Leo XIV’s response may reveal his deepest instincts about authority, unity and tradition.

Inclusivity Brings Church Back from the Brink
Glendale United Methodist Church is a living example of how a congregation can thrive in the 2020s.

From 12-25 people attending Sunday services nine years ago, the church has grown to about 125 people at worship today.

The church is well known for its inclusivity, especially of the LGBTQ community.

This article is one of the ways that the more progressive element of the United Methodist Church promotes greater inclusivity in US United Methodist annual conferences, districts, and local churches. Nashville, Tennessee, however is a major city with a growing, diverse population and an LGBTQ community, demographic factors that contributed to Glendale's growth in attendance. What works in Nashville will not work in a small, relatively conservative and homogeneous rural community like Almo, Kentucky. The local United Methodist church has disaffiliated from the denomination.

The Episcopal Church has five churches in the Jackson Purchase. (The denomination did have six churches but the sixth church was forced to close due to its poor location, a clergy-community mismatch, and a subsequent decline in attendance.) Only one of the five churches has a full time pastor. It is located in Paducah, the largest city in the region. A second church, located in the university town of Murray, did have a full time pastor who doubled as a university campus minister but he moved on. The church has been limping along without a pastor since his departure, supplied by retired clergy two Sundays of the month.

The Impact of Disaffiliation after Two Years
When I began considering a book about United Methodism’s next chapter in the United States, it was clear that the impact of disaffiliation was a central reality that conferences and congregations were having to engage. The tragedy of disaffiliation was disastrous for the denomination as a whole as it dominated the attention of leaders at all levels for multiple years. The results have left wounds and disappointments that may never heal...

One Consequence of Methodism's Pilgrimage to Respectability
United Methodism has had its share of divisions since its beginning in the United States as the Methodist Episcopal Church. No division has a single cause even if there is a prominent presenting issue. Often conventional wisdom associates one or more theological or social issues with the controversy and departure of some. The chart above gives some examples from selected divisions.

It is noteworthy to compare the issues associated with divisions with other issues that at one time were extremely contentious, at least for a significant portion of the denomination. We also notice from the chart below how some issues that are controversial in one era cease to be in later times.

Silence Informs Ron Clingenpeel’s Vibe
Years before he was the Very Rev. Ron Clingenpeel, he entered General Theological Seminary in New York City. On his first day in Evensong, the chapel fell silent after the first reading.

“Nobody did anything. There was like two or three minutes of silence,” he said. “It was scary as hell. Was I supposed to do something or was somebody waiting for me? It didn’t take me long to learn to appreciate those periods of silence and quiet.”

Quiet Times: One User’s Humble Guide
The children’s song goes, “read your Bible, pray every day, and you will grow, grow, grow.” And I don’t think there’s a Christian anywhere who doesn’t desire to grow, grow, grow. But what if you don’t know how to read your Bible? What if you don’t know how to pray? Despite having heard people talking about their “quiet times” or devotional reading, what if you aren’t sure what those look like? What if you’ve been a believer for many years, only you still wonder how others spend time with the Lord?

Thankfully, there isn’t only one “right way” to spend time with God. In some ways, you can’t really go wrong simply reading his word and speaking to him in prayer. But in this article, I’m going to offer a practical, guided tour to one approach to spending time with God. I’ve also provided lots of links to helpful resources throughout.

Monday's Catch: 'How Many Unchurched People Live Near Your Church?' And More

How Many Unchurched People Live Near Your Church? Now You Can Know Exactly (And Their Receptivity!)
Most church leaders know there are unchurched people in their community. But how many are there? And how receptive are they to the church? Now you can know exactly how many unchurched adults live within any specified drive time from your church location.

The Church Answers Unchurched Receptivity Report is brand new and an excellent resource for any church. In fact, we believe every church in America should know the number of unchurched adults in their community and their receptivity levels.

Having some idea of how receptive the unchurched population of your community is will make the task of reach them and engaging them less daunting. A church will be able to tailor its evangelistic approach to the different receptivity groups identified in the community.

Neurodivergent Church Leaders Welcome Mullally’s Remarks
Two neurodivergent church leaders advocating for their communities in the Episcopal Church and the Church of England were encouraged to hear Archbishop Sarah Mullally speak publicly about her dyslexia during the General Synod earlier this month.

Neurodiversity Ministries Blossom from Deep Listening
In recent years, awareness and acceptance of neurodiversity—the reality that people’s brains develop and function in different ways—has grown significantly. Often associated with conditions like autism and ADHD, neurodivergence reflects a wide spectrum of human experience. Yet the church has not always embraced these differences as part of the diversity of Christ’s body, at times lacking understanding or even causing harm.

Increasingly, congregations are recognizing a call to more faithful ministry with and by neurodivergent people, creating communities that are not only more inclusive, but more whole. St. Luke UMC in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and Haddonfield UMC in New Jersey are two of those congregations.

Rooted in What Lasts: Identity Beyond Disability
Almost all the time, I’m just another guy. Then, in brief but recurring moments, I’m the guy who talks funny, who’s different, who’s disabled.

Do you really see those around you?
Those with disabilities are all around you. From the visible disabilities like those with mobility challenges to the invisible disabilities often ignored, undiagnosed, or mislabeled. I am not asking you to become a doctor or to try and diagnose everyone but you need to see everyone made in the image of God for who they are.

A Liturgy With a Pause—for the Killing
Picture this scene: A person is sitting in a room. A member of the clergy is with them, offering them communion, with the classic formulation: “The body of Christ (given for you). The blood of Christ (shed for you).” Some other prayers are said. A few moments later, a nurse or doctor administers a lethal injection, killing the person.

Is this a scene from some disturbing dystopian movie? Sadly, no—it is the disturbing reality of the state of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Deadly attack on Ethiopian monastery condemned
A drone strike on an Ethiopian Orthodox monastery during a worship service has reportedly killed two nuns and six priests.

The attack on Abbay Giyorgis St Arsema Unity Monastery in Ethiopia’s Amhara Region took place on 22 July and left many others injured, prompting international condemnation.

Church elder, worship leader killed by Islamic extremists in the DRC
Suspected fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamic terror group active in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killed over a dozen people, including a church elder and worship leader, during attacks on the Christian commune of Mangina. Other residents were wounded, homes were set on fire and one person was reported missing.

The assailants carried knives and firearms and moved through Mangina intending to kill residents and destroy their homes, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern (ICC) quoted Mangina Mayor Nicolas Kambale as saying.

Deadly distortions of Christianity in Africa
The groups examined in this piece are particularly extreme and shocking examples: the so-called ‘Holy Spirit Movement’ (HSM) and the better-known, and infamous, ‘Lord’s Resistance Army’ (LRA). While both of these are from Africa, syncretism is not limited to any one continent, culture or period of time, although context always informs the way that such phenomena develop.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Enlist Thousands for Bible Studies in South Africa
Jehovah’s Witnesses claim to have enlisted over 10 thousand people for Bible studies in remote villages of South Africa during five weeks of a special house-to-house preaching campaign.

Opinion: Inside Christian nationalists’ war on religious freedom
Earlier this year, a presidential commission staffed almost entirely by conservative Christians urged Americans to rethink the separation of church and state and build “bridges” between them. Last week, the Department of Justice directed federal agencies to expand protections for religious expression in public employment, military service, education, healthcare and federal contracting.

These policies reflect the influence of Christian nationalism, a movement predicated on the belief that the United States is divinely chosen,” the New Testament should shape government policies, and white Christians should dominate American culture.

The Main Reason People Don’t Become Church Members
Church membership should not consist of rules to keep people out, but ramps to help people grow.

Church Planting Like a Missionary Leader Guide
This Leader Guide is designed to help pastors and ministry leaders facilitate meaningful conversations alongside the Church Planting Like a Missionary course. Through discussion questions, practical reflection, and guided application, it equips leaders to disciple prospective church planters, residents, and other emerging leaders as they discern God’s calling and prepare for the journey of planting healthy, mission-focused churches.

5 Good Questions to Assess Your Volunteer Teams
How would you assess the strength of your volunteer teams?

Three Things You're Getting Wrong About Religion Data
oday’s post is going to be a bit different than the usual stuff you get on my newsletter. Instead of just focusing on a single question and making a bunch of graphs that try to figure out that causal puzzle, I am going to share a few things that I’ve learned after doing this kind of work for the last ten years.

3 Gifts We Need to Discern Truth
God cares about truth to such a degree that it is part of His identity, work, and the overall expression of His will.

Self-Care is an Act of Faith
Dr. Dontá McGilvery argues that self-care is more than a personal wellness practice. For pastors, ministry leaders, and church members alike, making time for rest is an act of faith that reflects trust in God’s provision rather than our own endless striving.

Gutting Old Books to Feed AI: What Could Go Wrong?
AI companies are using physical books to train them for their large language models since these texts aren’t already ridden with AI-generated writing. What better place to look for pure human language than in rare books?

The books, however, are essentially destroyed by the cutting machines employed to get at the text...

To my way of thinking this is very shortsighted as is the practice of pulling books off library shelves and discarding them because electronic editions are on the internet. AI and computers run on electricity. No electricity, no AI or computers. We should be preserving printed books as a backup system in the event of a major, long-term or permanent blackout due to unusual solar activity, depletion of fossil fuels, or war. A printed book can be read by candlelight!

Why AI is far from divine
Churches aren’t immune to AI’s increasing popularity. Pope Leo has just advised his priests not to use it to write their sermons. I’d say that’s sound advice for preachers from any denomination.

He told them, “Like all the muscles in the body, if we do not use them, if we do not move them, they die. The brain needs to be used, so our intelligence must also be exercised a little so as not to lose capacity.”

To give a true sermon, the Pope explained, “is to share faith,” something AI would never be able to do.

He advised preachers, “people want to see your faith, your experience of having known and loved Jesus Christ.”

Identifying the Right and Wrong Motivations for Being a Missionary
While our motives will never be totally pure or stable, there are some priorities we should have as we assess what is primarily driving a person to missions. In this brief article I want to highlight two wrong motivations that I see all too often. The first is guilt and the second is pride. Finally, lest we spend all of our time focused on what is wrong, let me conclude with a series of rightly ordered motivations for desiring to serve among the nations.

15 Recommended Resources for Equipping Individuals and Churches to Do Evangelism
It’s no secret that many evangelicals struggle with doing evangelism. In fact, many will never share their faith with anybody. Because of Church Answers’ commitment to help churches recommit to evangelism, I’m offering this list of practical resources that may help you and your church re-invest in this task...

Mainliners also struggle with evangelism. In the Episcopal Church I heard a retired Episcopal priest preach not too long ago, "Episcopalians don't do evangelism." It is this negative attitude toward evangelism perpetuated by Episcopal clergy that Episcopalians must overcome along with the lack of training, leadership, and experience in evangelism.