Tuesday's Catch: 'Half of Gen Z says Trump support keeps them out of church' And More

Half of Gen Z says Trump support keeps them out of church
A new study found that, even among Gen Z Christians, the strong alliance between Trump and Christianity has had a negative impact on churchgoing for many.

Science hints at Trump and MAGA’s insidious threat to truth – and it is ugly
PsyPost reports that casual disregard for reality poses a "uniquely potent threat" to public knowledge and belief.

People are more likely to believe false information when it comes from someone who ignores the truth altogether rather than a liar “who actively tries to deceive.” This is because repeating statements made by someone who is completely indifferent to facts “heavily increases how truthful those statements feel” to an audience.

Additionally, casual Trump-style disregard for reality appears to pose a deadly threat to community knowledge. According to researchers, the divide sits between a simple “liar,” — someone who knows the truth and intentionally tries to mislead an audience — and a “bulls——er,” who “communicates with little to no regard for the truth, evidence, or established facts.”

Also See: New psychology research reveals the insidious nature of bullshit

Donald Trump won't stop using a technique psychologists associate with narcissists
For years, mental health professionals have argued that President Donald Trump’s behaviors, which some have called “malignant narcissism,” are a detriment to the nation.

Much has been written about the president’s tendency to gaslight ― a form of psychological manipulation weaponized by narcissists to make victims question their own reality, memory and perceptions.

Also See: Trump is a 'psychopath' who converses 'only with himself': biographer

Trump supporters spread their beliefs like a disease: study
Multiple experts are warning that President Donald Trump is gradually eroding American democracy through his actions since resuming office in 2025. Now, a new study from the American Journal of Political Science explains how so many Americans are willing to go along with his authoritarianism.

How the Mitch McConnell Spectacle Ought to Teach Us About Age
From the Moore to the Point newsletter: the spiritual reason our elderly leaders refuse to give up power.

Church says Native American rituals "idol worship," won't leave reservation
A Christian church has refused to leave a Native American reservation after its pastor condemned traditional tribal spiritual practices during a sermon, sparking protests and demands for an apology.

State of Theology Finds Stable Theology Among Americans
The latest State of Theology study of Americans finds significant stability across a wide range of theological beliefs.

Also See: The State of Theology Insights Report Download

What Does “The Sins of the Father” Mean?
Ask ten pastors what “the sins of the father” means and you will get ten different answers. Some picture a curse traveling down a bloodline. Others picture guilt handed to a child who did nothing wrong. The phrase comes straight from the Ten Commandments, but that is not where the Bible leaves it.

The Glory of God Is the Living Man
Around the year 185, Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyon, wrote: “For the glory of God is the living man, and the life of man is the vision of God.” It is a sentence worth sitting with. The glory of God is displayed in a living man. That glory is the radiant, weighty, self-revealing splendor of the living God. And the life we were made for, the life that is truly life, consists in seeing God. Everything the Christian faith teaches about salvation, about Christ, about the work of the Holy Spirit, is compressed into those two clauses.

But who is “the living man”? And what does it mean to see God?

Why Volunteer Recruitment Is Harder Than Ever
Thom discusses why churches are finding it more difficult to recruit volunteers and what leaders can do to reverse the trend.

The Return of Evangelism: Why Outreach Is Working Again
Thom looks at why many churches are finding people more receptive to the gospel and how churches can take advantage of this opportunity.

Leaving a Church Well
No one wants to talk about leaving their church. Your church is likely filled with people who introduced you to Jesus, encouraged you in your walk, officiated your wedding, and maybe even officiated the funeral of a loved one. In a church community, we find counsel, comfort, and friendship. Church is where we worship, and often where God meets us. Though it’s filled with broken people, church is amazing.

So, why would we ever talk about leaving it?

We should talk about it because it happens. As a pastor, I hate to see people leave my church, but in the welcoming of new members and the good-byes as people move on, I’ve seen a handful of really good reasons to leave.

Lay Preacher Training Informational Webinar
The role of lay preacher has been an important part of the church from its earliest days. As the clergy shortage grows and churches are under increased financial strain, the need for licensed lay preachers grows each year.

AI company hit by hack entirely done by artificial intelligence
AI company Hugging Face says that it has been hit by a hack carried out entirely by an artificial intelligence system.

How Churches Can Prevent AI Scams, Impersonation, and Payment Fraud
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing ministry operations, but it is also creating new risks for churches. Today’s scams are no longer easy to spot. AI-generated emails, voice messages, invoices, and fake receipts can look and sound legitimate enough to fool even experienced church staff members.

As a result, churches should strengthen financial controls, improve verification practices, and require stronger online security measures before fraud occurs.

People have plenty of access to books. There are other reasons they do not read
The decline of book-reading is a common lament. Parents, teachers, and penurious authors will all tell you that the love of reading is in retreat.

Statisticians at the National Literacy Trust say that in 2025 the number of children who enjoyed reading in their spare time sank to a 20-year low: a “generational challenge”, in their words.

Men and Women Have Unique Discipleship Strengths, Weaknesses 

In general, women have higher discipleship scores than men, according to analysis from Lifeway Research’s State of Discipleship study.

Monday's Catch: 'NO FOOD OR REFRESHMENTS IN SANCTUARY: A Dangerous Sign' And More

NO FOOD OR REFRESHMENTS IN SANCTUARY: A Dangerous Sign
A guest walks into the worship center with a cup of coffee. An usher smiles, but then gently says, “I’m sorry, you can’t bring that in here.” The guest nods, takes another sip, and steps back into the lobby to finish it.

Nothing harsh was said. No one intended harm.

But something subtle shifted.

The issue isn’t coffee. It’s culture. Many churches would never say, “We care more about our building than people.” But sometimes, policies quietly communicate exactly that. A simple sign about food or drinks can reveal deeper priorities. And that’s where the concern begins.

Loving the Unengaged in Your Church
What could it look like for your church to intentionally love those who’ve become unengaged from the life of the church?

What Is a Pharisee? Here Are 12 Signs You Are One
Nobody sets out to become a Pharisee. It happens gradually, usually while you’re trying to do everything right.

The word gets thrown around a lot in church culture, almost always about someone else. The judgmental relative. The rigid elder. The pastor down the street who preaches more rules than grace. But Pharisaism was never really about them. It’s a pattern that can grow in any heart that starts measuring its righteousness instead of receiving it.

The Marxist Who Understood Sex Better than the UMC
The United Methodist Church (UMC) has removed Asbury Theological Seminary from its list of institutions approved to train its ministers. Hardly a bastion of right-wing Protestant fundamentalism, Asbury has nonetheless run afoul of the UMC. Why? The seminary has had the temerity to uphold the traditional Christian teaching on sex and marriage. Asbury’s conviction looks potentially costly, but what price should we place on such matters? Sexual morality isn’t just about behavior; it’s about the essence of human nature and society, involving the profoundest questions about personal relationships, social structures, and teleology—what human beings are for.

Could smartphones be behind falling birth rates? Study suggests iPhone plays major role
The introduction of the iPhone may have contributed substantially to America's falling birth rate, suggesting smartphones changed social behaviour in ways that led to fewer pregnancies, researchers have argued.

Exorcisms and The Episcopal Church: A 2024 Survey
The Episcopal Church has a curious, distanced relationship with exorcisms. Buried deep within The Book of Occasional Services is a page titled “Concerning Exorcism.” It includes a three-paragraph description that cites the church’s historical use of exorcisms and guides clergy and others to contact the bishop’s office for more information. But behind this paper wall exists a long tradition.

I have recently been compiling data from my survey of Episcopal bishops and diocesan officers about their use of exorcisms. The research results show how the Episcopal Church addresses exorcisms. One bishop stated that the ministry is unlike Hollywood portraits that influence our cultural views.

Lay Preacher Training Informational Webinar
The role of lay preacher has been an important part of the church from its earliest days. As the clergy shortage grows and churches are under increased financial strain, the need for licensed lay preachers grows each year.

New guidance published to help churches use AI wisely
Churches across the UK are being encouraged to take a more intentional approach to artificial intelligence following the launch of new guidance designed to help Christian leaders navigate the opportunities and risks of the rapidly developing technology.

Leaders Who Survive AI Won't Be the Most Skilled
61% of pastors are now using AI weekly or daily. I'm one of them. But here's what I keep thinking about. When AI can generate a polished sermon outline, a compelling vision statement, and a confident leadership take in seconds, the competency bar just got a lot easier to clear for everyone. Including people who haven't done the work you have.

So if competency is no longer the differentiator, what is?

So We’re Unmarried but Living Together—What’s the Big Deal?
The couples who show up already living together are not usually people testing your rules. Many are barely connected to church life at all beyond Sunday morning. That disconnect is actually the opening. A couple willing to sit down with you about their living situation is a couple willing to let you into their life. Handled well, this conversation becomes the doorway into real community, not just a lecture they endure once and avoid repeating.

There is no template that fits every couple. Two people who moved in together out of financial necessity are not in the same position as two people who did it to test-drive the relationship. Counsel the couple in front of you, not a category.

John Newton on the ABC’s of Progressive Sanctification
As a biblical counselor, I often work with people struggling with the slow process of sanctification. Believers trapped in the idea of total, instantaneous transformation wonder why it’s so hard to shed the baggage of their old life. The tension usually arises from confusion about Paul’s statement, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).

The process of sanctification often feels more like slogging through mud than experiencing instantaneous change. There’s no question that Christ calls us to change through the Holy Spirit’s power. It’s true the Holy Spirit often uses our responses to experiences to help us grow. Life happens, we respond, and patterns emerge. In those patterns, we can see spiritual progress but also persistent weakness, which often points to sin. Confession and repentance of that sin leads to growth. Yet change is often gradual and, like all things that take time, frustrating.

Invite As Many As You Find
How free should we be with the gospel? How broad is the call of salvation? Who should be evangelized? There is a wedding feast coming, and there will be guests. And who will those guests be? It won’t be those who self-righteously decline the offer (Matt 22:3). It won’t be those who try to come in without being clothed in the righteousness of Jesus (Matt 22:11). So who then should we invite? Jesus clarifies this for us: “invite… as many as you find.” As many as you find. What a sweet word.

Saturday Lagniappe: 'Texas churches working to support families impacted by record-breaking floods' And More

Texas churches working to support families impacted by record-breaking floods
Churches in the Texas Hill Country opened their doors as flood displacement shelters on Thursday, taking in families whose homes and recreational vehicles had been swept away by rapidly rising rivers that killed at least two people.

At Calvary Temple Church in Kerrville, one of the churches providing help, volunteer Soyla Reyna spent hours managing a shelter that drew nearly 50 people through the morning, according to The Texas Tribune. They came seeking supplies and refuge after floodwaters tore through the region.

How a partnership between African churches is helping communities see again
Across much of Africa, churches have long been more than places of worship - they are also trusted centres of community life that step in where public services cannot reach.

The Global Fertility Crisis Is Worse Than You Probably Think
Everybody knows about the decline in birthrates. Fewer people understand why—or just how significantly it could transform society in the next few decades.

Start with Something
“If we start with something, work together, and stay ambitious, hope stops being a thing we wait to feel and becomes something we create.” —​Malala​ Yousafzai

Dodging Detours: Five Ways a Feasibility Study Protects Your Campaign from Pitfalls 

Sam talks with Mike Stadelmayer at Church Growth Services about the harm a failed campaign can do and how to avoid those failures.

Lay Preacher Training Informational Webinar
The role of lay preacher has been an important part of the church from its earliest days. As the clergy shortage grows and churches are under increased financial strain, the need for licensed lay preachers grows each year.

When God changes our plans: trusting Him through disappointment
We believe in a God who is faithful and able to do far more than we can ask or imagine. Yet life does not always unfold the way we expected. We pray, we persevere, we seek to be faithful and obedient, and still, a door closes; an unexpected diagnosis arrives; a relationship ends. Plans we held so tightly suddenly unravel. A dream we thought God had given us seems to disappear before our eyes.

How churches can adopt their own pet ministries
There is more to pet ministry than blessing animals once a year.

For over two decades, the Rev. Betsy Singleton Snyder and pet ministry director Gayle Fiser of Pinnacle View United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Ark., have helped United Methodist churches develop ministries that care for both pets and the people who love them.

Their new book, New Tricks: How Pet Ministry Can Transform Faith Communities and Change Lives, shares practical guidance for congregations looking to begin their own ministries.

Also See: Dog church welcomes people and pets

Sundays at All Hallows (July 19, 2026) Is Now Online

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.

This Sunday is the Seventh Sunday after Trinity. The Gospel reading appointed for this Sunday is the Parable of the Weeds.

You may have sung hymns containing reference to corn and cornfields at a service of harvest thanksgiving. In the United Kingdom wheat is called corn and wheatfields corn fields. What is called corn in the United States is called maize. In other parts of the world maize is given a different name, for example, mealies in Southern Africa.

In this Sunday’s message we unpack the Parable of the Weeds and what it means for us.

Readings: Genesis 28: 10-19a, Romans 8: 12-25, and Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43

Message: A Lesson from the Cockle in a Cornfield

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2026/07/sundays-at-all-hallows-july-19-2026.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: 'Clues for All Churches from Research on Very Large Churches' And More

Clues for All Churches from Research on Very Large Churches
The Hartford Institute for Religion Research consistently produces reports about congregational life in the United States that show trends important for church leaders to understand. Their Faith Communities Today research provides snapshots of congregations of all sizes across religious traditions in the country at five-year intervals. One special area of expertise with which they are associated is their analysis of trends among the very largest congregations, sometimes called megachurches. These are churches with in-person weekly attendance of 2,000 or more.

The Unchurched Next Door: New Tools and Insights to Really Reach Them - Replay
If you missed Thursday's webinar or would like to view it again, I am posting a link to a replay of the webinar and a link to the slides. The slides are downloadable.

The Unchurched Next Door: New Tools and Insights to Really Reach Them - Slides

Unchurched Receptivity Report
Discover how many unchurched people live around your church, how receptive they are, and where your greatest opportunities for outreach exist.

This tool will be very helpful in identifying the receptivity groups in the community and in tailoring efforts to reach and engage these groups for the church that is serious about the Great Commission

Americans’ Confidence in the Church Falls Back Near Record-Low
Fewer U.S. adults express the highest levels of confidence in the church, after a brief increase last year, according to Gallup.

How do we respond to Lindsey Graham's death? It matters.
Sen. Lindsey Graham has died. Why are people responding in such a tasteless way?

Also See: Children are hungry tonight because of Lindsey Graham

If the church doesn’t rise up for the disabled, who will?
Moving forward does not require first answering every question. The gospel calls us to simply take the next right step.

European Evangelicals Draw A Clear Distinction From Their American Counterparts
The European Evangelical Alliance, which represents some 23 million evangelical Christians on the continent, recently released an important report “European Evangelicals in Public Life: Our Identity and Contribution.” It summarizes who European evangelicals are, what they believe, and what their major stances are on current public policy issues.

Normally, such a statement would draw little attention outside its own circles. Its primary audience is European media and others in public life, which sadly are still all too likely to portray evangelicals in very different countries and contexts through stereotypes of American evangelicals. It also illustrates current tensions about America in the worldwide church.

Also See: Evangelicals raise concern about detention of families and children under EU's stricter asylum rules

How to Wait for Cultural Reckoning
After decades of steady liberalization, society appears to be having second thoughts about some aspects of America’s (im)moral revolution.

We may not want to hear it, however, Joe Carter has a point: We don't recognize the damage someone or something can do until they has already done damage. Even then we may refuse to recognize how damaging that person or thing is. This refusal serves only to compound the damage, to make it worse!

Lay Preacher Training Informational Webinar
The role of lay preacher has been an important part of the church from its earliest days. As the clergy shortage grows and churches are under increased financial strain, the need for licensed lay preachers grows each year.

Scripture that Sticks with Us Shapes Our Faith
I was born and raised in the Bible Belt, a region of the U.S. known to have higher church attendance. Like most people in my context, I grew up going to church most of the Sundays of my childhood.

Each Sunday, like most churches, a Scripture verse or two was read, and our pastor preached about the passage. As a kid I often left the service confused about how these pieces of Scripture fit together as a broader story.

While we should understand that one or a few verses can never adequately represent the Bible as a whole, there is still value in holding tightly to specific verses as they relate to our walk of faith.

Striving for Human Excellence (While accepting that you are still a fallen sinner)
What Christians need in a time of increasing artificiality (AI) is to lean into their humanity, into their distinctly human excellence. Human excellence, what I call magnanimity To Live Well, doesn’t mean perfectibility, but rather our innate capacity for greatness as God designed us, which shall be different based on each individual. But the remarkable thing is that every human being is created for their own kind of excellence, endowed by their Creator with gifts, skills, and talents to exercise for his glory and the good of their neighbor. We should strive to grow in these areas as well as in universal excellences like in kindness to others, in generosity, in grace, in peace, in the virtues, in the Fruits of the Spirit, all so that we can honor God and love our neighbor more. The goal is not to earn God’s favor or build an identity or become “good enough” for anything in particular, but to be faithful to God by living into what we were created to be: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). That’s all we are doing, walking in the good works which God created for us beforehand.

Paul Shows Us How to Confront Others with the Gospel
Spiritual truths are spiritually discerned. A special work of the Holy Spirit is necessary if people are ever to be brought to faith. Luke made that point explicitly in the case of Lydia’s conversion in the previous chapter of Acts, saying, “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul” (Acts 16:14). Without that work of the Spirit in a person’s heart, no one can come to faith in Christ.

Image Credit: Resurrection, Leawood, Kansas

Thursday's Catch: '6 Reasons Your Rural Church Isn’t Experiencing Growth' And More

6 Reasons Your Rural Church Isn’t Experiencing Growth
Rural church growth may be limited, but the significance of these congregations remains substantial, as they continue to offer the gospel.

An Insider’s Critique: Todd Wilson Examines 70 Years of the Church Growth Movement (Ep 132)
“How do you get revolutionary change when the gatekeepers have strongly embraced the consumer-driven operating system?”

Church of Uganda Prepares to Host GSFA Assembly
The Church of Uganda is preparing for the second Assembly of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches at Lweza Training and Conference Centre (LTCC), scheduled for April 13–17, 2027. LTCC is about 11 kilometers outside the capital, Kampala, and about a 30-minute drive from Entebbe International Airport.

LTCC is owned by the Church of Uganda and managed through its Directorate of Households and Community Transformation. In the past, it has been used to train bishops and host high-level meetings.

Yes, the global refugee situation is a crisis, book contends
The word “crisis” in the title of World Relief’s updated primer on refugees has a much wider and much more tragic meaning than it did a decade ago, according to one of the book’s authors.

“We used the term ‘crisis’ when we released the first edition in 2016, and in roughly 10 years the scale of global displacement has roughly doubled,” said Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy for World Relief and co-author of Seeking Refuge: The Human Face of the Global Refugee Crisis.

In that span, the number of internationally displaced people has doubled to more than 117 million due mostly to an increase in armed conflicts around world.

The Ordinary and Enduring Gifts of the Spirit
Scripture teaches that when Christ ascended, “he gave gifts” to all His people (Eph. 4:8). These gifts were given to strengthen and build up the church, the body of Christ. Some of the gifts were revelatory gifts, which were needed before the New Testament canon was completed. We have God’s inerrant, eternal Word for His people. Now we do not need “extraordinary,” revelatory gifts. Most of God’s gifts in Scripture are “ordinary.” Every believer has at least one God-given gift, though most have two or more. Moreover, all God-given gifts are to be used to serve the body of Christ, not to build ourselves up (1 Cor. 14:4).

Called by God? 6 Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore
If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re actually called by God, or just imagining it, you’re in good company. Here’s where I’ve landed after wrestling with that question more than once.

Lay Preacher Training Informational Webinar
The role of lay preacher has been an important part of the church from its earliest days. As the clergy shortage grows and churches are under increased financial strain, the need for licensed lay preachers grows each year.

‘I Don’t Have Time to Read Scripture’: Bad Reasons We Neglect the Bible
A hurried, shallow reading of Scripture is not strong enough to support our walk in this world.

If we would really hear God’s voice in Scripture, we must fight hurry.

Meditation and hurry are mutually exclusive. Pursue one, and you will flee from the other.

AI is being used to abuse children, and we can do something about it
Last May, congress passed the Take It Down Act, requiring websites to remove “nonconsensual intimate visual depictions” of identifiable individuals. This includes both real and AI-generated content.

But this law only addresses content publication, not the various ways in which it may be created or stored. And as AI models become increasingly more advanced, legislators are having a hard time keeping up.

Image Credit: St. Mary's Episcopal Church ~ Afton, MN

Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (July 16, 2026) Is Now Online

Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows.

In this Thursday evening’s message, we examine Jesus’ teaching on the subject of righteousness, anger, reconciliation, and settlement of debts in his Sermon on the Mount.

Readings: Genesis 4: 2b-15; Matthew 5:20-26

Message: Lessons from the Sermon on the Mount

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2026/07/thursday-evenings-at-all-hallows-july.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: 'We Will Bear The Weight of Glory' And More

We Will Bear The Weight of Glory
Sometimes I think that we Episcopalians consider evangelism a social faux pas, or a quaint relic of a bygone era in the life of the church. After all, everyone knows one should refrain from talking about politics and religion in polite company. All the same, Jesus commands his followers to go and talk about politics and religion, for as his disciples we proclaim him Lord and Savior.

Evangelism and discipleship, then, ought to inform relationships between Christians and our unbaptized neighbors, those people who in former times were known as “the lost.” Instead, a pernicious counterfeit of Christian love has usurped the place of witness and evangelism. In the Episcopal Church, love has come to mean acceptance and affirmation of ourselves and others without repentance and transformation. We are encouraged to privilege inclusivity without asking uncomfortable questions and without asking the Holy Spirit to convict us and our neighbors of our sins. Where, I wonder, does this so-called love lead? Or, more properly put, what is the end (telos) of this so-called love? I cannot say, because I find this counterfeit love unintelligible and a perversion of the gospel.

The Unchurched Next Door: New Tools and Insights to Really Reach Them
Join Thom and Sam Rainer on Thursday, July 16, at 1:00 PM Eastern for The Unchurched Next Door: New Tools and Insights to Really Reach Them. In this free webinar, you’ll discover why the mission field around your church may be larger and more receptive than you realize. Learn about the five levels of unchurched receptivity (U1–U5), uncover where your greatest outreach opportunities exist, and see how The Unchurched Report can help your church better understand and engage the people in your community. Save your spot today!

Built for a Church That No Longer Exists
The crisis facing the Archdiocese of Detroit isn’t really about what’s happened in the last decade — it’s about an institution still reckoning with the massive population exodus of the mid-to-late 20th century. The infrastructure, the parish footprint, the number of churches — all of it was built for a city and a Catholic population that no longer exists at that scale. The most recent Mass attendance data makes clear that the reckoning isn’t over.

Was the Multiplication of the Early Church a Miraculous Movement?
When missionaries have compared the rate of multiplication in traditional proclamation-centered, church-planting missions to the supposed rate of multiplication in the Early Church, many have come to the conclusion that the way we have been doing missions is all wrong. The fruit doesn’t seem to match what we’re supposed to see, what the Early Church saw, so there must be something fundamentally wrong with our methods and approach. This historical assumption (often paired with conversion rates compared negatively to population rates) is one reason why we’ve seen such radical attempts to rework missions into methodologies of rapid multiplication such as CPM, DMM, 4 Fields, POP, T4T, Insider Movement, etc.

But what if this historical narrative is wrong? What if what we find in the early Christian movement is instead a modest but steady rate of growth that leads to exponential gains over a long period of time?

Why Most Christians Shouldn’t Move Overseas as Missionaries
Like many Christians, I assumed that radical obedience meant moving overseas. I read David Platt’s book Radical years ago, and it deeply impacted my walk with the Lord. Since then, I’ve been trying to leverage my life to make Jesus known everywhere.

But that doesn’t mean every Christian needs to move overseas as a missionary. In fact, most Christians shouldn’t move overseas as missionaries. But every Christian has a role to play in making Christ known.

Christian Witness Ten Years Ago vs. Today
Gavin Ortlund shares four ways evangelism, apologetics, and Christian witness have changed from 2014 to 2024.

Three things to remember when evangelism is dispiriting
Church can be a very dispiriting place sometimes. Just this week I was speaking with someone about yet another person who had professed faith and seemed to be seeking to engage the gospel who then turned round and jacked it all in. Our church has also seen a fair share of Iranian brother and sisters join with us who, for a range of different reasons, end up drifting away.

These things can be quite discouraging when we see them happen again and again. The question is, how do we respond to them? What should we think about it? Here are some key things to bear in mind.

The sower in Jesus' Parable of the Sower does not confine himself to one part of rhe field. He scatters the seed over a wide area. God also employs us in different ways--to prepare the soil, to sow, to water, and to reap. We may water where others have sown, and others may reap where we have sown. One of the important things in evangelism is to see each person, not as a project, but someone for whom Jesus gave his life and whom God cares about.

American Dominion traces deep roots of Seven Mountain Mandate
Those who share in Christ’s resurrection “will reign with him for a thousand years,” says Revelation 20:6, but some believers want Christians to exercise dominion right now.

That’s the heart of author Keri Ladner’s message in American Dominion: The Rise and Radicalization of a New Christendom.

Cyclosporiasis
Cyclosporiasis is an illness you get from the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis. It causes watery, and sometimes explosive, diarrhea and other stomach problems. It usually spreads from contaminated water or food. Treatment typically includes antibiotics.

According to news reports, health officials are warning consumers about lettuce and other salad greens as they race to identify the source of a multistate diarrhea outbreak caused by the parasite Cyclospora. Nearly 7,000 Americans are dealing with the stomach parasite Cyclospora and the terrible symptoms that go along with it. Cyclospora is one of the hardest foodborne pathogens to trace, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, due to its lengthy incubation time. As well as from contaminated fruits and vegetables when eaten raw, Cyclospora can be contracted from contaminated water in swimming pools, water parks, rivers, lakes and other bodies of water like backyard wading pools and gravel pit swimming holes.

Why the Roman Centurion’s Faith Amazed Jesus in Luke 7
It’s not just that this centurion’s faith is utterly extraordinary. Jesus adds this comment that He has not found so great a faith even in Israel! Why did Jesus say that?

To understand that, we need to go back and catch up on what’s been going on up to this point in Luke’s Gospel. A text without a context is a pretext—isn’t that the saying? And the context for this story is what has already taken place in Luke’s Gospel, and even what will take place later. We don’t go first to Matthew or to Mark to understand what’s going on here. We also know that Luke didn’t stop with Jesus’s earthly ministry but continued the story in his book of Acts. Luke and Acts are a two-part story that serves as the larger context for everything we read within their pages.

Lay Preacher Training Informational Webinar
The role of lay preacher has been an important part of the church from its earliest days. As the clergy shortage grows and churches are under increased financial strain, the need for licensed lay preachers grows each year.

Have Praise Teams Replaced Black Church Choirs?
In many churches, they have. But the choral tradition is finding enthusiastic advocates elsewhere.

AI will make war worse, Pope Leo warns
Technology, detached from ethics and responsibility, will make wartime decisions about life and death more rapid and impersonal, the pope writes.

How to Reach Generation Alpha by Equipping Their Parents
If we want to reach Generation Alpha, in addition to being strategic about ministering to children and students, we must focus on the parents.

Tuesday's Catch: Gen-Z Revival Isn’t Happening. Here’s How It Could.

Gen-Z Revival Isn’t Happening. Here’s How It Could.
Stories supporting the idea that Gen Z has decided to return to the Christian faith seem to surface every week.

Looking at the data, however, Gen Z remains a decidedly secular age group. Despite all the vibes and anecdotes of a religious resurgence among young people, Ryan Burge and others have pointed out that, at best, we’re seeing a leveling off of the decline of religiosity. A far cry from a shift that could be called a revival.

That’s not to say that nothing has shifted culturally. The way people (and young people especially) talk about religion seems to be changing. Whether it’s TikTok-viral Catholic Mass pizza parties or influencers announcing they’ve decided to follow Jesus, many young people in America are reaching for something greater than what they’ve found on their phones...

The Unchurched Next Door: New Tools and Insights to Really Reach Them
Join Thom and Sam Rainer on Thursday, July 16, at 1:00 PM Eastern for The Unchurched Next Door: New Tools and Insights to Really Reach Them. In this free webinar, you’ll discover why the mission field around your church may be larger and more receptive than you realize. Learn about the five levels of unchurched receptivity (U1–U5), uncover where your greatest outreach opportunities exist, and see how The Unchurched Report can help your church better understand and engage the people in your community. Save your spot today!

Church of England Synod rejects motion affirming same-sex relationships
A motion seeking support from the Church of England’s parliamentary body for “committed” and “intimate” same-sex relationships has failed to pass.

Also See: The 'King' Vote as amended...; The bishops held the line at Synod - but for how much longer?

Burmese Anglicans Take the Long View
The Anglican Church of the Province of Myanmar’s participation in GAFCON and the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches has prompted curiosity and, at times, cynicism. For many Anglicans in Myanmar (formerly Burma), regroupings in the church are seen as attempts to solve complex problems pragmatically.

Canadian Church Newspaper Sheds Journalistic Commitments
The Anglican Journal, the 151-year-old official newspaper of the Anglican Church of Canada’s will drop its journalistic commitments and focus on church communications, ensuring that its writing “unequivocally supports the mission of the church.” The move follows a series of disputes between editorial staff and church authorities about the publication’s journalistic independence.

The Latina women in Texas reshaping the UMC
Latina United Methodist Church leaders in Texas are emerging with fresh models for ministry following years of schism, decline and uncertainty within the denomination.

The real American religion: A July 4 postmortem
Amid the cries to Make America Christian Again, the truth is, Christianity never had a chance.

Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart said as much in an interview provocatively titled, “David Bentley Hart: The Theologian is a Quiet Rioter.”

Here are his words: “Christianity never succeeded in America. Most Americans think of themselves as Christians. But the only religion in America that ever flourished was America. And it twists everything in its own image.”

Baptists and the Fiction of Christian Nationalism

So what is a Christian?

Lay Preacher Training Informational Webinar
The role of lay preacher has been an important part of the church from its earliest days. As the clergy shortage grows and churches are under increased financial strain, the need for licensed lay preachers grows each year...

Monday's Catch: 'Why All Church Health Is Downstream from Evangelism' And More

Why All Church Health Is Downstream from Evangelism
Every church wants to be healthy.

Pastors and congregants want better discipleship, stronger leadership pipelines, healthier finances, more volunteers, and greater unity. Those are all worthwhile goals, but none of them sit at the source. They are downstream realities.

The source is evangelism.

The Unchurched Next Door: New Tools and Insights to Really Reach Them
Join Thom and Sam Rainer on Thursday, July 16, at 1:00 PM Eastern for The Unchurched Next Door: New Tools and Insights to Really Reach Them. In this free webinar, you’ll discover why the mission field around your church may be larger and more receptive than you realize. Learn about the five levels of unchurched receptivity (U1–U5), uncover where your greatest outreach opportunities exist, and see how The Unchurched Report can help your church better understand and engage the people in your community. Save your spot today!

The Little White Church Is Empty
Jerry and Wendy Goldsmith’s church is dying.

Every Sunday, the congregation in Tipton, Iowa, draws about 30 of the town’s 3,000 residents to its morning service. The building, constructed in the late 19th century, is slowly falling apart. The church doesn’t have enough money to make repairs. Since the pastor retired last June, they’ve had an interim minister. Almost all the congregants are over 60.

Their story is a common one. Many rural churches like Cedar Street are suffering a major decline in attendance. Part of the problem is the gradually decreasing population in small towns. But many more traditional country churches also aren’t effectively reaching younger generations and are struggling to fill pulpits. That’s turned rural America into one of the next mission fields ripe for harvest.

7 Signs Your Church Is Dying (Even If Attendance Looks Fine)
These are seven signs most church leaders either don’t see or don’t want to say out loud. Read them honestly. If three or more describe your church, this isn’t a program problem. It’s a foundation problem.

Women Are Not God’s Backup Plan for Ministry
The deeper I have gone into the biblical story, the more I have found women woven throughout it. Not standing on the sidelines waiting for their opportunity, but actively participating in God’s redemptive work. Not as a concession or an emergency substitute. They were never Plan B.

Church of England adds annual commemoration for 21 Christian men martyred by Islamic State
The Church of England has voted to create an annual commemoration for 21 Christian labourers who were beheaded by Islamic State militants on a Libyan beach in 2015, marking the first change to its liturgical calendar in 16 years.

Mixed Blessings: Tracing the Life of Revival Faith in America
“Evangelical” has become a contentious term in the United States. Today we often hear about “exvangelicals” or “post-evangelicals.” Some who once owned the identification now regard the term “evangelical” as having been simply ruined. The primary reason for such contention is that pollsters have identified “evangelicals” as a major American political force. And politics — and with it, conflict and polarization — overwhelms everything else in our news and much of our discourse.

A pressing question, then, for those who would still own the term “evangelical” is how in these troubled times we might still think of evangelicalism as primarily a religious movement.

Voices: Bookworms must stave off our becoming a 'post-literate generation'
As somebody who has been immersed in books since I can remember, I struggle to imagine never reading at all. But all the evidence suggests I am on the wrong side of history. Surveys show that children’s appetite for reading is in freefall: fewer than one in five British youngsters between eight and 18 read every day, with the decline sharpest among teenage boys. Another recent poll found that fully half of all adults don’t read books for pleasure at all, with many turning to the bright lights of social media instead: what has been described as “post-literacy”.

The figures are even worse in the US. The proportion of American teenagers who “hardly ever” read has risen from less than 20 per cent in 1985 to almost 50 per cent today, while the proportion who read every day has fallen from almost 40 per cent to barely 10 per cent. Little wonder, then, that English literature degrees are in rapid decline, or that lecturers – even in the UK – have long complained that their students are incapable of reading a book.

Why this article? Three books--the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer since the sixteenth century Reformation and a hymnal since the eighteenth century--have played a central role in Anglican worship. Even in churches where the words of Scripture readings, prayers, and hymns are shown on a wall screen, congregations must be able to read to participate. How will Anglican churches fare in a post-literate world is a reasonable question to ask.

What Unforgiveness Does to Your Brain
The problem is that unforgiveness doesn’t just keep you chained to the person who hurt you. It reshapes your brain chemistry in ways that make you more anxious, more forgetful, and more sensitive to future pain. Understanding what’s actually happening inside your head is often the first step toward finally putting it down.

HEAT WAVE WARNING: 5 Mistakes That Can Kill You
Every summer, extreme heat quietly kills more people than any other kind of weather, and the great majority of them are over 60. In this video I walk through five common mistakes that turn an ordinary hot day into a genuine emergency, and why your body's ability to cool itself changes after 60 in ways almost no one warns you about. You'll learn why some of the things people do to stay cool can actually make heat more dangerous, how common medications quietly raise your risk, the hydration mistake nearly everyone makes, and the warning signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke that families most often miss until it is too late. Most important, you'll know exactly what to do instead, starting today, to get yourself and the people you love safely through the next heat wave. It is mechanism-first, sourced, and made for anyone over 60 who wants to stay safe in the heat.

Also See: This simple frozen water bottle trick can make your fan feel colder

This may help but it is no substitute for air conditioning when a room's temperature is in the 90s. Among the things that churches can do is check on older members of the church and residents of the community and open an air-conditioned sanctuary or fellowship hall as a cooling center. A church can also provide transportation to a cooling center for those who have no transportation of their own.

Cryptosporidium ("Crypto")
Learn more about the "crypto" parasite which has sickened people in a growing number of states this summer.

Maps show states at risk as US monsoon arrives
A major shifting weather pattern is set to bring the first widespread monsoon storms of the summer to the parched Southwest, offering relief from weeks of triple-digit heat but introducing severe risks of flash flooding and lightning-sparked wildfires.

Forecasters track the arrival of the annual North American monsoon as a massive high-pressure system alters regional wind directions, drawing deep tropical moisture northward into the interior West. Thunderstorm activity is expected to intensify across Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and Texas, threatening major metro areas including Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque, and Las Vegas.

We have been experiencing thunderstorms every day for more than a week in western Kentucky. The rain has helped to reduce the heat but has caused high water in some areas and we are under a flash flood alert. I strongly advise against attempting to drive through high water. Either take a different route to your destination or wait until the water has gone down. I speak from experience.

8 Signs of a Dangerous Pastor Every Search Committee Should Know
I’ve spent decades watching search committees do this work, and I’ve watched some of them miss warning signs that were sitting in plain view. What follows are eight patterns worth knowing before you extend a call, not after.

7 Signs a Pharisee Spirit Is Leading Your Church
Here’s an uncomfortable question. What if the Pharisee isn’t the guy down the street or the church across town? What if it’s you?

Most leaders assume they’d have recognized Jesus instantly. But read the Gospels closely and it gets harder to be so sure. When Jesus called Matthew away from his tax booth and then sat down to eat with him and his friends, a lot of good, Bible-believing people were offended. If you’d have raised the same objection, you’d have been standing with the Pharisees.

That’s the worry worth sitting with. Not whether a Pharisee is running your church. Whether it’s you.

Should Pastors Engage in Online Fights?
In this episode, Josh and Sam tackle a question many pastors quietly wrestle with: Should I respond to that post… or just scroll past it? Social media makes it easy to jump into theological skirmishes and digital debates, but Scripture calls pastors to something higher than winning arguments. Online quarrels often produce more heat than light, drain emotional energy, and distract from the real work of shepherding people face-to-face. While there is a time to contend for the faith, most comment-section fights are poor stewardship and rarely change hearts. Sometimes the most pastoral response is silence... and logging off.

How to suck the power out of your preaching and teaching...
Of all people, preachers should have real and great expectations from preaching or teaching, not because of anything on their part, but because of what they have to work with...

Why Prayer Is Necessary for You
The Heidelberg Catechism slots prayer in the gratitude section (not in guilt or grace). Prayer is a vital part of our Spirit-prompted obedience to God. God saves us in order for us to commune with Him. Our Father commands us to offer Him sacrifices of thankfulness, and we will if we are truly thankful. Ungrateful people don’t take time to thank God for His rich blessings.

But notice the second part of 116: “Moreover, God will give His grace and the Holy Spirit only to those who constantly and with heartfelt longing ask Him for these gifts and thank Him for them.” That’s important to understand.

Can AI replace vocation?
For many, the uncertainty is about more than employment — it's about meaning and purpose.

Psychologists warn of a sycophancy trap as patients increasingly turn to AI chatbots for therapy
More than three-quarters of psychologists report that their patients are turning to artificial intelligence for mental health support, ranging from self-diagnosis to seeking companionship. This trend provides evidence that people are increasingly looking beyond traditional psychotherapy to manage their psychological well-being. These findings were published in a recent survey report by the American Psychological Association.

3 Ways to Ensure Programs Are Making Disciples
Making disciples doesn’t happen by accident. It requires attention, intention, and the right conditions over time.

Sundays at All Hallows (July 12, 2026) Is Now Online

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.

This Sunday is the Sixth Sunday after Trinity. The Scripture readings in the season of the church year focus on the Christian faith and way of life. Being a Christian involves more than attending church services, hearing sermons, taking communion, giving to the support of the church and its work, and helping others. It requires that we surrender every part of our life to God.

In this Sunday’s message we examine what else we can learn from the Parable of the Sower and how it applies to Christians in our day.

Readings: Isaiah 55: 10-13, Romans 8: 1-11, and Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23

Message: A Second Lesson from the Parable of the Sower

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2026/07/sundays-at-all-hallows-july-12-2026.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.

Saturday Lagniappe: 'The Unchurched Next Door' And More

The Unchurched Next Door: New Tools and Insights to Really Reach Them
Join Thom and Sam Rainer on Thursday, July 16, at 1:00 PM Eastern for The Unchurched Next Door: New Tools and Insights to Really Reach Them. In this free webinar, you’ll discover why the mission field around your church may be larger and more receptive than you realize. Learn about the five levels of unchurched receptivity (U1–U5), uncover where your greatest outreach opportunities exist, and see how The Unchurched Report can help your church better understand and engage the people in your community. Save your spot today!

The Future of Church Hiring When Pastors Are in Short Supply
As more churches struggle to find qualified pastors, the future of church hiring is changing fast. In this episode, Thom and Sam explore what pastor shortages mean for congregations, why old search processes are becoming less effective, and how churches can adapt with greater clarity, flexibility, and realism. The conversation focuses on practical ways churches can rethink staffing, develop internal leaders, and build healthier expectations for the next generation of pastors. 

A growing number of Episcopal congregations must share a priest with one or more other congregations, have a priest who is about to retire, or must depend upon aging retired priests to supply them. To make matters, worse they cannot function well on their own without a priest because their worship, ministry, and life as a congregation  is priest-centered. Worship services are poorly planned and executed on priestless Sundays and worship committees planning these services too often suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect and are resistant to guidance.

Do Some Congregations Have a Chrysler Dealership Mindset from Yesteryear?

The pandemic, with all its challenges for churches, showed that even the smallest churches can do things they previously would have thought impossible. But the pandemic also reminds us that those changes are not easy or without tension and a great deal of new learning. The challenge for churches today is to find ways to innovate without the presence of a pandemic or similar external disruption.

All mindsets from yesteryear are not "conservative," an all too common assumption, they can also be "progressive." For example, the antipathy in the Episcopal Church to evangelism and evangelistic outreach. 

Trump's CDC stopped monitoring explosive diarrhea parasite before outbreak

The Trump administration’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scaled back a federal-state partnership that monitors foodborne illnesses, including cyclospora, a year before several states began reporting an outbreak of cyclospora infection, a foodborne illness that can cause “explosive” diarrhea.

Just in time for the church picnics, potlucks, and block parties of the summer.

Why the Apostles’ Creed Still Matters

Throughout the history of the church, at least since the fourth century AD, Christians have turned to the Apostles’ Creed as one of the clearest summaries of “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Though brief—only about a hundred words—it distills the heart of Christian belief in a way that both instructs and unites God’s people. In an age when truth feels fluid and identity shifts with every new cultural current, the Creed offers a firm place to stand, reminding believers who God is and what the gospel truly proclaims.

I Believe in God, the Father Almighty
The Apostles’ Creed begins with four simple yet seismic words: “I believe in God.” For centuries, Christians have confessed this as the foundation of all faith. But what does it actually mean to believe in God? And what kind of God are we talking about—the vague spiritual force of popular culture revealed in Star Wars, or the living, triune God revealed in Scripture?

The first line of the Creed, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty,” invites us to recover a vision of God that is both intimate and immense—personal yet infinite, near yet utterly holy—immanent yet totally transcendent.

5 of the Worst Leadership Traits I’ve Experienced
...what actually separates a flawed leader from one who never reaches their potential? After years of watching pastors and church leaders up close, I’ve narrowed it to five traits. Feel free to disagree, or add to the list.

The Brutal Reality of Pastoring with John Ortberg
John Ortberg has spent decades leading churches, writing books, and teaching leaders. But every leader has parts of the job they’re not naturally good at. In this conversation, John opens up about pain in leadership, what it’s like to be an introvert in ministry, and how to handle the work you’d rather avoid.

Friday's Catch: 'Cultural Enemies' And More

Cultural Enemies
In this article James Emery White writes, “Don’t worry about having enemies. Instead, concern yourself with having the right ones and for the right reasons. Don’t have enemies because you are intentionally offensive in spirit and in relational dynamics. Don’t have enemies because you are caustic and abrasive. Don’t have enemies because you are unfeeling and unloving. But… Do have enemies because you stand for truth. Do have enemies because you will not waver in the face of majority opinion when it clashes with biblical authority. Do have enemies when you will not personally compromise your convictions.”

Why Women Can’t Lead in Your Church
Every few years, another institution’s reckoning with how it treats women leaders becomes national news. A seminary president is removed. A denomination argues over whether the word “pastor” applies to a worship leader or a Sunday school director. A well-known Bible teacher steps publicly away from the tradition that raised her. Each story reads like an isolated scandal. Together, they describe something more ordinary and more troubling: a pattern of women whose gifts stall out at the same invisible ceiling, in churches nowhere near the headlines.

Why the Church Needs to See Women in Leadership
“Where are the women leaders? I wish there were more out there.”

“I just wish there were more coming through. There don’t seem to be any anywhere.”

“What’s happening?”

I have had this exact conversation more times than I can count. Over coffee. On a podcast recording. In a hallway after a conference session. With men and women across the U.S., across Europe, across generations. Sometimes the tone is wistful. Sometimes it carries real hurt. Sometimes it just sounds baffled, like something doesn’t add up.

How to Guard Your Women’s Ministry Against False Teaching
What struck me about this article is that the foundation for sound doctrine proposed in the article is applicable to all people involved in ministry irrespective of their gender. I would also add that men are susceptible to the influence of social media too. It is not something unique to women!

Faith-based AI company Gloo faces moment of truth after $438M in losses
Serial entrepreneur Scott Beck believes he has a mission to help churches and Christian ministries spread God's work and help others. After years of financial losses, he believes his investment in building a faith-based tech company will soon pay off.

Experts have a warning about this influential pastor's controversial views on women
A recent NPR interview with controversial pastor Doug Wilson is highlighting the growing influence of Christian nationalism in American political and cultural life ― as well as alarming the experts and survivors who know this movement well.

Wilson, who co-founded the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, or CREC, spoke to journalist Leila Fadel about his vision for a Christian theocracy and doubled down on his view that women should not have the right to vote. Calling the repeal of the 19th Amendment “a good idea,” he argued in favor of a “household voting” system in which this right is effectively limited to male heads of household.

ICE arrested a nun on her way to church. Does MAGA care?
On June 28, Sister Leticia “Letty” Ugboaja, a Catholic nun from Nigeria, stepped out of her home to take the short, one-block stroll to her church in McAllen, Texas. It should have been uneventful: dressed in her white habit and bearing a rosary, Sister Letty was walking to Sunday morning mass at Our Lady of Sorrows.

She didn’t make it — US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stopped, arrested, and handcuffed the 56-year-old. They took her to a detention facility an hour away, reportedly confiscated her rosary, and declined to bring her the medication she takes. She called her diocese for help — and as news spread, both Republican and Democratic members of Congress appealed directly to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for details. Hours later, she was released — without explanation.

Opinion: What Willy Rice once knew
Newly elected Southern Baptist Convention President Willy Rice has characterized the SBC’s clergy sex abuse crisis as a “hoax” and a “snipe hunt.”

Talk like that helped get Rice elected. Apparently, it was the message many Southern Baptists wanted to hear.

But just eight years ago, Rice was expounding a very different message.

In 2018, on his “Pastor’s Blog,” Rice published “Another SBC ‘Me-Too’ Story” in which he spoke out about church leaders who “fail in their responsibilities due to our unwillingness to reckon with difficult things.”

Small business bankruptcies soar 

Small business bankruptcies are surging across the U.S. in 2026, as the nation’s entrepreneurs battle persistent economic headwinds and attempt to serve increasingly cash-strapped consumers.

According to data from the bankruptcy information and technology platform Epiq AACER, cited in an analysis from the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), small business filings rose to 1,663 in the first half of the year, up 50 percent compared to the same six months in 2025.

What affects the local economy affects the local church. A small business goes bankrupt and the community loses an employer. A church member loses a job and the church food pantry has another family to feed. A church member may be forced to relocate in search of work. Or take a job that pays less and work on Sundays.

Monster heat dome to suffocate 20 US states as 115F feels like temperatures return in just days
The extreme heat and humidity are returning for millions of Americans.

At least 17 US states across the northern Plains and parts of the Upper Midwest are set to be trapped under a blazing heat dome starting on Sunday.

AccuWeather meteorologists are expecting widespread highs of 95 to 105°F, with 'feels like' temperatures reaching 115°F into next week.

Migration and The Life of the Church
In recent years there has been a flood of writing and discussion around the theology of migration. It has occupied ecumenical discussions and academic circles, as well as practical diocesan and parish considerations, as Christians in the West especially attempt to understand this pressing reality for our common life. As many have said, we live in an Age of Migration, and though it is sometimes hard to tell how unprecedented it truly is, there can be little doubt that it is a massive global force that is reshaping the contemporary Church and the world around it.

We Need a Thicker View of God’s Love
The mark of a good theologian (whether armchair or academic) isn’t simply affirming the “right things” but the ability to uphold multiple aspects of scriptural truth and not just pick the one that seems most useful at the time.

Study finds humans will talk to AI ghosts of the dead as reincarnations, and it’s pretty grim
A new study from the University of Colorado Boulder confirms something that sounds both impressive and concerning. People find interacting with AI simulations of their dead loved ones deeply meaningful, and most will come away wanting to do it again.

The researchers call it a “generative ghost,” which is a clear reference to generative AI, but I’d still prefer to call it unsettling.

As well as its addictiveness, what should concern us is how this development affects the way people view death and what happens to the deceased after they die. It may lull people into complacency about their own and loved ones' eternal destiny. The Scriptures also warn us against communicating with the dead and the practices associated with it. This development raises the question of whether the prohibition against communicating with the dead also applies to communicating with a simulacrum of a departed loved one.

Generation lonely: How the young forgot how to make friends
Recently, an academic told me a story so bleakly indicative of the times we’re living in that I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind since. It concerned her 18-year-old students, and the way they behaved in the first lecture of the year. In times gone by, these freshly minted adults would have instinctively introduced themselves to each other – said hello to the person sitting either side, exchanged names and pleasantries for a few minutes. But she had observed something very different occurring over the past decade. These young people would now sit down and wait in silence, avoiding eye contact and usually scrolling on their phones, until she began her lecture.

I have observed similar behavior in the hallways as well as in the classroom at my university.

Parents’ attachment to phone screens can lead to anxiety in children – study
The term “phubbing” was conceived several years ago to describe the modern-day phenomenon of a person ignoring the social setting in front of them in favor of their phone. That act has long-term negative effects when parents do it around their children, according to new research.

Thursday's Catch: 'Why Guests Aren’t Coming Back to Your Church (and How to Fix It)' And More

Why Guests Aren’t Coming Back to Your Church (and How to Fix It)
Stop expecting guests to figure out what you haven’t clearly communicated or culturally reinforced in the church.

24 Signs of a Truly Healthy Church
Every year, more Protestant churches close their doors than open them. Lifeway Research‘s most recent count found roughly 4,000 closures against only 3,800 new church starts, and the smaller, older congregations are the ones bearing the brunt of it.

Behind every one of those closures is a room full of people who lost their church family.

So whether you’re church shopping, wondering if your own congregation is built to last, or trying to help your church get healthier, here are 24 signs to look for. These aren’t a to-do list. They’re diagnostic markers, the kind of things you can actually observe in a church without ever sitting in a staff meeting. They’re listed in no particular order, though signs 1 and 24 carry the most weight.

The Impending Is Upon Us
Surely every historical moment seems like an inflection point, but some inflections are more inflected than others. In a quiet way, such a case could be made for American Christian denominations and local congregations at present. The old shibboleths fade, but not entirely; of the culture wars many tire, though the issues remain. Meanwhile, the political atmosphere in general is toxic. We age. The struggle with the nationwide pattern of small rural churches can no longer be ignored, not least in the search for pastors, many of whom would be less than full-time. Their buildings often feel like albatrosses. Nationally, the future is threated by high levels of debt, which the tech revolution seems as likely to exacerbate as to solve. This litany of woe is not new, but the proximity of various days of reckoning is.

What Ryan Burge sees in America’s megachurches
Americans are fascinated with megachurches, and that is leading some of the nation’s largest churches to keep getting larger, according to religion researcher Ryan Burge.

Burge, a professor of practice at the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University, has become one of the most prolific interpreters of religion data with almost daily posts to his Substack, “Graphs About Religion.”

Analysis - Trump cut to food security survey could make measuring US hunger harder 

President Donald Trump's cancellation last year of a government food security survey could make it difficult to assess whether his cuts to the food stamp program lead to a rise in U.S. hunger, especially among children.

Trump's tax and spending law signed last July shifted significant Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program spending to states and expanded work requirements, among other changes.

During the early days of the COVID 19 epidemic, Trump took the view that if cases and hospitalizations went unreported the outbreak would not be as serious as it was as if not reporting the seriousness of the outbreak would magically make it disappear! This kind of thinking on his part helps to explain his nomination of a climate change denier to head a department studying climate change as well as his cancellation of the food insecurity survey.

John Stott, Annihilationism, and the Evangelical controversy
Some controversies arise because someone deliberately sets out to challenge the church. Others because someone whom almost everyone trusts quietly admits that they are no longer certain about a doctrine that everyone assumed was settled.

The controversy surrounding John Stott’s views on hell belongs emphatically to category 2.

Pastors are still struggling but relief remains out of reach for many
More than half of Protestant pastors in the United States say they need help with their physical and mental health, while the burnout-relief measures they believe would work best remain largely out of reach, according to new research from Barna Group.

Pastoral transition is holy work
It is all kinds of work, really. Pastoral transition is spiritual, emotional, organizational, and theological work. On the best days, it is resurrection work. Pastors practice trust in a structure bigger than themselves, alongside congregations that grieve and hope at the same time. It is the kind of work that asks church systems to reveal what they actually value, not only what they say they value. In the United Methodist Church, where appointments are part of our ecclesial life, transition is one of the places where our connectional theology becomes concrete.

5 Ways to Engage Youth This Summer
Many churches assume meaningful youth ministry requires extensive programming and resources. Laura Heikes shows how simple, relational experiences often have the greatest impact. She offers five practical ideas that will help churches of any size engage young people this summer.

Under the Surface: The Mission Trip
Mission trips are often viewed as service projects, but effective ministry leaders understand that mission trips can become powerful opportunities for spiritual formation and theological reflection. Andrew Mochrie explores how youth leaders can help students move beyond simply doing good works to recognizing and participating in the deeper work God is already doing in the world—both during the trip and long after they return home.