Monday's Catch: '7 Signs Your Church is Ready to Reach New People' And More

7 Signs Your Church is Ready to Reach New People
If new people showed up this week, is your church set up to receive them? Here are seven signs your church is ready to reach new people.

The Problem of Ageism and Church Staff Near Retirement
Many churches say they value older adults, but their staffing decisions often tell a different story. Thom and Sam discuss how ageism is a real and often overlooked problem in church personnel decisions, especially for staff members approaching retirement. Churches may seek “younger energy,” cut older staff under the banner of stewardship, or assume older workers cannot adapt. But a healthy, multigenerational church should value a multigenerational staff and help older leaders finish well.

Young Christians, you need older Christians in your life!
Most churches, especially as they get larger, tend to have specialised children, youth and young adult ministries. If a church is large enough, perhaps it will also have a dedicated youth or university student worship service. At the other end of the demographic scale, it is common to see ministries or services aimed at shall we say more mature believers. This all makes a great deal of sense sociologically. Everyone gets to be with a group they are comfortable with. Each ministry can be tailored for a narrow audience, making things like music choices or teaching style simpler. So what’s the problem?

A Practical Guide for Church Families Supporting Seniors in Need
As congregations seek to care well for aging members, good intentions alone are not enough. Justin Black offers practical ways church leaders can organize consistent emotional, practical, and spiritual support so older adults feel connected, respected, and cared for by the whole church community.

HPUMC case tests limits of United Methodist connectionalism
If a Methodist church does not recognize the authority of its regional conference or its bishop, is that congregation still a United Methodist church?

In its legal dispute with the Horizon West Conference of The United Methodist Church, Highland Park United Methodist Church is pushing boundaries not often tested in the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination.

Southern Baptist senior pastors saw a pay cut over past 2 years: study
Most senior Southern Baptist pastors have seen their pay packages and compensation decrease over the past two years, even as employer-sponsored healthcare availability for these leaders varies widely by church size, a new study finds.

Lifeway Research released its 2026 Southern Baptist Church Compensation Study on Tuesday. The report — a joint effort by Lifeway, Baptist state conventions and GuideStone Financial Resources — collected responses from 3,888 full-time senior pastors, staff ministers and office personnel at Southern Baptist churches.

Why Your Church Needs an Abuse Prevention Policy
The key purpose of an abuse prevention policy is to protect the vulnerable from those who may wish to bring them harm. A related purpose is to protect the vulnerable from those who may inadvertently bring them harm, thus distinguishing between someone who deliberately hits a child, for example, and someone who mistakenly knocks one over. In most cases, vulnerable people include children and those with special needs, though some churches may broaden it to better encompass the scope of their ministries...

How Below-Average Pastors Become Good Leaders
The focus of this article is on improving the ineffective rather than redeeming the unethical. These leaders are not malicious, just ineffective. They want to make ethical decisions, but they are oblivious to how their decisions affect others. What are some ways in which below-average church leaders can become better?

When the Church Bully Is the Pastor: Signs and What To Do
Diotrephes (pronounced dye-OT-ruh-feez) was a first-century church leader named in 3 John 1:9-10. The apostle John describes a man who loved being first, refused to accept John’s authority, spread malicious talk about him, would not welcome traveling believers, and put out of the church anyone who tried to welcome them. He is the clearest picture in Scripture of a church leader who bullies.

“The Leaders We Need Don’t Lead Alone” featuring Beth Ludlum
Collaboration is essential for the future of the church. In this episode Beth Ludlum, the Co-Director of The Hub for (Re)imagining Ministry and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Wesley Theological Seminary, shares how moving beyond ministry silos can create deeper relationships, greater creativity, and new possibilities for the church. She also explores how building relationships, embracing vulnerability, and creating space for new voices can help churches imagine new ways of serving their neighbors and living out their mission.
8 Signs Your Churchgoers Are Seeking God 

The By-Products of Faithful Preaching
It is a basic Christian axiom that words do things. God speaks in creation, for example, and in the unfolding of salvation his Word became flesh. In the life of the church too, the Spirit uses our words to effect new realities—pronouncements like “I do” in weddings or “I forgive you” through tearful eyes. Preachers, in particular, put words together into sermons, which also by the power of the Spirit do things. Sermons may encourage or teach, warn or comfort. A sermon has a purpose (or function) that answers the “so what?” question lurking behind all our talking. Preparing a sermon in study and prayer, preachers ask, “What do I want this message to do?” and “What do I want my listeners to do as a result of hearing this message?”

8 Signs Your Churchgoers Are Seeking God
Churches become healthy when their people are faithfully seeking God, leading them to look and live like Jesus.

Also See: Are You a Part-Time follower of Jesus

Sundays at All Hallows (September 13, 2026) Is Now Online

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.

This Sunday, September 6, 2026, is the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. This year the Last Sunday after Trinity, also known as Bible Sunday, falls on October 25, 2026, six Sundays from this Sunday. You can learn more about Bible Sunday from this Christian Today article, “What Is Bible Sunday?” 

For this Sunday’s Invitatory Psalm, you have a choice as you did last three Sundays, either the original version of Michael Perry’s metrical paraphrase of the Venite (Psalm 95), “Come Worship God,” or the inclusive language version. The organ accompaniment for both versions is the same-- Joseph Francis Thrupp’s hymn tune EPIPHANY.

The topic of this Sunday’s message is Jesus’ teaching about forgiveness.

Readings: Genesis 50: 15-21, Romans 14: 1-12, and Matthew 18: 21-35

Message: What Did Jesus Teach about Forgiveness?

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2026/09/sundays-at-all-hallows-september-13-2026.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: 'Where have all the clergy gone?' And More

Where have all the clergy gone?
The root cause of many of our problems was the disastrous decision by those in what was then called the Advisory Board for Ministry (ABM) to push the average age of ordination up by ten years over about ten years. Just pause for a moment, and reflect on what that does to the age profile of clergy.

Sarah Mullally is outshining Justin Welby on assisted dying
Earlier this week, Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally wrote an opinion piece in the Telegraph urging MPs to vote against the reintroduced Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill when it comes before the Commons on Friday. The article restates her opposition to assisted dying, expressed in a speech in the House of Lords last year and again when the previous bill ran out of time in the upper house in April.

UK High Court rules Exeter breakaway congregation does not control FCE properties 

The High Court of Justice in London (Property, Trusts and Probate List) has held that the Free Church of England Central Trust—not the trustees of the congregation that withdrew from the denomination in 2023—is the charity trustee of Christ Church Exeter’s principal properties. The ruling turns on the legal meaning of “in union with” the Free Church of England and leaves unresolved the underlying accusation that the FCE has departed from its Protestant founding principles.

Christian Nationalism Since 2019: A Retrospective 

One of the greatest snags for the nationalist is what to do with people who, though within the geographic boundaries of the nation-state, are not of the “people” or ethnos or “imagined nation,” whether that be defined in terms of religion or race or something else. The advantage of federal unions and empires is that they have allowed various peoples or nations to exist with a level of harmony and peace; proper nation-states have a hard time coping with whatever “other” there may be in a country’s populace. But how have the self-identified nationalists and their allies been getting along since 2019?

The Suitors’ Days Are Numbered 

...multiple denominations and churches (even churches that don’t affiliate with a denomination) all around the world have been racked with scandal as sexual abuse has come to light in recent years.

It’s as if the Lord has seen fit to expose the corruption at all levels and remove any reason for denominational or tribal pride. There’s hardly anywhere any of us can look for a church tradition or Christian organization that isn’t, in some way, stained by this evil. The scandal of sexual abuse—the unbearable weight of story after story of spiritual shepherds abusing their authority and preying on sheep—has grown heavier and heavier.

Human trafficking, evangelicals and the ‘lifestyles’ of survivors
Victims and survivors were forcibly wrapped up in a sinful situation. But it was created by the sins of their traffickers, by which they found themselves unfree to experience anything else. Although they experienced and endured sinfulness, they are not the ones who sinned.

Rise of Hispanic Church Plants
In 2025, Lifeway Research worked with 16 denominations or similar groups to survey leaders at almost 300 new Protestant Hispanic churches to gain insight into what these new ministries look like. Sponsored by Exponential and the Church Planting Leadership Fellowship, the Hispanic Church Planting Study 2025 follows up on similar 2019 research. Here are some key findings...

Theology and the Episcopal Church with Kelli Joyce and Scott MacDougall
Today we get a taste of how two of the top theological and pastoral thinkers in the Episcopal Church more broadly consider theology and its role in Episcopal life, from personal formation to polity and Church unity, and they’re helping other Episcopalians to understand how they’re already “doing theology” together.

This podcast offers a window into present day theological thinking in the Episcopal Church. It is always a good idea to know what others are thinking even though you may not share their views.

You Don’t Have to Dread Your Vocation
Every Monday morning, I receive an email that reads, “Pastor, it’s Monday. Don’t quit.” The email comes from an important ministry that serves pastors, providing resources to help them persevere and thrive in ministry. As a pastor, it’s a ministry I appreciate very much. Pastoring can be lonely, and it’s always encouraging to receive practical help from others who are in the trenches of ministry.

However, as much as I appreciate this ministry, I’ve come to despise this weekly email. Every single week, at the very top of the page, I encounter the same five words in two short sentences. Every week, I delete it immediately without reading the rest of the email. To be honest, I’m frightened by the email. I know how easy it is for me to adopt a mindset of self-pity and dreadful loathing of what God has called me to do. I don’t need a weekly assist in this area. In fact, in my interactions with other pastors, I don’t think any of us need to be reminded that ministry is hard. I believe this messaging is dangerous.

Workarounds for the 2019 Anglican Standard Eucharistic Rite: A Guide for Reformational Anglicans 

I wrote this article five years ago. My observations and suggestions for the most part remain unchanged. The rites and services of the 2019 ACNA Proposed Prayer Book tend to be more pretentious than practical. For example, the entrance rite for both eucharistic rites is modeled on the late medieval entrance rite of a Roman Catholic Mass celebrating a visit from the Pope! The rubrics make no provision for a simpler entrance rite, one more suitable for a small congregation worshiping in a non-traditional setting like a firestation's community room.

Should the Bible Be Taught in Public Schools? Yes.
Many critics and even some conservative Christians have sounded the alarm that this comes close to violating the U.S. Constitution’s establishment clause by favoring Christianity over other religions. This, coupled with the mandatory posting of the Ten Commandments in Texas classrooms, has some nervous about the encroachment of Christian nationalism.

But I don’t think constitutionalists should be so worried.

Should the Bible Be Taught in Public Schools? No.
Machen is worth hearing on this issue precisely because no one can accuse him of theological squishiness or embarrassment about the Bible. He gave his career, his reputation, and eventually his denominational standing to defend the full authority of Scripture.

Why, then, did he so strongly oppose Bible reading in public schools? His reasons are worth considering today.

‘Come As You Are’: Inside The Journey Church’s Growth
The Journey Church in Newark, Delaware, has rooted its identity around one conviction: “We’re a real church for real people.” Located in a college town where the median age is just 22 years old, the church near the University of Delaware has found authenticity to be the ultimate growth strategy.

Friday's Catch: 'Ed Stetzer: Is Revival Here?' And More

Ed Stetzer: Is Revival Here?
"What are we to think about all of this talk about a religious resurgence and increased spiritual interest? What is really happening?"

A journalist coined ‘the Bible Belt’ 100 years ago – it’s been oversimplifying the South ever since
‘The Bible Belt’ has been used for a century to describe religion and politics in the South. But it captured just some of life in the region then – and doesn’t capture what’s going on today.

Episcopal services of remembrance planned as US marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks
It has been 25 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and Episcopal congregations in New York, Washington, D.C., and beyond are hosting commemorations this week as part of the nationwide tributes to the attacks’ 2,977 victims.

MPs vote against assisted suicide in 'victory for hope, compassion and life'
The House of Commons has narrowly voted against the legalisation of medically assisted suicide, with 286 votes against and 270 in favour.

Trump admin has admitted zero persecuted Christians this year
Donald Trump is about to have the distinction of being the first president in possibly 45 years not to permit the resettlement of a persecuted Christian or other religious minority through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

What the AfD’s victory means for German churches’ influence
The Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) Party scored a pivotal victory for the far-right in Germany, an outcome churches fiercely fought to prevent. Their inability to stop it and the spread of the party’s anti-immigrant agenda expose a deeper rift in communities in which churches were a check on right-wing extremism.

Groups seek to prevent Trump from sending armed agents to polling places
A new lawsuit seeks to prevent the Trump administration from violating federal law by sending armed federal agents into polling places during the midterm elections.

Historic UK churches face growing maintenance crisis despite £2.6m in grants
The National Churches Trust has warned that historic church buildings across the UK are facing mounting financial and maintenance pressures, despite awarding more than £2.6 million in grants during 2025.

Russell Moore tells evangelicals their immigrant jokes aren’t funny
Russell Moore is at it again — this time calling fellow evangelicals to account for their gallows humor about immigrants.

In his latest Christianity Today newsletter, the former Southern Baptist ethics leader chides evangelicals for excusing their inhumanity toward immigrants by claiming they’re “just joking.” It not funny, he says.

Paul Graves: I Care About Indifferentism
"The dangers inherent in apathy infest every historical cultural movement and every religious tradition – especially toward people “not like us”. When we fall into the endless traps of indifference, it’s too easy to justify our not caring about others. And even about ourselves."

C. S. Lewis on Why God Seems Silent
Many love C. S. Lewis because of the heartwarming world of Narnia and the logical precision of Mere Christianity. But Lewis considered his true masterpiece to be Till We Have Faces, his dark retelling of an ancient pagan myth.

Seeing God at work in everyday life
In her new book, 605 Everyday Miracles, Alpha UK director Chloe Swart challenges the perception that miraculous healing is reserved for extraordinary people or church events.

How A Pastor Can Feed the Flock Every Day on Social Media
Now, thanks to modern technology, you can teach your people every day – without them having to physically gather.

However, it will require a shift in how you distribute your preaching and teaching.

Bible Study Evangelism 

Over the course of their lives, a majority of Christians will study the Bible with other Christians in a small group or one-on-one setting. These are great times to form relationships and deepen our understanding of Scripture. But have you ever considered using a Bible study as an evangelism tool? Sharonda Cooper has. And it’s given her some helpful insights into the best ways to invite our non-Christian neighbors into spiritual conversations through studying Scripture together.

Thursday's Catch: 'How Do We Know When to Shut Down a Church?' And More

How Do We Know When to Shut Down a Church?
Before concluding that a church should close, it should be tested from five different angles. No single test is decisive by itself. Together, however, they help pastors, elders, and sending churches discern whether Christ is calling a struggling church to persevere—or to conclude its ministry.

6 Signs Your Church Is Dysfunctional
...how do you know if your Christian organization or church is dysfunctional? Let me share some signs I have observed about dysfunctional churches.

A chapel near ground zero was a relief center after 9/11. Now, an exhibit honors its victims.
A new origami installation strings 2,977 paper cranes: one for each person killed in the attacks. The 'Ever Present' exhibition also features artifacts left there in the months after 9/11.

Also See: A World ‘Covered in the Dust of 9/11’

In direct appeal to Trump, Catholic bishops' president urges end of mass deportations of Haitians
The letter marks a shift toward a more direct and pointed tone in challenging President Donald Trump’s immigration policy.

Christians urged to pray ahead of assisted suicide vote
Christian policy-group CARE has urged believers to pray ahead of a vote in the House of Commons this Friday on assisted suicide.

A Church That Has Erred Is Still a Church
What, exactly, does the ACNA think the Episcopal Church is? I want to argue that the ACNA’s own authoritative texts have already answered that question, and that Dobbs’s letter applies a rule that those texts reserve for a different relationship altogether.

Olver has a point.

When we are not in control, where do we turn? 

Creation itself has a way of confronting us with our limitations. And perhaps that is not an entirely bad thing.

Where does our help come from?

In Praise of Ordinary Time
Ordinary Time is brimming with its own peculiar virtues, its own winsome charisms. These are, to be sure, usually more subtle and understated than the signs by which the more frenetic seasons call attention to themselves, but, like a fine aged wine, they are a delight to the senses of those who comes to appreciate them.

The Fight to Ban Superintelligent AI: The Race To Replace Humans Is Already On
The AI Frontier labs are building AI to do what YOU do, only faster and cheaper. And most leaders have no idea what's coming. Will Jones of the Future of Life Institute says this is the part nobody tells you: the more you lean on it to keep up, the more replaceable you make yourself.

In this video, Will Jones, an AI safety researcher, discusses fighting to ban superintelligence, walks through the race to AGI, what it does to your work, and whether you should use AI or resist it.

Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (September 10, 2026) Is Now Online

Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows.

While the dog days of summer, the hottest, most humid time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, traditionally run from July 3 through August 11, the time of the year when Sirius, the Dog Star, appears near the sun, causing the ancients to associate the summer heat with their nearness, the hottest days in western Kentucky have so far been in the last few days, late August and early September. The heat is attributable to climate change caused by human activity and not to any star. Climate change has been a factor in several natural disasters that have occurred this year, including wildfires, landslides, and floods. Natural disasters are not the only cause of human suffering. Human beings are adept at inflicting suffering on each other. If we pulled back the curtain that conceals them from our eyes, we would also discover that spiritual forces exist in this world which also contribute to human suffering. Like climate change, we may not wish to admit their existence, much less how they influence us. In this evening’s message we look at some of the ways that these spiritual forces do influence us and why we should be on guard against their influence.

Readings: Deuteronomy 18: 9-22; Galatians 5: 13-26

Message: No, It’s Not the Wizard of Oz Behind the Curtain!

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2026/09/thursday-evenings-at-all-hallows_0246935236.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: 'Armed Church Security Teams: Good Idea or Bad Idea?' And More

Armed Church Security Teams: Good Idea or Bad Idea?
The question of whether a church should have an armed security team is both practical and pastoral. Churches want to be welcoming places of worship, but they also have a responsibility to protect the people gathered on campus. An armed security team may be appropriate in some contexts, but it should never be treated casually. The decision requires clear policies, legal guidance, extensive training, insurance awareness, pastoral wisdom, and a churchwide commitment to safety that goes far beyond firearms.

Global Methodist Church reports growth in congregations, conferences, holds General Conference in Africa
More than 1,100 people attended the Global Methodist Church General Conference in Africa, with the theologically conservative denomination reporting considerable growth of congregations and regional conferences.

Founded in 2022 in response to the fierce debate over LGBT issues within the United Methodist Church (UMC) that led to a major schism in the mainline denomination, the Global Methodist Church (GMC) held its General Conference Aug. 30 to Sept. 6 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Another SC church accused of not limiting known sex offender
iThis publicity photo from Brookwood Church in Simpsonville, S.C., shows families with children leaving worship. (Via Facebook) A second Southern Baptist church in South Carolina has made headlines recently for allowing a registered sex offender to participate in congregational ministry.

Ministry Watch reported Aug. 31 that Brookwood Church in Simpsonville recently disqualified an adult male from serving in any capacity in the church, saying: “The man is a registered sex offender in South Carolina who was convicted in Georgia in 1983 for two offenses: Enticing a child for indecent purposes and child molestation.”

Richard Land says Mohler’s views defy Baptist principles
A veteran leader of the “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention has publicly challenged Al Mohler’s Christian nationalism.

Richard Land is the former head of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He was a foot soldier in the conservative movement in the SBC, beginning from a position at Criswell College in Dallas and then rising to national prominence.

Now, in an opinion piece for Christian Post, Land is challenging Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and one of the most influential voices in the SBC today.

Church vows to plough on with Project Spire
Labour MP Marsha De Cordova, speaking in her capacity as Second Church Estates Commissioner for the Church of England, has said the Church fully intends to proceed with the controversial Project Spire.

The Project will see £100 million put towards communities allegedly impacted by the transatlantic slave trade. The leadership of the Church has defended the move as an act of repentance and restitution for its alleged connections to the slave trade.

Project Spire is arguably an example of the misguided priorities that are plaguing the Church of England and causing a great deal of harm at the parish level. Buildings go unrepaired. Parishes have no stipendary clergy. Rural England is especially neglected.

Christian, pro-life groups rally against assisted suicide
Christian and pro-life groups are asking supporters to urge MPs to vote against a resurrected assisted suicide bill, which is due for Second Reading in the House of Commons on Friday.

The bill has been put forward as a private member’s bill by Labour MP Lauren Edwards and is virtually identical to a bill put forward by Kim Leadbeater that failed to pass earlier this year.

Monastic Revival: The New Monastery on Iona
There is a new Orthodox monastery on Iona, an island in the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. Iona is best known for it’s early medieval abbey. This new community, however, matters for Orthodoxy, but not just for Orthodoxy. The recent revival of Orthodox monasticism on the island deserves be on the radar of Anglicans[1]. What starts in Iona has a tendency not to stay on Iona.

While I rarely see a need for a disclaimer, in this particular instance I must state that I do not share David Goodhew's positive assessment of the growth of Eastern Orthodoxy in the British Isles. I do, however, have no objections to "full fat Christianity" of the robust Protestant Anglican variety.

Let’s Reclaim ‘Evangelical’ for the Sake of the Global Church
Despite the excitement of evangelicalism’s expanding reach, American evangelicals are in a crisis of definition. Cable-news anchors and other culture shapers regularly use “evangelical” to reference a voting bloc more than than a Christian movement. Consequently, American Christians with historically evangelical commitments actively debate the term’s usefulness.

Conceding the use of “evangelical” to secular pollsters is deeply flawed by an American-centric gaze that forgoes meaningful connection with the global evangelical family.

Break from Stubborn Habits: Lead with Humility
When your usual door won’t open, have the humility to try other doors. The destination is what matters, not the route you take to get there.

Embracing the Lost Art of Silence and Solitude
In a world filled with chaos, the practice of silence and solitude has become harder than ever but is deeply needed among ministry leaders.

Sinclair Ferguson: Scripture gives Christians a song when ‘the world around you gives way’
Theologian Sinclair Ferguson told thousands of Christians gathered at the Sing! Conference that singing is woven into the fabric of creation and redemption, stressing that Jesus Christ, and not musicians or worship leaders, is ultimately the One who leads the Church in praise.

“There may be worship coordinators, there may be instrumentalists, there may be cantors, but there is only one song leader, and His name is Jesus,” Ferguson said Tuesday evening at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.

Church Event Registration Software: 9 Things Every Church Should Know Before Choosing (2026)
Here are nine factors you should look for to make sure your church event software is easy to use for people registering, your admins, and your finance team.

AI Can Assist Your Work. But Should It?
Generative tools have expanded what actions are possible and sharpened our awareness that choices are required of us. Increasingly, we face pressure to use such tools simply because they’re there. Let’s explore how we can think ethically about using AI tools in the realm of work, particularly amid its demands and drudgery.

For help, we’ll look to Christian ethicist Oliver O’Donovan. Using his schema from Entering into Rest, we’ll appraise AI tools based on how they might serve us in our work, and also how they might deform us.

We Can't Let AI Writing Take Over the Internet
In January 1919, more than 2 million gallons of molasses exploded from inside a pressurized holding tank in Boston. A tsunami of syrup, which some reports said reached 40 feet tall, surged through the city’s North End, covering the waterfront, destroying buildings, and drowning dozens of residents.

As the historian Jill Lepore recently wrote in the New Yorker, the Great Molasses Flood is a morbid if apt metaphor for the effect that artificial intelligence is having on the internet. Gooey, disgusting, saccharine AI slop is flowing everywhere these days, gumming up your LinkedIn feed, oozing through Twitter and Instagram, and filling every square inch of the internet with treacly spam and viscous sham, including fake recipes for “glue-topped pizza” on Google; fake biographies on Amazon; and fake images of Trump and Jesus stuck all over the modal Boomer’s Facebook wall.

Is It in Spanish? The Question That Opened New Doors for Gospel Outreach
Developing programs and content that are uniquely designed to reach Hispanic communities means crafting them well from the beginning, using anecdotes, examples, and colloquialisms that speak right to the heart of the intended audience.

Tuesday's Catch: 'How Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene Is Growing Across Every Generation' And More

How Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene Is Growing Across Every Generation
Focusing on multigenerational growth is one reason Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene (OVCN) has flourished. Located in Oro Valley, a Southern Arizona suburb that has shifted from a retirement destination to a hub for young families, OVCN has expanded its congregation by continuing its outreach to older adults while appealing to the next generation of believers.

Churches make ‘significant’ contribution to essential services in local communities, study finds
Churches could be providing as many as a quarter of a million essential community services across England, according to new research.

Earl Spencer is right to raise concerns about the Church of England’s historic buildings
The light shone by Earl Spencer, brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, on the financial threat to Britain’s historic churches is significant. But it is noteworthy that his article in the Financial Times did not mention the £100 million the Church of England aims to spend on slavery reparations, which could have been going on frontline parish ministry instead.

The Incredible Story of First Baptist Church of San Francisco: An Interview with Dr. Ryan Blackwell
Jess and Thom welcome Dr. Ryan Blackwell, President and CEO of Lifeway, to The Church Answers Podcast. He shares the incredible story of First Baptist Church of San Francisco.

Five Giving Strategies Almost No Church Is Using
Jess and Thom share five innovative and rare strategies that increase giving in the church. They estimate that fewer than one percent of churches use any of these strategies.

Recovering Moral Authority
Driving past a church in my neighborhood, you cannot miss its huge banner facing the busy street: “God loves everyone—no exceptions.” Well, yes. But it also reflects a broader church culture in which the message of salvation from sin and the hard work of living a sanctified life are too often replaced by personal affirmations.

This is more than another example of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace”—forgiveness without repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. It’s emblematic of a larger culture in which everyone sees themselves as a leader, yet few welcome maturing discipleship that requires a spiritual course correction.

8 Ministry Staff Recruiting Red Flags
As staff recruiting in ministry world continues to evolve and become more competitive and sophisticated in recent years, churches and recruiting firms have developed a keen sense of red flags during the recruiting process that relate to whether a candidate is a good fit for your church or not. Those red flags may be a bit different from church to church but there are many red flags that are fairly consistent across the board.

Prayer Book as Precedent
The Book of Common Prayer is a profound resource and represents a rich religious heritage. Its influence runs throughout English literature and poetry. It has sparked and resolved debates and led to martyrdoms. Most importantly, the prayer book provides Christians throughout the world a means of prayer and mission formed by a sound doctrine of grace and adherence to Holy Scripture.

The American prayer book tradition, we argue, is a body of binding precedent—set at decisive moments in its history—that governs and informs liturgical interpretation, practice, and revision. This is not a historical claim, but a theological one about the nature of the prayer book tradition in America. In what follows, we aim to provide a narrative of key turning points in this tradition to aid readers in identifying the precedent contained in the prayer book and its implementation so they can use it soundly.

First Cornish musical setting of the Eucharist receives cultural award
The Cornish People’s Mass, a Eucharistic service entirely in the Cornish language, has been recognised with a prestigious award for its cultural significance. This is the story...

Also See: Oferen an Dasserghyans (Mass of the Resurrection)

How AI Will Change Church Giving (And What You Should Do Now)
Former Intel and VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger talks about what AI is doing to us and our churches. He unpacks the mental health toll of social media (and what’s coming next), the job loss scenarios leaders aren’t ready for, how AI will reshape giving in the church, and why engaging high-net-worth individuals matters now.

Plus: will the AI optimists or pessimists be proven right?

We need to rethink what it means to be a grandparent
Some grandparents are doing everything. Other older people would give anything to be needed.

That is one of the stranger paradoxes of modern family life. High housing costs, punishing childcare bills and demanding jobs are leaning hard on parents. At the same time, more people are having fewer children, having them later, or not having them at all.

These changes affect parents, of course. But they also reshape grandparenthood itself. For some, it is becoming overburdened. For others, it is slipping out of reach.

3 Marks of True Repentance
Repentance lies at the heart of the Christian message and forms the rhythm of the Christian life. The Greek word metanoia, often translated as “repentance,” speaks of a turning, a genuine change of mind, heart, and life that is not a one-time act but a way of living.1 True repentance is more than simply acknowledging our wrongs and feeling sorry for what we have done; it is turning from our ways and returning to God with conviction of wrongs, contrition of heart, and confession of sin. In doing so, we receive the abundant mercy of God in Christ.

It is important to understand that repentance does not begin with us; it begins with the gracious initiative of God, who turns our hearts from the things of this world back to himself. As Mark Boda writes, “God is in the process of transforming us from within—our behavior, our hearts, and our entire lives.”2 Thus repentance is more than a onetime action; it is a repeated act throughout the Christian life. Martin Luther captured this truth in the first statement in his Ninety-Five Theses: “Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite [in English, ‘repent’], willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.”3 Psalm 51:3–4 helps us see that true repentance is marked by clearheaded conviction, brokenhearted contrition, and openhanded confession.

Image Credit: Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene

Monday's Catch: 'Why nondenominational churches aren’t Baptist churches in disguise' And More

Why nondenominational churches aren’t Baptist churches in disguise
The claim that nondenominational churches are Baptists without the label has some basis in fact but isn’t ultimately accurate. And ironically, a whole lot of Baptist churches are acting more like nondenominational churches these days too.

If Gen Z is coming back to church, the real work is just beginning
The church’s purpose in a young person’s life must be entirely unique compared to any other institution.

Why so many women are converting to Catholicism
While American women are leaving organized religion at faster rates than men, some women are instead entering.

US closes door to Christians fleeing persecution, report warns
The United States is on track to admit zero Christians fleeing from the world's worst countries for persecution in fiscal year 2026, according to a new report from the global watchdog Open Doors and the Evangelical refugee resettlement agency World Relief.

The organizations unveiled their new report Thursday at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, documenting the state of Christian persecution worldwide and the number of refugees admitted into the U.S.

The release comes one month before the Trump administration is set to determine the number of refugees to be admitted to the country in fiscal year 2027, which begins Oct. 1.

Decline in marriage and relationships among factors driving global fertility slump - study
A growing “relationship recession”, alongside economic insecurity, delayed parenthood and changing attitudes towards having children, is contributing to an unprecedented fall in fertility rates around the world, according to a major new study.

The research - published in the ‘Reproductive BioMedicine Online’ journal - and led by demographer and deputy director of the Vienna Institute of Demography, Tomáš Sobotka, warns that the latest global decline in births is “more widespread, deeper and more permanent than previously anticipated”.

Kay Kotan: Creating New Spiritual Community
Creating opportunities for new community means more than adding another program or event to the church calendar. It’s about intentionally carving out places, spaces, time, energy, and focus for building new relationships in our neighborhoods. In a culture that is increasingly isolated and disconnected, the church has a profound opportunity—and responsibility—to create spaces where people can genuinely belong and grow spiritually together.

Should I Stay or Should I Leave My Church?
These four questions can help you walk in God’s will, whether it’s to remain at the church you’re at or trust Him when it’s time to leave.

Teresa Stewart: Small Congregation Worship Matters
Small congregations are crucial local laboratories. They are places of indigenous experimentation. Small congregations are diagnostic centers tasked with figuring out what the good news sounds like and looks like in each community. To help grow the kingdom in the years ahead.

4 Diagnostic Questions for Every Sermon
As we launch a new series of skills articles called "Back to the Basics," we asked a younger preacher (Daniel Fusco) and a veteran preacher of almost 25 years (Matt Woodley, Editor of PreachingToday.com) to weigh in on the four basics of every good sermon. Think of them as four simple, routine, diagnostic questions that will help you prepare every sermon. It's like going to the doctor's office for a routine checkup. They almost always ask the same set of questions: What's your weight? What's your temperature? What's your blood pressure? What meds are you currently taking? It's basic stuff, but it provides the baseline for the rest of your checkup. In the same way, these four questions provide the baseline for everything else in your sermon.

5 Ways to Help Your Student Ministry Volunteers Win
Every student ministry needs volunteers, but the goal can’t simply be filling enough positions to make Wednesday night work.

Image Credit: Purpose Church, Murray, Kentucky

Sundays at All Hallows (September 6, 2026) Is Now Online

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.

This Sunday, September 6, 2026, is the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity.

For this Sunday’s Invitatory Psalm, you have a choice as you did last two Sundays, either the original version of Michael Perry’s metrical paraphrase of the Venite (Psalm 95), “Come Worship God,” or the inclusive language version. The organ accompaniment for both versions is the same-- Joseph Francis Thrupp’s hymn tune EPIPHANY.

In this Sunday’s message we take a look at what Christians are called to do when someone endangers their relationship with God, particularly a brother or sister in Christ.

Readings: Ezekiel 33: 7-11, Romans 13: 8-14, and Matthew 18: 15-20

Message: Love Intervenes

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2026/09/sundays-at-all-hallows-september-6-2026.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: 'God Brought Them Here: How to See Church Visitors' And More

God Brought Them Here: How to See Church Visitors
This Sunday afternoon I was speaking with my pastor on the phone about first-time visitors—those people who walk through the doors of our churches for the very first time. As we reflected on this, one thought kept returning to my mind: we often fail to notice the very people God has graciously brought to us.

I’ve observed this over the years in many conservative evangelical churches in South Africa. I’m not suggesting that every church is like this. In fact, I’ve seen churches where visitors are welcomed exceptionally well. But I’ve seen this weakness often enough to believe it deserves some attention.

This is not a problem unique to South Africa.I have visited churches in North America where I was given the cold shoulder, studiously ignored or otherwise treated in an unfriendly manner. Others have had similar experiences.

7 Traits of a Healthy Church
Each church has its own culture and personality.

So how do you know if your church is healthy and on the right track in general?

Is there a solid baseline from which to measure?

Crisis meeting to discuss future of Norfolk's rural churches
A crisis meeting is being held to discuss the future of Norfolk's rural churches, amid claims they are being starved of resources as clergy managing multiple parishes battle to keep on top of their workload.

Also See: CoE clergy feel 'undervalued, under-resourced, overworked, frustrated and vulnerable'

ACNA Charges Bishop Edgar With Misconduct
The Rt. Rev. Chip Edgar, bishop of the ACNA’s Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, has been canonically charged with misconduct a week after he apologized for publicly dedicating a school chapel together with his counterpart in the Episcopal Church.

“I share this with heaviness of heart but in obedience to the truth Christ calls us to proclaim,” wrote the Rt. Rev. Julian Dobbs, acting primate of the ACNA, in an announcement of the charges against Bishop Edgar on September 2.

Five Relatively Recent Theological Controversies That Have Faded
Some denominations and networks seem to have a controversy du jour. Many of them have deep theological implications. Others are distractions to the primary mission of churches. Sam and Thom review five controversies that were once heated but have now faded significantly.

NY Church Finds New Home for Buzzing ‘Parishioners’
The 300 parishioners of Christ Church in Corning, New York, an upstate city four hours from Manhattan, were outnumbered 100 to 1. Apis mellifera, or western honeybees, are prized for their ability to pollinate and produce honey. In New York’s Southern Tier region, beekeepers caring for a colony are required to register their hives annually with the New York State Department of Agriculture.

For 20 years — by the parish’s estimate — there was a growing bee colony inside the ceiling of Christ Church’s sanctuary, unbeknownst to the worshipers below until the pandemic, when they made their presence felt.

Declining attendance, a shortage of clergy, a national church indifferent to the needs of rural parishes, and recurrent theological controversies are not the only problems facing local churches.

Would Your Parish Music Pass Pope Leo’s Test?
In this episode of From the Tower, we look at Pope Leo XIV’s recent comments on sacred music and ask a much bigger question: What actually makes church music good?

Rather than falling back into the usual arguments about traditional vs. contemporary music, organ vs. guitar, choir vs. congregation, Pope Leo’s remarks point toward something far more useful — judging sacred music according to its purpose within the liturgy.

Using those ideas, we develop a simple five-point framework for evaluating parish music...

In his comments on sacred music Pope Leo made some excellent points.

How I Would Fix Catholic Church Music
This is excellent advice for rebuilding an Anglican, Episcopal, Lutheran, or Methodist parish music program from scratch.

How to Pray When You Feel Like You Pray the Same Thing Every Day
Part of my daily rhythm of prayer includes praying a psalm. Christians have used this practice for centuries because many of the psalms are prayers. You can turn any verse or passage of Scripture into a prayer, but if you’re familiar with the experience of trying to pray but drawing a blank on what to say, the book of Psalms is a good place to start.

Friday's Catch: 'Callings at risk, Save the Parish warns' And More

Callings at risk, Save the Parish warns
A LOSS of confidence in ordained ministry is the “major obstacle” to tackling the crisis in stipendiary-clergy numbers, a new report from the campaigning group Save the Parish concludes.

The report, Parish Ministry: Addressing the crisis in stipendiary clergy numbers in the Church of England, is due to be launched in Parliament on Thursday. It followed a consultation held by Save the Parish at St George’s House, Windsor, in March. Those who attended included principals of theological-education institutions (TEIs), bishops, archdeacons, directors of ordinands, and parish clergy.

Among the challenges identified are what the report describes as the “mixed messages” sent about the vocation to ordained ministry: a call to more ordinands alongside the message given when “nearly bankrupt dioceses” cut the number of stipendiaries they have.

Also See: Church leaders warn vicars becoming an 'endangered species'

Episcopal Church celebrates first trans dean — woman in lesbian marriage to trans-identified pastor
A Wisconsin cathedral has installed what is believed to be the first trans-identifying dean in the history of The Episcopal Church.

The Very Rev. Micah Cronin, a woman who identifies as a man, took the helm of All Saints' Cathedral in Milwaukee on Aug. 16, according to Episcopal News Service. The cathedral draws an average of just 70 worshippers on a given Sunday.

Also See: Wisconsin cathedral welcomes Episcopal Church’s first transgender dean

Statement regarding presentment of Bishop Chip Edgar
Last week, I shared a statement with the Province reaffirming our position of principled disengagement from those who promote false teaching.

I did so in the context of the participation of the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, ACNA, with a bishop of The Episcopal Church in a joint dedication of a local school chapel...

Also See: A Message from the ADOSC Standing Committee on the Porter-Gaud affair

Rochet, Chimere, Stole—and a Rush to Judgment
The controversy arising from the August 18 dedication of St. Timothy’s Chapel at Porter-Gaud School has been instructive, though perhaps not in the manner its loudest participants intended.

From what I have observed, clergy do not give as much thought to what they wear as the author of this piece might like them to do. This past Sunday I attended a "Fifth Sunday Singing" at a local church. I was greeted at the door by a gentleman, hair tied in a pony tail, a gold ring in each ear, wearing a brightly colored Hawiian shirt. I introduced myself and asked if he was the musician for the event. He replied, "I'm the pastor!" Someone commented later that the church's pastor was "non-traditional." He was an odd match for the church's aging congregation whose taste in music was gospel songs from a bygone era.

Two Bishops and One School – Christian Leadership across Division
On August 18, Porter-Gaud School, a private, independent college preparatory day school in Charleston, South Carolina celebrated the dedication of a new chapel. Bearing the name St. Timothy, the space will serve the worship life of this K-12 co-educational school community, an institution dating back to 1867. Porter-Gaud was founded by an Episcopal priest, but is now governed by an independent board of trustees. Among the shared photos from the day were several showing Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and Bishop Chip Edgar of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina. These two Christian leaders from different bodies both serve on the board and participated liturgically in the chapel dedication service. For those in the local context, Woodliff-Stanley and Edgar probably appeared to be two religious leaders from different churches gathering to celebrate a milestone in the life of the school. If one focuses a little more closely, one might recognize that these two leaders represent bodies with a history of tension and theological division. But one might likely still see two leaders who want the best for a school held in high regard by both constituencies.

But what do people see from a distance? For many beyond the local context, the photos were disconcerting.

Church trial of Anglican Archbishop Steve Wood, accused of sexual misconduct, begins Monday
‘Our young Province finds itself in a challenging and uncomfortable season,’ Julian Dobbs, who has taken over the archbishop’s duties, wrote in an email to the denomination on Tuesday. ‘Our unity, fervor, and faith are surely being tested.’

Study documents ICE hiring violent criminals as agents
At least 152 federal immigration agents have been charged with or convicted of violent crimes including rape, kidnapping, child molestation and murder at some time in their lives, according to a new report by the Ohio Immigration Alliance.

The organization delved into the criminal backgrounds of Department of Homeland Security immigration personnel after noticing an alarming pattern of sexual and other violent attacks against immigrants and women by agents based in Cincinnati.

Most US Protestant churches have grown since 2023, survey finds

Most Protestant churches in the US are growing, according to new data compiled by Lifeway Research.

In a survey of Protestant pastors in the US, sponsored by the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, 54 per cent reported growth of at least four per cent in their average worship service attendance since 2023. Almost a third (30 per cent) reported no growth, while only 16 per cent said their church had declined by four per cent or more.

On average, Protestant worship services were attended by 183 people, up from an average of 176 in 2023.

Also See: Pastors report rising worship attendance, but fewer new commitments to Christ: study

Northern Michigan bishop to bless monarch butterflies as they begin migration to Mexico
Every year in late August and early September, thousands of monarch butterflies gather at Stonington Peninsula, a sub-peninsula of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and wait for favorable weather and wind patterns before they begin their nearly 2,000-mile migration to central Mexico, where they will settle for the winter.

Most of these lightweight insects – up to 90% – won’t survive the nearly two-month journey because of harsh weather conditions, predators, light pollution, pesticides and a lack of food available on their route, but their survival is necessary for North America’s ecosystem. As the monarch butterflies fly south, roughly 50 to 100 miles daily, they will feed on wildflowers and crops, transferring pollen and helping plants, including food crops, reproduce in the process.

Episcopalians in the Marquette-based Diocese of Northern Michigan, which serves the state’s Upper Peninsula, and fellow Yoopers understand and appreciate the monarch butterflies’ importance. That’s why about 100 people gather every year at Peninsula Point Lighthouse for the annual “blessing of the monarch butterflies” event hosted by UP Wild Church, a ministry of the Diocese of Northern Michigan and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Northern Great Lakes Synod.

For more than six decades I have lived on the monarch butterfly migration route, first in southeastern Louisiana and more recently, for two decades, in western Kentucky. My mother took a keen interest in conservation, nature, and wildlife. For a number of years she was a monarch butterfly monitor.

Does interacting with AI make people act more like robots? Researchers say 'yes'
Researchers from universities in the U.K., Denmark and Sweden have proposed a new framework for understanding how repeated interactions with increasingly human-like artificial intelligence could influence people's behavior and self-perception.

Dubbed “robotoid humanness,” the proposed phenomenon describes a two-way process in which AI systems become more human-like while people might adapt their behavior to become more compatible with machines.

How AI Is Shaping Bible Interpretation
Pastors have plenty of reasons to be wary of AI. New research from Barna, conducted in partnership with Gloo for the State of the Church initiative, finds that one concern rises above most others: AI misinterpreting Scripture. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults (74%) say they are concerned about AI misinterpreting Scripture. Among practicing Christians, that figure rises to 83 percent, and among pastors, 94 percent.

Though concern about AI misinterpreting Scripture runs high, the way people want AI to handle scriptural interpretation varies significantly and, for Christians especially, seems to sit at odds with that concern.

Christians called to engage confidently amid growing curiosity in ‘dangerous’ New Age spirituality
Psychic nights at the local pub, celebrities ‘manifesting’, and “WitchTok” videos attracting millions of views: alternative spirituality has become an increasingly visible part of popular culture.

Now the Evangelical Alliance is encouraging Christians to engage confidently with the world of tarot, crystals, astrology, manifesting and other spiritual practices, while warning that such practices should not be regarded as harmless.

Its new free guide argues that growing spiritual curiosity in Britain presents churches with both a challenge and an evangelistic opportunity, particularly as renewed interest in New Age practices appears to be developing alongside greater openness to Christianity.

Christianity Explored Content Offer
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. Get the complete course--free.

Creative Ways to Share the Gospel in Your Local Community
Join David Perrera from Pastors.com and Pastor Juan Vasquez from Unleashed Christian Church in Tucson, AZ for this FREE online webinar to discover new and innovative ways to share the Gospel in your local community using Healthy Church principles.

Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (September 3, 2026) Is Now Online

Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows.

In this Thursday evening’s message, we revisit the Parable of the Good Samaritan. We consider what lessons Jesus is teaching us with this parable.

Readings: Leviticus 19:13-18, 33-34; Luke 10:23-37

Message: The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2026/09/thursday-evenings-at-all-hallows.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.

Thursday's Catch: 'Why God Uses Small Ministries to Make a Big Impact' And More

Why God Uses Small Ministries to Make a Big Impact
In Episode 238, we delve into the topic of church size and why God uses the underdog to make a big impact. Join hosts Scott Ball & A.J. Mathieu as they discuss the neutral nature of church size and emphasize the significance of church health in fulfilling the mission. They share examples of small churches making significant local impacts and encourage pastors of all church sizes to utilize resources to fulfill God's plan for the global church. The hosts also reflect on the challenges faced by their organization and issue a call for support to continue their global church revitalization efforts. Tune in as they draw inspiration from the story of Gideon and explore how God uses small beginnings to achieve great things, emphasizing the importance of reliance on God's power and alignment with His will for success, rather than numbers.

Also See: Why God Uses Small Ministries to Make a Big Impact - Full Show Notes

The Purpose of the Church, According to Jesus
The fullest churches in history didn’t always make the most disciples. Some kept every pew occupied for years while quietly failing the neighborhood outside their doors. Jesus measured his followers by who they sent out more than by who showed up, and that standard is worth applying to your own church this week.

Plenty of pastors carry a quiet ache for the years when sanctuaries filled up Sunday morning, Sunday night, and again on a weeknight. Anyone who has preached to three rows of empty chairs knows that sting. That longing for a fuller building runs into three problems worth naming before you build a strategy around it.

Charles Spencer warns repair costs are leaving churches ‘struggling to survive’ 

Historical author, Charles Spencer, has warned that Britain’s historic churches are increasingly under threat due to the financial burden of maintaining them.

Writing for The Financial Times Spencer noted that in 2025 the Church of England alone needed over a billion pounds for major repairs across its 16,000 churches. Many such churches, especially those with smaller congregations, are “struggling to survive”, he argued.

Building maintenance is serious challenge facing churches with smaller congregations and declining attendance and giving in the United States. It is a factor that has contributed to the closure of a number of US churches.

Why Temperament Matters in Church Volunteer Roles (Stop Volunteer Burnout)
Struggling with volunteer burnout in your church? The problem might not be commitment—it's temperament mismatch. In this episode, Scott Ball and AJ Mathieu reveal why understanding temperament in church volunteer roles is the game-changer your ministry needs.

Discover how to match volunteers to positions where they'll thrive, not just survive. Learn the four temperament types and their ideal ministry fits, spot signs of misalignment, and create a volunteer culture that energizes rather than drains.

Thriving as a Dominant-Type Leader: Deep on DiSC Part 1
Are you motivated by competition, winning, and success? Are you outspoken, determined, and always up for the challenge? You might be a D-Type (Dominant-Type) leader.

There are a lot of helpful tools for understanding your personality. At The Malphurs Group, we regularly use the DiSC Assessment. In this multi-part article and podcast series, we are exploring the primary DiSC types and how they impact your leadership.

In this first installment, you’ll learn the strengths, challenges, and keys to success for the D or Dominant type personality.

Also See: Thriving as a Dominant-Type Leader: Deep on DiSC Part 1 - Full Show Notes

Leading as an Influence-Type Leader: Deep on DiSC Part 2
Are you always chasing the next big idea? Are you a connector and networker? You might be an I-Type (Influence-Type) leader.

There are a lot of helpful tools for understanding your personality. At The Malphurs Group, we regularly use the DiSC Assessment. In this multi-part article and podcast series, we are exploring the primary DiSC types and how they impact your leadership.

In this second installment, you’ll learn the strengths, challenges, and keys to success for the I or Influence type personality.

Also See: Leveraging Influence – Leading as an I-Type Leader: Deep on DiSC Part 2 - Full Show Notes

Leading as a Steady-Type Leader: Deep on DiSC Part 3
Do you value stability and loyalty? Do you avoid decisions that could lead to conflict? You might be an S-Type (Steady-Type) leader.

There are a lot of helpful tools for understanding your personality. At The Malphurs Group, we regularly use the DiSC Assessment. In this multi-part article and podcast series, we are exploring the primary DiSC types and how they impact your leadership.

In this third installment, you’ll learn the strengths, challenges, and keys to success for the S or Steady Type personality.

Also See: Shepherding Your Church – Leading as an S-Type Leader: Deep on DiSC Part 3 - Full Show Notes

Managing as a Conscientious-Type Leader: Deep on DiSC Part 4
Are you a details person? Do you thrive in an environment with clear rules and guidelines? You might be a C-Type (Conscientious-Type) leader.

There are a lot of helpful tools for understanding your personality. At The Malphurs Group, we regularly use the DiSC Assessment. In this multi-part article and podcast series, we are exploring the primary DiSC types and how they impact your leadership.

In this final installment, you’ll learn the strengths, challenges, and keys to success for the C or Conscientious type personality.

Also See: Dealing with the Details – Managing as a C-Type Leader: Deep on DiSC Part 4 - Full Show Notes

Samaritan's Purse turns down $300M from State Department for humanitarian relief
Franklin Graham, one of President Trump’s most stalwart evangelical allies, did not offer any reasons for rejecting the federal funds, which would have been used for ‘immediate life-saving assistance to people affected by natural disasters.’

Sainting Charlie Kirk serves the MAGA movement. It doesn't serve the girls who believe it.
One year after Charlie Kirk's death, former tradwife Tia Levings writes about how sainting serves Christian patriarchy and TPUSA — not the teenage girls drawn into his myth.

More Than a Force: Who the Holy Spirit Really Is
The State of Theology study reveals an alarming percentage of evangelicals who are confused about the personhood of the Holy Spirit.

10 Duties of a Pastor Most Churches Never See
Your pastor was probably up before dawn today, and not for a workout. Between a hospital call, a budget spreadsheet, a sermon that still needs an ending, and a text from someone in crisis, the job holds ten distinct roles that rarely show up in a Sunday bulletin. Skip past any one of them and a church starts to feel it within months. Here is what each duty actually requires, what tends to go wrong, and where the congregation fits into carrying the weight.

Lifeway Research’s 2025 pastoral wellness data found that fewer pastors now keep a referral list of counselors or attend counseling training than a decade ago, even as the demands on their time have grown. A separate 2026 industry report tracked pastor satisfaction dropping from 72% to 52% between 2015 and 2022, with no recovery since. The job has not gotten smaller. The support system around it has.

Spiritual Burnout: When the Pastor Stops Feeling God
Every Sunday, thousands of pastors preach about the presence of God while privately wondering where he went. They pray from the pulpit with confidence, then drive home unsure whether anyone was listening. This is spiritual burnout, and most congregations have no idea their pastor is in it.

The condition is common, well documented, and almost never named out loud. Research from Barna, Lifeway, and Duke’s Clergy Health Initiative describes the workload side of pastoral exhaustion in detail. The interior side gets far less attention: the slow fading of a pastor’s own sense of God while he or she keeps leading everyone else toward him. This article covers what spiritual burnout looks like, why pastors hide it, what earlier Christians called it, and what brings people back.

Also See: Pastor Burnout: The Dark Night Most Congregations Never See

Why Don't Churches Sing Old-School Hymns Anymore?
Josh and Sam discuss why many churches have moved away from old-school hymns, not always because they reject them, but because worship culture has changed. Modern worship music is often easier to lead with a band, more familiar to younger generations, and shaped by digital platforms, conferences, and major worship publishers. But the disappearance of hymns can also come at a cost. Hymns often carry theological depth, congregational memory, and a sense of continuity with the broader church. In this episode, we discuss why hymns have faded in many churches and how leaders can reintroduce them wisely without turning worship into a generational battle.

What I have observed about the latest crop of worship songs is their range is not a comfortable one for the average singer in the congregation, they contain phrases and verses that are theologically unsound and promote beliefs that are not found in Scripture or derived from Scripture, and they focus on "me" and not God. The type of tunes to which they are set and the frequency of the repetition of verses cause the brain to produce oxytocin and what congregations experience as a spiritual high is a chemically induced one and addictive. Increasingly the motive for writing them is to make money rather to give thanks and praise to God. They also tend to be throwaway songs - sung for a brief season and then discarded. Rather than being exposed to hymns and other sacred music that witnesseses to the faith of previous generations of Christians and that of Christians in other lands and cultures, congregations, particularly young people, are being subjected to worship music that conveys the message that the Christian faith is ever-shifting, impermanent, and rootless and the purpose of worship music is first of all consumer gratificaton and not the glorifying and honoring of God.

7 Sermon Topics Your Church Needs To Hear on Repeat
A teenager told me he does not smile. Five minutes earlier, he had sat through my whole talk on why he should. That moment taught me more about preaching than most seminary classes did, and it explains why some sermon topics belong in your pulpit every single year.

Paul told Timothy to fan into flame the gift God had given him (2 Timothy 1:6) and to keep reminding the church of the basics (2 Timothy 2:14). Peter said he would keep reminding believers of truths they already knew (2 Peter 1:12). Paul even told the Philippians that writing the same things again was no trouble for him and kept them safe (Philippians 3:1). The apostles repeated themselves on purpose. So should you.

I’m Praying for You: 3 Ways to Intentionally Pray for Others
What made middle-school-me yearn for an email from my summer camp pen pal and current-me rush to open a handwritten notecard? It’s the same desire—to feel remembered. To know that someone took the time to boot up an old computer or find a stamp just to let me know they care.

When Silence Is Not Complicity
There are moments when God’s people must speak clearly, courageously and at personal cost.

But silence is not always complicity.

Image Credit: Martin's Chapel United Methodist Church