Friday's Catch: 'Parochial Report: Church Membership Down, ASA Stable' And More

Parochial Report: Church Membership Down, ASA Stable
The 2025 iteration of the Parochial Report, which paints a picture of church life in numbers, reveals that the Episcopal Church’s membership decline persists, while in-person attendance has stabilized in the post-pandemic period. The most recently available data represent 91.9 percent of Episcopal parishes and missions.

A data-gathering practice of the church since the early 19th century, the Parochial Report showed that membership in both 2024 and 2025 stood at 1.4 million, down from 2 million in 2015. The figure is also less than half the church’s peak membership of more than 3.5 million, reached 60 years ago.

Also See: Episcopal Church 2025 Parochial Report shows attendance stabilizing and new data on congregational life

Research uncovers some of the reasons why young people go to church
A new survey has given greater insight into the reasons why young people in the US go to church, with the desire to reconnect with their faith unsurprisingly getting the top spot.

The research, conducted by Barna, found that 43 per cent of young adults attended church in order to reconnect with their faith.

The joint second most commonly cited reasons, at 30 per cent each, were the desire to know oneself better and to improve their mental health.

Using What You Already Have to Jumpstart Outreach
What kind of reputation does your church have in the community? Laura Heikes suggests the answer may have less to do with your worship service or programs and more to do with how you show up in the life of your neighborhood. Drawing on examples of churches turning overlooked resources into opportunities for hospitality, she offers a simple framework for discovering what God has already placed in your hands and the impact it can have on ministry.

VOICES: Older members may be your church's best discipleship resource
Every Sunday, the doors of a rural church open again. A Sunday school teacher arrives for a class that may have fifteen people one week and eight the next. Before worship, members talk about their families, share concerns and pray for one another. Afterward, they return to their homes and Sunday lunch tables. A few days later, many gather again to open their Bibles and pray.

Between those gatherings come the hospital visits, funerals and phone calls from families facing a difficult week. Within that familiar rhythm are believers who have followed Christ for decades. Their presence has become so ordinary that a congregation can stop noticing what they have to offer.

Churches rightly ask how to reach new people and disciple the next generation. Yet we can invest considerable effort in finding resources elsewhere while overlooking faithful believers already sitting beside us. Whether a congregation meets in the country, a suburb, or a city, the experience of its older members deserves a place in its discipleship.

Church members are not exempt from domestic violence, author warns
Research and painful experience consistently demonstrate domestic violence is as prevalent in churchgoing families as it is in the general population, author and domestic abuse survivor Geneece Goertzen said.

“I want pastors to acknowledge and admit this is an issue in their congregations, and that the church is not better than people outside the church when it comes to domestic violence,” said Goertzen, author of the new book Taking It Seriously: A Faith Leader’s Guide to Domestic Violence.

Acknowledging the presence of battered members is crucial to their survival and well-being and to ending church complicity in ongoing and future cases of abuse, Goertzen said in an interview.

Dementia: Beyond Forgetting — Free Webinar
I keep forgetting where I left my keys and can’t remember the names of all of my grandchildren—do I have dementia? What causes dementia and what can I do to prevent it from happening to me? How can we better serve family members and congregants with dementia? How can I make the upcoming holidays dementia friendly?

Florida churches turn backpack drives into a gateway to immigration advocacy
Beyond supporting families in distress, the group hopes to activate Christians, especially white or English-speaking evangelicals, to help immigrants as deportations have ramped up.

Church warden and rector lead legal challenge against Church of England's Project Spire
A church warden and a rector in the Church of England have sought permission from the Charity Commission to initiate a legal challenge against Project Spire, the controversial plan to commit £100 million towards reparations for the Church’s alleged historical links to the transatlantic slave trade.

The prospect of a legal challenge has been on the cards for some time. Last year Conservative MPs and peers wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, urging her to abandon the plans and stating that Charity Commission rules require charitable funds be used for the purpose for which they were donated.

“By law, the endowment must be used to support parish ministry, maintain church buildings, and care for the Church’s historic records," the letter said.

What Do I Think of the Trailer of Gerwig’s Magician’s Nephew?
Apparently, according to some tweets I saw somewhere or other, the film was supposed to be released in December but it’s been moved to February when people don’t bother to go see films. This indicates that the people who are making the movie have lost confidence in their own efforts. Also, apparently, some people saw the film and said it was “awful.” Here’s my shocked face… oops, I don’t have one.

Greta Gerwig is clearly showing herself to be the wrong person to translate one of the stories of C. S. Lewis' iconic and much loved Chronicles of Narnia into a film. She is out of her depth.

You Become What You Listen To; You Are Formed By What You Read
I’m reading quite a bit about the death of nonfiction books, and the more I read, the more discouraged I am. As an editor and an author, my life is built around books. My wife can attest that we have far too many: my shelves are double-stacked, and book piles abound in my small basement office.

So as many are talking about the death of nonfiction, and others attempt to diagnose it, I want to reframe the discussion to look at what is at stake as readers, particularly of history books, shift to podcasts for their content consumption.

Meditation as a Bridge to Prayer
Why does prayer sometimes feel empty and lacking? There may be many answers to this question, most you have likely heard before. We are human, finite, and still struggling against sin in this world, therefore our prayer lives are rarely what we hope they would be. But the Bible also teaches us that lacking content or depth in prayer may also arise from a surprising problem: our lack of biblical meditation.

Meditation is a fundamentally Christian concept. Eastern religions and Hollywood proclaim meditation to be a state of emptiness where one allows the contents of the mind to disappear or drop out of sight. For Christians, meditation is a fixing of the mind on the word of God.

How Churches Can Better Support Moms in the Unseen Midnight Moments of Motherhood
Sam welcomes Susan K. Pitts and Becky Thompson to the Rainer on Leadership podcast. They are a mother-daughter team who have built their lives around encouraging moms right in the middle of everyday life. Susan has spent over forty years in ministry, walking alongside women and families with wisdom and compassion. She is the prayer director for the Midnight Mom Devotional and co-author of the Midnight Mom Devotional books. Becky has spent the last decade creating resources to equip and encourage the heart of the momma. They are both bestselling authors and Becky is a national speaker who speaks honestly about faith and family.

They are the authors of two devotional books, "Tonight We Pray for the Momma" and "Midnight Mom Devotional" and are the content writers for the devotional content in the "Midnight Mom Devotional Bible." In addition, they have a vibrant social media community on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok where they lead over 2 million mommas in nightly prayer.

It Is Hard to Be 10 Years Old in America Right Now
Church leaders have a responsibility to advocate for children’s well-being and inspire their congregations to do the same. Through the 2026 National Observance of Children’s Sabbaths, Trevor Beauford challenges faith communities to listen to children, advocate for their needs, and take meaningful action to address the challenges they face.

When the Fall Gets Busy, Anchor Your Family in Church
The slow days of summer are in the books. As evening temperatures begin to cool, hints of autumn are emerging. Alongside such whispers of fall come the gale-force winds of the family calendar: school, sports, and extracurricular activities. Excitement rises alongside tension as children settle into a new school year and parents try to piece together what often feels like an impossible jigsaw puzzle, schedule-wise.

I remember those days well, as I homeschooled four children involved in many activities. Between school, practice, lessons, and social events, autumn felt overwhelming. I am eternally grateful that my husband and I drew a firm line: church was non-negotiable.

Thursday's Catch: 'Mind the (Age) Gap' And More

Mind the (Age) Gap 

Researchers at CoGenerate have a name for what we’ve lost: our “intergenerational infrastructure,” or the everyday relationships that once connected people across age and experience. Their national survey of religious adults found that more than a third of respondents say their religious community makes no effort to connect older and younger members, and nearly half said they’d be more likely to participate in religious activities if those activities were designed to build relationships across age groups. People can see the gap. They just don’t know how to close it.

Churches haven’t lost this infrastructure by accident. For many decades now, we’ve built ministry around what Virginia Theological Seminary’s Roots & Wings project calls an “age-and-stage” model. Children learn in Sunday school. Teenagers have youth group. College students find their own campus ministry. Adults attend adult formation. None of this is wrong, since each ministry meets a real need, but it also reflects a broader cultural tendency to organize life around age cohorts rather than relationships, and researchers are increasingly asking whether we’ve unintentionally lost something essential by assuming that faith is best formed when generations are kept separate. The alternative isn’t simply older adults teaching younger ones. It’s every generation both teaching and learning, so that ministry moves in more than one direction.

How Churches Can Respond to the Loneliness Epidemic
In a Surgeon General’s Advisory, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy sounded the alarm that America is facing a public health epidemic of loneliness, isolation and disassociation that is linked to anxiety, depression and even increased mortality. Not only do adults report persistent loneliness, but the most digitally connected generation in history also is the most relationally disconnected.

If loneliness is the defining ache of our time and community is the church’s defining gift, then this isn’t merely a cultural problem—it is a great missional opportunity.

What the Church Growth Movement Got Wrong (And Right)
Jimmy Mellado unpacks what the church growth movement got right and wrong from the 90s through 2010s, why concentrated power without governance breaks leaders, the ingredients that go into moral failure, and what scale costs a pastor.

Plus, he shares lessons from his time as an Olympian. This one's for leaders who've mistaken growth for health.

What Happened to 8 Megachurches After Their Pastors Fell
This article looks at eight high-profile large churches after leaders fell or were removed. For each, we compare the size before the scandal or problem; what happened to attendance, leadership, and money; and where things stand now.

Hitting Home Runs with Church Marketing
Sam interviews David Graham of Five Loaves Marketing, and they talk about the best ways for churches to utilize marketing resources.

Volunteer at Their Own Church? What Pastors Need to Know
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has addressed an important question that often arises in church workplaces: When may a church employee volunteer additional time for the church without that time becoming compensable work under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)?

Texas megachurch may leave UMC amid ongoing legal battle with conference
A Texas megachurch will consider leaving the United Methodist Church amid an ongoing legal battle over changes it made to its governing documents.

Highland Park United Methodist Church (HPUMC) in Dallas held a town hall meeting Sunday to discuss the possibility of leaving the mainline Protestant denomination.

Court to side with 70 South Carolina churches seeking to leave the UMC
A South Carolina judge is expected to dismiss cases brought by the UMC’s South Carolina Conference against about 70 congregations seeking to leave with their property, the conference announced.

The UMC South Carolina Conference announced an update on Tuesday regarding litigation between the regional body and 70 churches seeking to leave the denomination with their properties. The conference said it learned of the ruling Monday.

Pentagon’s Religious Trends Raise Concerns
The late Martin Marty, noted church historian, scholar, and distinguished educator, once said that in matters of warfare, “When God gets called in, things get worse.” He continued, “When people become convinced they are acting on God’s orders, it gives them an excuse to be less humane.” Recent developments related to “matters of warfare” make Marty’s warning a current dilemma for many people of faith.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was confirmed to his position In January of 2025. Since that time, actions and statements of his have led to concern regarding Hegseth’s understanding of the place of religion in relation to warfare, the military, and the Pentagon. The relationship of religious faith to warfare has always been complicated. Scholars, political leaders, and people of faith have worked through the years to examine and carefully monitor that connection. Today that work continues.

Teens less likely to identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual, prompting debate over why: report
New data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that fewer younger teenagers are identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual, with the steepest decline occurring among ninth-grade girls, prompting debate over what may be driving the change.

According to an analysis of the CDC’s 2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data by Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, 17% of ninth-grade girls identified as lesbian or bisexual in 2025, down from 30% in 2021. Over the same period, the share identifying specifically as bisexual fell from 26% to 13%.

AI Makes Sermon Prep Effortless. That’s the Problem.
We shouldn’t overlook or minimize Paul’s repeated emphasis on hard work.

Pastor, when you’re considering whether to use AI in your sermon preparation, first ask, ‘What am I forfeiting by using AI to do this?

Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (October 15, 2026) Is Now Online

 

Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows.

In this evening’s message we take a look at the three sayings of Jesus in Luke 9: 57-62, the circumstances in which Jesus said them, and their implications for Christians and those exploring the Christian faith and life.

Reading: Luke 9: 57-62

Message: Three Short Sayings of Jesus

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2026/10/thursday-evenings-at-all-hallows_01996267318.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: 'Christian beliefs increasingly unfamiliar to British public, research finds' And More

Christian beliefs increasingly unfamiliar to British public, research finds
A growing number of people across Britain are unclear about basic Christian teachings, according to new research that finds religious uncertainty has increased considerably over the past eight years.

The findings, published in the 2026 State of Theology survey, point to a decline in familiarity with Christian doctrine among the general public, even as churches report signs of renewed interest in Christianity and an “influx” of newcomers attending services.

Military archbishop asks that Catholics be excused from livestreamed execution
The archdiocese’s statement adds to the list of faith leaders who have condemned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plans to livestream the execution of former Major Nidal Hasan.

Also See: Catholic and Methodist leaders condemn livestreamed firing squad

When justice becomes a spectacle
When did killing someone become a measure of justice? And when did watching someone die become entertainment?

Also See: Alypius, Public Executions, and the Formation of Souls

In Canada, New Push for Euthanasia for People with Dementia
The government is now promoting euthanasia for people with dementia.

Here’s what a Baptist sees in the HPUMC legal dispute
Here’s how this looks to a Baptist outsider with more than average knowledge of The United Methodist Church: The denomination’s second-largest church intentionally changed its governing documents to allow the possibility of withdrawing from the UMC. And once the denomination learned about and objected to that quiet change, the church is threatening indeed to leave.

Based on this logic, if Bishop Reuben Saenz had just left well enough alone, Highland Park United Methodist Church would have had the escape hatch it wanted without anyone needing to know about it or worry about it.

Also See: Maryland appeals court says 37 churches must pay up to leave UMC

Global Methodist Church cuts ties with seminary over ‘doctrinal commitments’
The Global Methodist Church has cut ties with an Ohio-based seminary, with the theologically conservative denomination citing multiple differences, including “doctrinal commitments.”

GMC announced last week that it was ending its relationship with United Theological Seminary (UTS), a Dayton-based institution that had been an approved school for the denomination since 2024.

Thousands petition Netflix to remove Greta Gerwig from future Narnia films: 'A disrespect to Lewis'
A grassroots petition urging Netflix to remove Greta Gerwig as director of future adaptations of "The Chronicles of Narnia" has garnered signatures from thousands of fans who worry she is unfaithfully adapting C.S. Lewis' classic Christian allegory.

Chaz Migliacci, who began the petition last month and moderates a Facebook group for Narnia fans with more than 81,000 members, told The Christian Post that while many have been focusing on the theological implications of actress Meryl Streep voicing Aslan, some of their concerns go deeper.

C.S. Lewis himself did not consider The Chronicles of Narnia to be a Christian allegory but rather a collection of stories imagining how Christ might make himself known in a world different from ours. The changes Greta Gerwig has made in his work, The Magician's Nephew, defeat his original purpose as they do not accurately reflect his narrative and his orthodox biblical understanding of Christ. Rather the movie reflects Gerwig's own ideological views.

VOICES: Is the LGBT fad fading?
...for younger Americans, the novelty of being gay, bi, nonbinary, and trans is wearing off.

At the same time...the numbers have not moved significantly among older Americans, especially millennial women.This means that young people will continue be taught and influenced by adults who remain convinced that it’s their sacred duty to promote LGBT identification and lifestyles. This means that young people who question the validity of such categories will inevitably find themselves in conflict with older, true believers.

This development is going to impact the ability of churches committed to an agenda of radical inclusivity to reach and engage younger Americans should it increasingly characterize their segment of the population.

Why Christianity Is Worth Rethinking
What if the most important questions people are asking about Christianity are no longer about whether it's true, but whether it can make sense of their lives?

Do we truly give thanks for harvest and the harvesters?
Are you noticing a slight chill in the air, perhaps a crunchy leaf underfoot, or washed out greens slowly turning into brilliant reds and oranges? Autumn is arriving, and with it the seasonal celebration of harvest.

In the United States turkey and football are the most common associations with Thanksgiving Day. Few churches have services on that day and few people attend the services of churches that do.

Pitfalls in Preaching: A Letter on Application
The following letter was published in the December 2025 issue of the Banner Magazine. It is published here at the request of a reader who found it helpful, in the hope that its counsel might be blessed to others also. You can also listen to a reading of this letter on the Banner Podcast.

When Following Jesus Leads to an Ending
Following Jesus may lead you away from places you wished to stay. But if you keep following Him, you will end up exactly where God intends.

Tuesday's Catch: 'The Best Way To Avoid Pastor Burnout? Equip The Saints' And More

St. Oswald's Church, Grasmere, Cumbria

The Best Way To Avoid Pastor Burnout? Equip The Saints
The longer I’m in ministry the more I’m convinced that one of the prime reasons for pastoral burnout is that too many pastors are ignoring a simple command. Equip the saints.

The New Testament doesn’t emphasize the role of pastor nearly as much as our current church structure does. In fact, there’s just one passage – one! – in which the role of the pastor (along with apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers) is mentioned.

To be sure, there are plenty of passages about bishops, overseers, and more that apply to pastors, but Ephesians 4:11-12 could easily be called the pastoral prime mandate. In that passage, the Apostle Paul clearly tells us we have been called “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

Even in a small church, where the pastor often has to do more of the mundane tasks than our big-church friends do, we’re never exempted from the pastoral mandate to make disciples by equipping the saints.

Why the Decline of Church Transfer Growth is a Good Thing
Isn't any growth in a local church a good thing? Jess and Thom demonstrate why one particular type of growth can do more harm than good.

How to Eliminate Programs and Ministries
Most church leaders acknowledge that their churches are too busy and that their church calendars are too cluttered. Jess and Thom share a simple process for focusing on the right ministries and eliminating or minimizing others.

When Are Half Your Members Going to be Dead?
The tipping point for many denominations is not that far away.

Why Do Educated People Go to Church More?
It’s not about work schedules, free time, or even how religious they are.

Why Private Religion and Public Religion Tell Different Stories
Plus: a quiz to see where you land on both.

US evangelicals more religious than other Christians, but still declining
A professor at Washington University has used Pew research data to argues that while US evangelicals take their faith more seriously than Christians of other traditions, they are still being secularised, albeit at a slower rate.

Looking at a “composite religiosity index” (CRI), which essentially merges together factors like the importance of religion in a person’s life, church attendance and certainty in God’s existence, Professor Ryan Burge reports that since at least 2007 evangelicals have been consistently more religious than other traditions by a large margin.

Christianity teaches us not to turn executions into entertainment
The history of public executions suggests that when they are staged in free countries, they serve to degrade the citizens.

Also See: Theobro pastor Joel Webbon calls for public execution of Mike Huckabee

Immigration fears shape views of Britishness and Christianity, report finds
Anxiety about immigration and cultural change is closely linked to how people view British identity and Christianity’s place in national life, according to a new report by the religion and society think tank Theos.

Addressing the Pastor Shortage With the Gospel
The church in Canada has a serious problem: there are not enough pastors, even for the churches that already exist. In a now somewhat famous article in Faith Today, “Waking up to the pastor shortage”, Rick Hiemstra writes, “evangelicalism in Canada, as a movement, needs 625 new pastors per year over the next 12 years just to deal with retirement attrition. And of course, that’s not the only reason pastors leave active ministry.”

With this qualification, too, the problem is still understated, because addressing this issue would not touch the lack of church planters needed to start new churches.

What’s so fascinating about Church of England vicars?
Church of England priest Pippa White has more than 32,000 followers on TikTok, her online posts have been seen by millions, and she has just published a book explaining clerical life for a non-church audience.

In Not a Priestess, Pippa “brings her uniquely offbeat perspective to life as a young, female priest navigating the Church of England."

The London church that helped shape a nation: 300 years of St Martin-in-the-Fields
Few parish churches are as famous as St Martin-in-the-Fields in central London. This year, it marks its 300th anniversary. This is the story....

At one time Mayfield, Kentucky, in the Jackson Purchase, had an Episcopal church named after this famous London church. It was closed in 2006, in part due to its poor location and lack of visibilty, at the end of a culdesac, in an aging subdivision, a culdesac that was not directly accessible from a main artery of the town but required taking three different streets to reach. What ultimately caused the demise of the church was the appointment of a vicar who was not a good match with the conservative population of the community but who fit with the diocese's agenda of promoting radical inclusion.

LOST CHORDS: England’s Forgotten Hymns
In this episode Ben Maton plays the organ of St. Peter's Church, a Victorian church located in Hornblotton, Somerset, and built between 1872 and 1874 by architect Sir Thomas Graham Jackson for rector Godfrey Thring. Thring loved church music, wrote a number of hymns and published several hymn collections. The church's interior reflects the Victorian obsession with the medieval church. Note that the choir stalls face each other, a hangover from the medieval monastic church when the chancel was the church and the monks were the congregation who sang the monastic daily offices throughout the day and into the night and the nave was a barn attached to the church.The church has no rood screen which would have hidden the Lord's Table and muffled the voices of the choir. As it is is, this placement of the choir requires the choristers to turn in their stalls to face the congregation to be heard and is ill-suited for Prayer Book worship, an admission its admirers are loathe to make!

Are You Using AI to Think, or to Stop Thinking?
Does using AI make you dumber? A Brown University professor thought take-home exams would help his students after a tragedy on campus. Instead, the class average hit 96%, then crashed to 48% the moment laptops were banned.

The problem isn't AI. It's how we're using it to skip the thinking instead of sharpen it.

In this video, I share how to use AI to build your mind instead of outsourcing it. What's your take? 

Monday's Catch: 'What Any Church Can Do to Reach More Young Adults' And More

What Any Church Can Do to Reach More Young Adults
The news about young adults and churches often sounds discouraging. Many young adults have no connection to a congregation, and numerous churches struggle to reach them.

Research from Faith Communities Today, commonly known as FACT, reinforces the challenge. In its study of more than 11,000 congregations, only 16 percent had what researchers called “significant young adult participation.” That meant at least 21 percent of the congregation’s participants were between 18 and 34 years old.

Some findings seem to favor churches that are already large, growing, or located in areas with expanding young populations. Most churches do not fit those descriptions.

But the research also points to several factors that almost any church can influence. A congregation does not have to be large, wealthy, or located in a booming suburb to take these steps.

A Centuries-Old Minnesota Parish Starts Afresh 

A replant may be the way forward for a number of declining Episcopal churches. A replant may involve a change of name and a change of location. It will require changes in how the church has always done things.

How Patient Attention Nurtures the Life of the Church
When people grow tired of the rapidly shifting nature of modern culture, weary of not finding happiness in self-satisfaction, they will find the core of their longing fulfilled in the steadfast, though paradoxical, love of Christ.

Canada's Religious Revival That Never Came
Twenty years after a bold prediction, Canada's churches are still in decline.

What Can We Learn from the 100 Largest United Methodist Churches?
...there’s just not a whole lot of discussion of really big United Methodist Churches for a very good reason – there aren’t that many of them. But that gives me even more motivation to study this subset of American Christianity. Thankfully, the United Methodists have an easily accessible table listed on their website with the title “Largest 100 Churches by Membership.” I wanted to use this list because it offers a glimpse into a problem that plagues a lot of churches, especially in the mainline: their membership rolls are bloated with folks who haven’t attended a service in decades.

Men’s group loses United Methodist affiliation
The general agency that oversees United Methodist Men has halted — at least for now — its affiliation with a fellowship that supports U.S. conference men’s ministries.

At heart, the Commission on United Methodist Men’s dispute with the National Association of Conference Presidents is about whether the association has been claiming authority that, under church law, belongs solely to the commission. The national association is a separately incorporated organization.

Pete Hegseth’s gospel of violence
Hegseth has spent years framing America’s political and cultural struggles using the imagery of the Crusades.

This execution is to satisfy Hegseth’s bloodlust and the bloodlust of all those like him.

While this is the logic of Christian nationalism and radical Islam, it is not the logic of Jesus.

Also See: What kind of people are we becoming?

Fewer than half of Americans believe in virgin birth, study finds
Fewer than half of Americans now believe the birth of Jesus was a miracle stemming from the supernatural conception of Mary by the Holy Spirit, according to new research from the American Bible Society.

In the seventh chapter of its 16th annual State of the Bible report released Thursday, the American Bible Society highlights the experiences of Americans with the supernatural, including beliefs in God, Heaven, Hell, Satan, angels and demons. The data included responses from 2,649 Americans collected from Jan. 8 to 27.

Overall, 171 million Americans, about 62% of U.S. adults, believe in the supernatural, ABS said.

Who was the Ethiopian eunuch and what can we learn from him?
When we think about the history of Christianity in Africa, we may immediately think of European missionaries who travelled to the continent to spread the gospel. Yet Africa’s connection to Christianity stretches much further back, to the earliest days of the Church itself.

One particularly remarkable example is found in Acts 8:26–40, which recounts the conversion of an Ethiopian eunuch, a high-ranking African official whose encounter with Philip the evangelist transformed his life.

Although his name is never mentioned and his story occupies only a short passage, this man holds an important place in the biblical account of Christianity’s early expansion. His story not only reminds us of Africa’s presence in the early Christian movement but also offers timeless lessons about faith, humility and God’s love for all people.

Christian, Be a Gardener
Can you imagine what it would’ve been like to live in God’s garden and walk with him “in the cool of the day” (Gen. 3:8)? Imagine being the Lord’s appointed gardener in Eden, commissioned by God himself to “work it and keep it” (2:15). Living in God’s presence among lush vegetation, hypnotically vibrant flowers, and weather that was always perfect. No weeds, drought, or pests, so your labor always resulted in a full harvest.

Now, when you imagine Eden, have you considered how our gardening work continues today? While all human lives are marked by sin this side of the fall, believers are still called to work as God’s gardeners. One fundamental way we garden is as members of our local churches.

How to Arrange Your Sermon in the Most Persuasive Way Possible
Ancient experts on persuasion, such as Quintilian, spent considerable time training up-and-coming speakers. In particular, Quintilian explained the persuasive roles that confirmation, concession, and refutation play. Confirmation refers to the logical arguments that support a claim. Concession refers to the need to point out opposing views. And refutation refers to making counterarguments to persuade listeners to reject those views.1

The preacher who aims at persuasion would do well to employ similar strategies. These are not simply three tasks we do in order but three kinds of tasks we engage in as we move through the text in proclamation. Think of your task in the body of your sermon as riffing on these ancient tactics. To be persuasive, the body of your sermon must involve logical progression, naming obstacles, and well-reasoned counterarguments.

The work of confirming the main point of your sermon isn’t easy. It takes logic that arranges a series of smaller, progressively unfolding arguments. So what will help?

5 Ways to Develop Bible-Reading Disciples in Your Church
In an age of digital consumption, it’s never been more important to embrace the intentionally slow and formative habit of Bible reading.

AI Is Weakening Pastors’ Authority
Christians should not be receiving pastoral guidance from technology that won’t give an account for their souls.

Also See: Eric Mascall and a Christian Account of the Human Person in the Age of AI

Sundays at All Hallows (October 11, 2026) Is Now Online

 

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.

This Sunday, October 11, 2026, is the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. It is also the feast day of Saint Philip the Deacon. Philip was one of seven men who were chosen to relieve the apostles of the task of caring for the poorer members of the church at Jerusalem. However, Philip is better described as Philip the Evangelist as it is in the role of an evangelist that we read about him in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke’s account of the New Testament Church, preaching the gospel in Samaria and baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch, a minister of the Candace, the Queen of Ethiopia.

In this Sunday’s message we will be unpacking Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet and address a ticklish subject for some Christians—what is the nature of the wedding clothes mentioned in the parable and why one of the guests who was not wearing such clothes was tied hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness.

Just a reminder. The MP3s of the simple piano accompaniment for the metrical versions of the Benedictus and the Te Deum for the remaining Sunday for Trinitytide, the Season after Trinity, contains no vocals, just the tune played on the piano. Each accompaniment begins with a brief introduction. The tunes, KINGSFOLD and TALLIS’ CANON(EIGTH TUNE), were picked for their wide use in hymnals and other collections of sacred music and the greater likelihood of familiarity to the singer.

Readings: Isaiah 25: 1-9, Philippians 4: 1-9, and Matthew 22: 1-14

Message: What! No Wedding Clothes!

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2026/10/sundays-at-all-hallows-october-11-2026.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: 'Church Worship Attendance Is... Up! (For the First Time in Years)' And More

Church Worship Attendance Is... Up! (For the First Time in Years)
A new Hartford Institute report shows median in-person worship attendance increasing from 65 to 70 since just before the pandemic. That five-person gain may sound small, but it represents a 7.7% increase and moves the median congregation above its pre-pandemic level. Still, the story requires careful interpretation. This is not a return to the church landscape of 2000, when the median congregation had 137 in worship. It is better understood as a modest but meaningful inflection point—encouraging enough to notice, but not strong enough yet to call a trend.

The Missing Person in Worship Planning
Worship is a central part of the life of every kind of congregation, and there is a range of mindsets to bring to the planning of worship. It may be to do the kind of worship our church always does in the best way possible. It may be to communicate a distinctive message for a season or a sermon theme.

Another important way to begin planning is from the perspective of the worshipers and especially those attending for the first time.

Are You Glad When Passing the Peace Ends?
I first learned about the ancient practice of passing the peace in seminary. Since then, whenever I have been part of a service that included it, even when practiced poorly, I have kept in mind its place in the church’s history and liturgical tradition. It grows out of biblical sources such as the greeting of Jesus in John 20:19, “Peace be with you.” By the mid-second century, the practice was common in Christian worship, normally prior to the Eucharist. Later the custom faded but was revived in the mid-twentieth century. It was this revival of interest that was included in the study of worship when I was in seminary.

The passing of the peace had not been part of the United Methodist communion liturgy prior to 1972, but it was included in “A Service of Word and Table” adopted in that year. While some churches use the passing of the peace only when the Eucharist is celebrated, it is common for the practice to occur in every worship service in many churches. In the Episcopal Church, when the 1979 Book of Common Prayer replaced the 1928 edition as their official liturgical book, the new edition included the passing of the peace. While some thought this must be a new element of worship, they soon learned of its place in liturgical history.

Are Altar Calls Biblical? 4 Mistakes That Quietly Distort the Gospel
The sermon ends, the music softens, and the pastor asks people to come forward. For millions of Christians, that is how church is supposed to close. Some can still name the night they walked the aisle.

But a familiar habit can hide a serious question. Is your altar call helping people trust Christ, or is it quietly adding something to the gospel that was never there?

An altar call can point people straight to Jesus. Handled carelessly, it blurs the very message it exists to deliver. Most of the danger sits in habits pastors rarely stop to examine. Below is what an altar call is, where it came from, four ways it goes wrong, and how to invite people to Christ without your method getting in the way.

Altar calls are far more common in Baptist, Methodist, and other churches whose practices were influenced by the revivals of the nineteenth century than in Anglican and Episcopal churches where they are extremely rare.

Anglo-Catholic parishes embody ‘appreciation for the mystical’
Worship at St. Thomas’s Anglican Church, a historic Anglo-Catholic parish in downtown Toronto, invariably provokes one of a few strong reactions from newcomers, rector Fr. Nathan Humphrey says.

Some people, he says, ask him, “Wow, where has this been all my life?” Others who come from Protestant or evangelical backgrounds can have a strong knee-jerk reaction against worship that seems to them “too Catholic,” even “weird” or “idolatrous.”

“I don’t think anybody ever comes to the service at St. Thomas’s and has the attitude of ‘meh,’” Humphrey says. “A good Anglo-Catholic parish worth its salt won’t ever result in a ‘meh’ reaction from somebody who comes through the doors, because there’s always a particular identity that it’s conveying.”

As Rob Smith observes in his book Leading Christians to Christ: Evangelizing the Church (Morehouse Publishing, 1990), it is not uncommon to find in churches with this kind of ambience, churchgoers who, while they have fallen in love with the church's ambience have not fallen in love with the church's Lord. They are converts to the church's ambience but not to Christ. To be fair, a church can adopt all of the elements associated with so-called "contemporary worship" and experience the same problem.

Want to Reach the World? Evangelize the Church. 

What is the church’s greatest need today? I imagine there are all sorts of answers. One of them, surely, is mission-centric: “The church needs the world to be evangelized.” And that’s true.

But so is the reverse: the world needs the church to be evangelized.

10 Signs You Belong to a Healthy Church
Good lighting, a tight band and a confident preacher are standard equipment at churches of almost every size now. A livestream lets you preview a dozen congregations from your couch before you visit one.

Church health shows up in places a camera rarely goes. Watch who is allowed to tell the pastor no. Notice what happens when a member disappears for three Sundays. Ask whether the person beside you in the pew could explain the Gospel to a coworker on Monday.

Here are 10 biblical signs of a healthy church, one question to ask about each, the red flags that should concern you and what to do if your church comes up short.

Catholic, evangelical leaders condemn public execution plan of Fort Hood gunman
‘The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people,’ Archbishop Paul S. Coakley said in a statement.

This is the kind of thing one might expect in a Communist country like North Korea or an Islamist country like Afghanistan or Iran. Such public executions are designed to intimidate the population and to suppress opposition to the regime. They are not meant to be a deterent to crime. It shows the direction in which the present administration seeks to take the United States.

Anglican Watch Raises Alarm Over Cathedral of St. John the Divine Finances, Spending Priorities
Anglican Watch, the unofficial watchdog of the Episcopal Church, today raised serious concerns about the finances and spending priorities of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York, citing financial information showing a multimillion-dollar structural deficit alongside substantial expenditures for an Episcopal credit union, plans for a $70,000 kitchen renovation at the dean’s residence, and the proposed outsourcing of two full-time maintenance positions.

Financial information reviewed by Anglican Watch projects approximately $10.2 million in FY26 revenue against $17.7 million in expenditures, producing an operating deficit of approximately $7.6 million before an endowment draw.

Purgatory and the Anglican Tradition (Part 1)
Among Anglicans, few words provoke as much suspicion as “purgatory.” Article XXII is cited, and the matter is deemed settled. But that conclusion mistakes the specific target of the article.

Anglican formularies reject the “Romish” doctrine concerning purgatory—a specific medieval system of indulgences, pardons, and quasi-legal penalties. They do not require Anglicans to deny the existence of an intermediate state between bodily death and the great day of resurrection, nor do they prohibit belief in the continued perfecting of the faithful departed who will rise on that last day with bodies beyond sin and death. The Reformers were condemning a corrupt economy of salvation, not the biblical vision of a purifying transition from death to life.

Also See: Purgatory and the Anglican Tradition (Part 2)

The Renewed Pastor: Dale Sellers on How to Stay Healthy When Ministry Demands Keep Changing (Ep 138) 

Dale Sellers has good news and bad news.

The good news is that pastors are staying in their churches longer than ever before. The bad news is that pastors are aging and there aren’t as many young pastors coming in. This makes pastoral and church renewal more important than ever before.

AI is changing pilgrims’ journeys, but sacred journeys have always adapted to new technology
From the printing press to smartphone apps, technology has continually transformed the experience of sacred journeys. A scholar of trails and walking explains the history.

Friday's Catch: "Christian faith seen as ‘significantly more relevant’ to young people than church, new report finds"And More

Christian faith seen as ‘significantly more relevant’ to young people than church, new report finds
The Christian faith is perceived as “significantly more relevant to children” and young people than the church itself, according to new research which calls on churches to rethink how they engage the next generation.

The findings come from Scripture Union’s ‘Taking the Pulse of Ministry Among Children & Young People,’ written by Dr Sarah Holmes and drawing on responses from 697 adults surveyed by the Institute for Children, Youth and Mission (CYM) from May to July 2026.

Respondents included church leaders, children’s and youth workers, parents, grandparents, congregation members and chaplains from various denominations across the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

One of the clearest findings was a gap between perceptions of Christianity and the institutional church.

Gen Z Church Revival: David Kinnaman on Barna’s Findings
In the past couple years, the American church has experienced a resurgence as a larger percentage of people are making new commitments to Jesus. That trend has primarily been driven by younger generations who are longing for deeper spiritual guidance as they deal with deep existential questions around AI, wars, financial uncertainty, and relational breakdowns. Despite the challenges and uncertainties of our time, David Kinnaman is excited for the future of the church and the growing opportunities for the gospel to go forward in our cultural moment.

Kinnaman is the CEO of Barna Group, a leading research and communications company serving churches, nonprofits, and businesses. He is the bestselling author of Faith for Exiles, Good Faith, You Lost Me, and UnChristian. At the upcoming Amplify Conference, October 20–21 at Wheaton College, in partnership with Outreach magazine, he will be sharing some of Barna’s new findings about the resurgence of Christian faith in Gens Z and Alpha that undergird his upcoming book, Jesus Is Back: A New Generation’s Search for a Real, Beautiful, and Lasting Faith (Baker, March 2027).

In the following conversation, Kinnaman discusses the continuing trend of young people returning to church and how church leaders can be prepared to receive them, how times of uncertainty like the one we find ourselves in today can drive spiritual renewal, and how the church can equip the next generation to reach their spiritually hungry peers.

Navigating Church Politics
Church politics is an unavoidable reality in any community of people, and learning to navigate it well can mean the difference between a thriving church and a fractured one. In this episode, Scott Ball and A.J. Mathieu unpack three layers of church politics, from competing visions to power dynamics to practical de-escalation, and offer honest, grounded guidance for church leaders who want to lead well through relational friction. Whether you are a pastor, elder, or ministry leader, this conversation will help you understand the dynamics at play and move forward with wisdom and clarity.

What Will Happen at the UMC Bishops Gathering in October?
...something is missing, something big: the local church.

The organizers of the gathering talk a lot about the denomination but very little about the local church. Even the webinar on ecclesiology (our doctrine of the church) that attendees recently participated in focused far more on our connectional ecclesiology than on local ecclesiology.

It’s likely that the importance of the local church's ministry is simply assumed by the organizers. But that’s precisely the problem. For too long the bureaucracy of the United Methodist denomination has been built on the assumption of stable, healthy local churches whose vital ministry supports the larger work of the connection. Surely, by now we all know that this is not a safe assumption.

37 Maryland churches suing UMC over property dispute suffer another court loss 

An appeals court panel in Maryland ruled against 37 churches that sued a regional body of the United Methodist Church (UMC), claiming its process of charging churches 50% of their assessed property value to leave the Mainline Protestant denomination was unfair.

A three-judge panel of the Appellate Court of Maryland issued a ruling earlier this week in the case of The Methodist Church of Cape St. Claire et al. v. The Baltimore Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, Inc., et al.

Congregations invited to experiment with sixth baptismal promise emphasizing care of creation
A central component of the liturgy for baptisms in The Episcopal Church is the Book of Common Prayer’s Baptismal Covenant, in which congregations make five theological promises to act in Christian ways “with God’s help.”

Some congregations are adding a sixth promise to the Baptismal Covenant, acknowledging their responsibility to care for God’s earthly creation.

Philippians 4:13 Meaning: The Most Misread Verse in the Bible
Philippians 4:13 means Christ gives believers the strength to stay content in every circumstance, whether they have plenty or nothing. Paul wrote it while imprisoned, as part of a thank-you note to the church in Philippi. The “all things” he can do are named in the verses just before it: being in need, having plenty, going hungry and being well fed (Philippians 4:11–13). The verse promises strength to endure whatever God allows.

Gospel of the Living Dead: Preaching in the season of Halloween.
And it is just that, a holiday—a holy day. Halloween is part of the triduum of Allhallowtide: a three-day Christian observance that includes Halloween (or All Saints’ Eve), All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day.

These three days in the liturgical calendar are devoted to remembering our dead, the saints, and faithful forebears who precede us in death and surround us perpetually in the great cloud of witnesses. It is a time to reflect on the lives they led and to pray for them.

Historically and still to this day, some faith communities honor these holy days by visiting cemeteries to fellowship with the dead, and some prepare lavish meals to eat with friends and loved ones while sharing memories of the dead.

‘The enticement to become God’: Christian convert warns of spiritual danger of AI
A former Muslim who converted to Christianity after nearly a decade of investigating the faith warns that artificial intelligence is echoing one of Scripture’s oldest warnings about human nature.

Abdu Murray, president of Embrace the Truth and author of Fake ID: How AI and Identity Ideology Are Collapsing Reality—and What to Do About It, argues that, far from being a concern of mere technological advancement, the deeper issue surrounding AI is spiritual. Christians, he says, should ask whether humans are surrendering their ability to think, create, discern and exercise wisdom.

Taking Back the Holidays
From Thanksgiving through New Year’s, the tension lies in the giving. When you enter this “job” called “ministry” it feels less like a choice and more like a requirement. Honestly? Resentment can easily set in. “Why do we HAVE to do so much for others?” we ask while smiling and telling the world how much we love taking care of everyone.

What can we do to take it back if this is the pace set before us?

Battling the Fall Doldrums (Part 1)
Julie is a 10-year youth ministry vet. That means she’s sailed her ministry ship into the fall doldrums over and over.

Also See: Battling the Fall Doldrums (Part 2)

Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (October 8, 2026) Is Now Online

Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows.

In this evening’s message we consider a question that is asked by longtime Christians as well as those exploring Christianity, “What is faith?”

Readings: Genesis 28: 10-22; Hebrews 11:1-16

Message: What Is Faith?

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2026/10/thursday-evenings-at-all-hallows_01190972587.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: 'The Principled Engagement of the Anglican Tradition' And More

The Principled Engagement of the Anglican Tradition
...the posture of principled disengagement runs contrary to the spirit and practice of the early English Reformation. As a scholar of early modern Christianity, I point this out as a matter of historical accuracy.

The stakes of requiring “principled disengagement” are larger that the Porter-Gaud affair. They raise a question of what kind of church the ACNA aspires to be.

Does seperation and disengagement work? In the 16th century the English Church broke with the Church of Rome, underwent a series of reforms, and adopted an identity and a direction more closely aligned with the teaching of the Bible. In the 19th century the Church of England and her daughter churches experienced a Catholic Revival which not only revived doctrine and practices of the medieval Catholic Church but also introduced those of the 19th century Roman Catholic Church and obscured these churches' Protestant identity. In the 19th century the Free Church of England broke with the Church of England and the Reformed Episcopal Church with the then Protestant Episcopal Church due to the growing influence and spread of the Catholic Revival movement. By the 21st century both churches have experienced their own Catholic Revivals and would be unrecognizable to their Evangelical founders!

Beyond replication: The essential contextuality of Fresh Expressions
We are at an exciting time for the church and specifically the UMC as new and exciting ministries are popping up all over! The "Fresh Expressions" movement has ignited a spark of creativity and innovation within the church, prompting communities to explore new ways of being the body of Christ. It seems like the only limit to where God is leading ministry is that of our imaginations. However, as churches are popping up in burrito restaurants, tattoo parlors, and dinners, the crucial element of profound contextuality of these expressions is often overlooked. What thrives in one neighborhood and one context may (and often likely will) wither in another, underscoring the necessity of deep discernment over mere replication.

In this article Kellen Roggenbuck provides us with a much needed reminder of the importance of contextualization when planting a new church. I keep running across articles which champion an "Anglican" way of planting new churches, what is essentially a cookie cutter approach to church planting and give little or no consideration to conditions on the ground, to the conditions in a particular mission field. I have been involved in church planting and pioneering since the 1980s and one lesson I have learned is what may work in one neighbourhood, community or district may not work in another!

Mothers’ Union celebrate one worldwide family in Christ on 150th anniversary
Mothers’ Union has concluded a four-day event in Durban, South Africa, to mark its 150th anniversary (30 September – 3 October). Themed‘Celebrating Worldwide Fellowship: One Worldwide Family in Christ’, it gathered delegates from across the world to honour the legacy of its service to women, family and community life and look forward to the next chapter.

St Mary-the-Virgin Anglican Church in Bermuda celebrates 400 years of faith and service
In recent weeks, St Mary-the-Virgin Anglican Church in Warwick, Bermuda, has been marking its 400th (quadricentennial) anniversary with special services and commemorative events. These celebrations culminated on 4 October with a rededication service, which gathered distinguished guests, clergy and parishioners.

Scottish cathedral to charge non-Scottish visitors £12 entrance fee for first time
St Giles’ Cathedral in Scotland has said that visitors from outside of Scotland will be charged an entry fee of £12.

The cathedral, located in Edinburgh’s famous Royal Mile, was established in 1124 and, in all that time, has never charged for admission.

Under the plans, Scottish residents will be able to book entry online for free if they can provide proof of residency. Visitors living in other parts of the United Kingdom or from overseas, will be required to pay the fee.

For the first time, a Catholic archbishop sues Trump over access to immigrant detainees
The lawsuit accused the Department of Homeland Security and ICE of instituting policies that violate 'core constitutional values.'

How I Changed My Mind on the Death Penalty
In recent years, I have become increasingly suspicious of the idea that capital punishment is reflective of the type of justice Jesus would have us pursue. I base this suspicion in practical concerns regarding the implementation of capital punishment in the United States, the trajectory within Scripture on the issue of violence, as well as the testimony of the early church.

Let’s start with my practical concerns.

“Sustainable Ministry: Leading Without Burning Out” featuring Margaret Marcuson
What does sustainable leadership look like when ministry leaders are navigating constant demands, anxiety, and competing expectations? In this episode, Jonathan Page is joined by Margaret Marcuson, the author of Sustainable Ministry: How to Lead (and When to Nap). Together, they explore how clergy can lead with greater clarity, manage relationships and anxiety, establish healthy boundaries, and create space for rest and renewal.

Also See: Ministry Would Be Great If It Weren’t for the People

Pastors Are Preaching Longer, and Most Churchgoers Are Fine With It
Ask ten pastors how long a sermon should run and you will hear ten different answers, plus at least one story about the Sunday the roast burned. New research finally puts real numbers behind the debate, and the results upend a popular assumption.

In a culture trained on 60-second videos, more Protestant pastors are preaching longer than they did a few years ago. And the people in the pews are mostly happy about it.

Below is what the data shows about typical sermon length, why pastors and listeners rarely agree on the clock, and how to land on the right length for your own congregation.

The Ineffectiveness of AI Preaching
There is a time for AI and a time not to use AI. As with so many things, the promise of good has a shadow side. Preachers will be drawn to AI as Gollum is drawn to the Ring. AI offers something very powerful, but with the risk of preachers becoming correspondingly unfaithful. It is a slippery slope from Claude helping you prepare your sermon, to Claude writing it for you.

Pastor beware! Guard your heart, guard your flock; take responsibility, keep it real. Put in the hours, labour with love. Close your computer, get on your knees and ask God to help you, to speak to you, to shape and reform you. Open your Bible, open your mind, and open your heart.

Sam Altman warns against AI gaining religious authority after Grok affirms Jesus is Son of God
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared his strong discomfort with efforts to attribute religious or moral authority to artificial intelligence (AI) systems just days after a competitor AI affirmed the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth in a viral exchange on X.

In a now-deleted Oct. 1 post on X, Grok, part of the family of generative AI chatbots and large language models developed by Elon Musk’s xAI/SpaceXAI, was asked to remove the false gods from an image that showed Jesus amid a pantheon of deities and other religious figures. In response, Grok created and posted an image of Jesus by Himself with His hand raised, replying "Done," which prompted both celebration and outrage from many on the social media platform.

Small Groups are a Leadership Development Factory
If you need more leaders and even people just to help in your church, you are in good company these days. With low attendance numbers dragging on into the third year since COVID began, the leadership deficit in most churches is bigger than it’s ever been. Small groups are a great catalyst for growing leaders.

Recapturing an Evangelistic Mindset in Your Groups
If we’re to recapture an evangelistic mindset in our Bible study groups, we must intentionally position evangelism as essential in groups.

Christians Going to College Have to Be Intellectually Prepared
When it came to moral issues (substance abuse, sex, and the party scene) and practical issues (how to get along with my roommate, manage my budget, and stay focused on my studies), I had received plenty of good input. And to be sure, these are important things for any college student to address. Many believers have shipwrecked their faith over such matters.

The problem stemmed not from what I was taught but from what I wasn’t taught. I wasn’t prepared in the one area that would matter most in a university environment. I wasn’t prepared intellectually. And I would soon learn (the hard way) that intellectual preparation was what I needed more than anything.

What I encountered was not challenges to my beliefs and values from professors and other students but a lack of support and encouragement from the denomination with which my home church was affiliated. The Episcopal Student Center was closed, its doors locked, except for a weekly Canterbury Club meeting--a service of Holy Communion, followed by a meal of fried chicken and salad. Unlike Baptist, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic students, Episcopal students were left to navigate their way through university on their own. I would drift away from the Episcopal Church during university and not return until my late 30s.

Parenting Like Aslan
C.S. Lewis’ portrayal of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia is one of the most powerful and beloved images of divine love in all of literature. His sacrifice for Edmund on the stone table, his deliverance of the heroes again and again in times of distress, and his quiet but unmistakable power resonate deeply with us. But lately I’ve been taken with another aspect of Aslan: the fact that the characters he interacts most with are children.

This is not accidental: indeed he seems to want it this way. After all there is an age limit for Narnia, a place beyond which he no longer wishes to interact with you as Aslan, preferring to come in more human form. Of course as the Son of God, he relates to us at all ages of our existence and is the author and perfector of each of them. But as Aslan he is especially concerned with our childhood and with that part within us that is still a child.

Winnie-the-Pooh centenary marked with new Christian reflection resources for schools
Church schools are being invited to explore Christian values through the much-loved stories of Winnie-the-Pooh as part of new resources produced to mark the character’s 100th anniversary.

The Dioceses of Winchester and Portsmouth have created a set of nine classroom reflection cards drawing together passages from Alan Alexander Milne’s ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ stories with Bible verses, prayers and questions designed to encourage children to consider how Christian values can shape everyday life.

The resources coincide with the centenary of ‘Winnie-the-Pooh,’ first published in 1926, and focus on nine themes: friendship, kindness and compassion, gratitude, grace, courage and trust, patience, joy, hope and forgiveness.

Christian Bucket List: 50 Things to Do Before Heaven
A bucket list asks one blunt question: what do you want to have done before you die? Most lists answer with places and thrills. This one answers with people, Scripture, and the choices you will be glad you made when you finally see Jesus face to face.

Moses asked God to teach us to count our days so we could grow wise (Psalm 90:12). Every item below grows out of that prayer. Some take an afternoon. Some take years. A few will cost you your pride.

Nothing here is ranked, and your list will look different from mine. Pick five to start. And read all the way to number 31. It costs nothing, and it is the one most believers keep putting off.

Wednesday's Catch: London Rector’s Call for Separation Divides Evangelicals

London Rector’s Call for Separation Divides Evangelicals
Over the last few years, conservative evangelicals in the Church of England have been united in their opposition to new services of blessing for same-sex couples. They have dug their heels in on General Synod to try to vote down the project at every stage, winning numerous victories along the way. Earlier this year, the bishops formally shuttered the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) project, leaving further liberal reforms unlikely in the near future.

Despite these victories, there are signs of fracture the movement. While united in their support for traditional teaching about sex and marriage, conservative evangelicals are divided about their place in a church where same-sex relationships can now be blessed.

William Taylor is not the first to make such a call or Lee Gatiss to oppose it. See 50 Years Ago Today: The Split Between John Stott and Martyn Lloyd-Jones and Understanding Opponents. In the nineteenth century J. C. Ryle resisted similar calls.

Canadian woman approved for euthanasia after losing ability to cook
A woman in her 70s who felt she no longer offered value to her family because she lost her cooking ability was reportedly approved for euthanasia in Canada, prompting doctors in Toronto to raise the alarm at the ease with which Canadians can undergo physician-assisted suicide.

Madeline Li and Gary Rodin, who are professors of psychiatry at the University of Toronto, mentioned the unidentified woman in a Monday op-ed for The New York Times, offering her as an example of the expanding consequences of Canada legalizing "medical assistance in dying" (MAiD) in 2016.

Illinois Parish’s St. Francis’ Statue Stolen, Scrapped for $100
In a news release shared with local media on October 1, the Alton Police Department said it had identified the individuals believed to be responsible for the theft. Investigators also noted that less than 48 hours after it was taken, the statue was scrapped for $100 somewhere in St. Louis, Missouri, a roughly 30-minute drive from Alton.

2,700 conversions recorded as Germany’s Free Evangelical Churches report renewed growth
Baptisms and conversions have risen across Germany’s Federation of Free Evangelical Churches, as new figures suggest congregational life has largely rebounded after the setbacks of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Federation of Free Evangelical Churches in Germany (FeG) had 504 congregations and 40,933 members at the end of 2025, according to its latest statistics.

The book that changed Sweden: 500 years of the Swedish New Testament
2026 is the 500th anniversary of the first New Testament in Swedish. This is the story....

A Manhattan Parish’s ‘Magic Sauce’
For one Episcopal parish in the heart of Manhattan, it’s hard to pinpoint what makes them thrive when the magic sauce is seemingly all over the place.

St. James’ Church, a predominantly neighborhood parish that prides itself on actively sharing the love of Jesus Christ with each other, their city, and the world, the “magic sauce” means not taking themselves too seriously—precisely because they take Jesus and his kingdom most seriously.

Why We Need History More than Ever Before
“I’m just . . . disconnected,” a friend said, pausing before emphasizing the last word. I was chatting after church with some young adults, and one of them, with her characteristic candor and insight, touched on something. This sense of disconnection was the same thing I was hearing from my students at university. In contemporary culture, many people are rootless, atomized, and unsure of where they belong.

When life is all about self-invention, history is deemed irrelevant. And yet the culture of “you do you” is producing an epidemic of loneliness, an “anxious generation” (to use Jonathan Haidt’s term), and rapid polarization as people desperately try to find meaning and purpose in the myriad of idols of this world, from politics to wellness to transhumanism. People are yearning to be part of a larger story.

This is an opportunity for Christians. God invites his people to be part of a much larger historical story. If we understand something about why history matters biblically, and how to steward it well, then history can help us speak the gospel into this rootless age.

Did Early Christians Believe Jesus Was God? Philippians 2
About 20 years. That is roughly the gap between the crucifixion and a hymn early Christians were already reciting about Jesus, one that puts him on equal footing with God. If that timeline holds, the popular idea that Jesus’ divinity was added later runs into a problem. There was no “later” for anyone to add it in.

Theologian Gavin Ortlund builds that case in a video response to what he calls “evolutionary Christology,” the theory that belief in Jesus as God grew slowly over the decades after his death. Ortlund, who leads the Truth Unites ministry and serves as theologian-in-residence at Immanuel Nashville, argues for something closer to what New Testament scholar Larry Hurtado called a “big bang.” In that view, Jesus’ earliest Jewish followers recognized his divine status quickly, not gradually.

Is Jesus the Social Justice Champion of Progressives?
Progressive Christians often present a truncated portrait of Jesus, highlighting the parts of his ministry that fit their emphasis on social reform. In their view, Jesus was a social justice warrior who stood in solidarity with the poor and marginalized, challenged unjust systems and structures of power, and called his followers to pursue love, inclusion, and liberation.

10 Things a Pastor Should Never Do (If You Want to Last)
These 10 patterns have wrecked gifted leaders and wounded the people they were called to serve. Read them as guardrails, not gossip. A pastor should never....

When Ministry Is Harder On the Pastor’s Spouse
When you love someone, you’d do anything to take some or all of their pain on yourself. But you seldom can.

Don’t Suppress Young Men. A Pastoral Skill
I’ve seen it many times. The young guy is zealous. He absorbs theology like a sponge. He reads. He writes. He reflects. He engages. He’s what every church wants right?

But for many zealous young men, the pastor is constantly wet-blanket-ing them. We’re not talking about the wise correction that applies prudence to actions or precision to claims. Instead, there is a habit of exacerbation and frustration which the pastor adopts with nearly every interaction with the young zealot. A pastor’s actions can go against the wisdom of Eph 6.4, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

While God Pursues the Prodigal, How Do We Love the Mourning Family?
As leaders in ministry, here are three ways we can offer families biblical hope and practical help for loving their prodigal children.

Get a Grip: “Claude” Isn’t a Person
Anthropic is anthropomorphizing its AI program known as “Claude” with the apparent intention of convincing us that powerful computer programs are — or can become — conscious “persons” with “feelings.” And, they think, Claude should one day be treated as such, to the point that they have held meetings with religious leaders to discuss the moral concepts that might apply.

Nothing good can come from so anthropomorphizing AI. (I don’t care what President Trump wants to call it.) Understanding the moral distinction between humans and machines is essential to maintaining a proper sense of moral hierarchy in our affairs.

Leaning Into the Grind 

It’s time to lean into the grind. What does that mean? Read on to find out!