Monday's Catch: From Multisite to MultiChurch and More

MultiChurch a More Biblical Version of Multisite?

Brad House and Gregg Allison, two ecclesial pioneers, want to lead the wagon train one mountain farther—to the land of the multichurch, in their book MultiChurch: Exploring the Future of Multisite. Read More

What is the difference between a "multichurch" and a small denomination? Both are networks of churches. Some denominations are more centralized in the way that they handle funds than others. So what is the primary difference between the two--nomenclature?

Why Putting Christ Back in Christmas Is Not Enough

The history of American holiday cheer obscures the difficult details of the nativity narrative. Read More

Also see this Wikipedia article on Father Christmas. In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe C. S. Lewis treats Father Christmas as a servant of Aslan, whose arrival in the land of Narnia heralds the return of the Son of the Emperor Overseas and the deliverance of Narnia from the power of the White Witch. The Father Christmas of the Narnia Chronicles is reminiscent of "Sir Christemas" of Richard Smart's fifteenth century carol, who announces the good news of Christ's birth and encourages his listeners to "make good cheer and be right merry." On the other hand, the White Witch herself takes an attitude which I find reminiscent of that of the Puritans, "What is the meaning of all this gluttony, this waste, this self indulgence? Where did you get all these things?" Rather than becoming Christmas killjoys like the Puritans, I believe that we can learn from Lewis that God can evidence his grace through the traditional customs of Christmas. While we should not let them overshadow the narrative of Christ's birth, we should not fear them.

Why Do We Say "Noel" at Christmas

Virtually every other language has a word for Christmas. Spanish-speakers celebrate Navidad. The Italians have Natale and the Dutch look forward to Kerstmis. But why do we English-speakers sing “The First Noel,” the French word for Christmas, and not say “The First Weihnachten,” the German word? Read More

Aaron Earls neglects to mention that English contains many French words and at one time French, Norman French, was spoken in England. For a time the title of Duke of Normandy was held by the kings of England.

How Church Leaders Can Avoid The Holiday (Leadership) Blues

4 practical action steps that will help you avoid the holiday blues.... Read More

Stop Saying 81 Percent of White Evangelicals Vote for Trump (It Was Probably Less Than Half)

I know I’m fighting a losing battle with this post. It won’t go viral. It probably won’t change many minds. But I’ll give it a shot anyway. No matter how many times people make the claim, it is simply wrong to say that 81 percent of white evangelicals in the United States voted for Donald Trump to become president. Read More