Friday's Catch: Effective Church Website Redesign and More

5 Mindset Shifts for an Effective Church Website Redesign

Before you start your next church website redesign, consider these five mindsets that might be a shift from traditional thinking, but put you in the right frame of mind to create an effective church website. Read More

Scholarship in a Pandemic? A Lesson from C. S. Lewis

Brian Tabb offers wisdom gleaned from one of C. S. Lewis' wartime addresses. Read More

There is no going back to normal because there has never been normal.

Hunger, Food Supply and Food Waste

According to the nonprofit Feeding America, more than 37 million people struggle with hunger in the United States, including more than 11 million children. This is one reason it was so troubling this spring to see news reports of food being destroyed as the COVID-19 virus hit our country. As the pandemic continues to play out and affect the economy, even more people will face food insecurity. Read More

7 Ways for Next Gen Ministries to Approach This Unique Summer

Here are seven ways for next generation ministries to approach this unique season in a way that could make this the most effective summer your ministry has ever experienced. Read More

5 Surprising Things Corona Has Unmasked in the Christian Family

Over the past few months, it has been undeniable that the world has changed. Covid-19 and recent social justice issues have swept across our nation. And both have changed us. There are 5 things corona has unmasked in the Christian family. Read More

Common Pitfalls in Family Worship

The key to family worship is to stick with it, to keep plodding.... If you are just starting, I want to warn you about a common pitfall that can potentially derail this good work when barely getting out of the gate. Read More

When the girls were elementary school age, my mother and I often had them on weekends and during the summer. We made a point of having family worship in the evening. We gathered around the dining table and used a simplified version of the Order of Worship for the Evening from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer--the lighting of one or more candles, the singing of O Gracious Light, a short reading from the Good News Bible, the Lord's Prayer, and the Collect for the Aid against Perils. The girls took turns lighting and extinguishing the candle or candles, which was their favorite part of our family worship gatherings. Simplicity and repetition works well with children of that age. For readings we picked passages from the New Testament that highlighted Jesus' person, his teaching, and his example and which children could grasp. We also used Arch Books, particularly those with a theme of God as One who saves--Noah's Ark, the Moses and the Crossing of the Red Sea, Jonah and the Whale, the Three Young Men and the Fiery Furnace, and similar Bible stories. My mother and I may have had an edge over other parents and caregivers. My mother was a graduate of Hockerill Teacher Training College, Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, a college "established in 1852 by the Church of England for the training of women teachers, who like their brothers, 'would go out to the schools in the service of humanity, lay priests to the poor, moved by Christian Charity,'"and in which those training to become teachers also received training in giving religious instruction to school children. I was deeply immersed in the study of liturgics, particularly in all-age worship.

What Does the LGBT-Discrimination Decision Mean For Religious Employers?

The Supreme Court recently ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. What are the ruling’s real-world implications for those who maintain traditional, biblical views about human sexuality? How will it affect churches, schools, camps, mission agencies, humanitarian organizations, and small businesses run by religious believers? After Bostock, can these institutions maintain hiring and employment practices consistent with their religious views without running afoul of Title VII? That remains an open question. Read More