All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (February 28, 2021) Is Now Online.

All Hallows Evening Prayer is a service of worship in the evening for all pilgrims on the journey to the heavenly city.

Arrow prayers are one of the ways that we can pray for ourselves and others. On her blog Beautifully Broken, Laurie Hampton of offers this description of arrow prayer:

“Arrow prayers are quick, one-sentence prayers that you can shoot off amid any life situation. These prayers are useful when you are in the middle of a crisis, problem, or daily activity. They can also be prayers of thanks or praise when we are delighted with God.”

She cautions that they are no substitute for regular prayer times, but they do help us keep our attention focused on God’s presence throughout the day.

Arrow prayers can be sent winging to the throne of grace in a breath and take but a second or two to pray. The seventeenth century Anglican poet-priest George Herbert, when he was preaching a sermon, would punctuate his sermons with these short prayers, beseeching God that his congregation would benefit from what he had just said in his sermon.

Like all forms of prayer, arrow prayers are means of grace through which God works invisibly in us, invigorating, strengthening, and confirming our faith.

The Scripture reading for this Sunday evening is Colossians 3:12-17 The New Life in Christ

The homily is titled, “God’s Handiwork.”

The dismissal song is Marty Haugen’s “We Are God’s Work of Art.” Scored for choir, assembly, keyboard and guitar with two C instruments, it is available from GIA Publications.

The link to this Sunday evening’s service is—

https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2021/02/all-hallows-evening-prayer-for-sunday_28.html

Please feel free to share the link to the service with anyone whom you believe might benefit from the service.

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. An ad may follow a song so as soon as the song is finished, close the tab.

Previous services are online at https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/

May this service be a blessing to you.

Why the 40/60 COVID Church Is Here to Stay

The pandemic has permanently shifted the way we think about in-person and online church attendance.

I believe the 40/60 COVID church is here to stay.

What is the 40/60 COVID church?

It is the church that has been birthed out of the COVID season we just walked through. It means 40% of your people will attend consistently in person and 60% of your people will attend the platforms of your online location.

We (Vanguard Church in Colorado Springs) started our online location four years ago before COVID was an issue. At the time, when we launched it, it was for the purpose of those who could not attend service with us locally but who wanted to stay connected with us after moving away. We are a huge military town, and our city sees a roughly one-third turnover every three years.

For the past three or four years our pastoral leadership team and elder board have been discussing how we should view the online community. Here were the three options we were considering: 1) an alternative to attending in person 2) an option when you can’t attend 3) a location like our other in-person locations.

After a couple of years of debating it, about six months before COVID hit, we decided at our annual pastoral/elder retreat that we were going to move toward making our online community a location, not an option, and not an alternative when you can’t attend, but a legitimate location like our in-person locations.

What does this mean? It means we would work toward: 1) staffing with administrators and pastors, 2) encourage people to attend the online consistently, 3) encourage our people to become virtual evangelists, 4) grow people’s awareness of the need to give to the ministry through it, 5) create a discipleship process, 6) look for ways to care for those who attend, 7) invite them to start life groups or join some type of ongoing connection group either virtually or in their particular area, 8) provide our online attendees a way to connect with us and get the help they need. Read More

Exactly What Not to Say When You're Leading People Through Change

So you’re leading through change. Who isn’t these days?

Change is more important than ever because the world is changing faster than ever.

Here’s the challenge. Most leaders fear change not because they’re afraid of change, but because they’re afraid it’s going to backfire.

The truth about change is that it’s more mysterious than it needs to be.

Many people aren’t sure how the dynamics of change work, and have seen so many leaders get skewered trying to lead change that they’re afraid to try.

Other leaders—unaware of the dynamics of change—storm change so aggressively that they look over their shoulder to discover than nobody’s following.

You can learn how to lead change well.

Leading change requires a skill set. And the good news is that skill set can be learned.

That’s why I wrote this book outlining a five step strategy on how to lead change when you’re facing opposition.

Today…a question all of us face when leading change. What do you actually say when you’re leading change?

Say the right thing…and change can happen easily.

Say the wrong thing…and plans can unravel in front of you. Read More

Preacher, Don’t Do These Things! 3 Ingredients of a FORGETTABLE Sermon

Preaching is difficult. But sometimes us preachers make it even harder.

We let ourselves linger in ruts of bad habits.

We stop challenging ourselves to learn and grow.

We get overwhelmed by all of what ministry is and our preaching slowly fades.

Sometimes, all we need is for someone to show us that what we’re doing isn’t ideal and offer us a different path forward.

That’s what I hope to do for you. Like Gordon Ramsey tasting your 3-ingredient meal, I’d like to warn you in anticipation of your next sermon: don’t use these 3 ingredients. They lead to a forgettable sermon. Read More

Hybrid Groups – The Best of Both Worlds

I am a golfer. At least I try to be.

I have loved playing the game since I was a kid. My grandfather introduced me to golf by giving me my first set of clubs. He took me to my first golf course at age 12.

Over the years I’ve taken lessons, bought equipment like bags, swing aids, and more. The best investment I ever made in equipment, though, were the times I purchased hybrid clubs.

Hybrid clubs came along a few years ago. What is a hybrid club? Glad you asked! A hybrid club combines the best features of an iron and a fairway wood. It’s like those two clubs had a baby. Golfers take a long iron, like a 4-iron, out of their bag (longer irons like 2, 3, and 4 irons are harder for average golfers to hit) and replace it with a 4-hybrid. The hybrid has the same loft as the iron it replaced, but it is easier to hit. Plus, it’s more versatile.

A hybrid club glides through taller grass, unlike its iron counterpart. Because of a lower center of gravity, hybrids help golfers get the ball high into the air. And around the green, hybrids can be used to chip the ball if needed. They really are the best of both worlds.

Let’s think about some hybrid options in your Bible study group. COVID has caused us to rethink many things about group Bible study. Some groups are back on church campus, others are not. Some groups are meeting online, others are not meeting at all. A hybrid Bible study group may be just what your church needs today. Groups can become hybrid groups in three ways.... Read More

The only kind of golf I play is putt-putt (or miniature golf). It was a struggle to read the first half of this article. The illustration that he was using did not connect with me. However, Ken Braddy does make some good suggestions in the last half of the article.

Why Are Young Adults Increasingly Identifying as Bisexual?

The Story: A new survey finds that one in six adults between the ages of 18 and 23 now identifies as LGBTQ.

The Background: A recent Gallup survey finds that the number of Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender has increased to 5.6 percent, up from 4.5 percent in Gallup’s previous update based on 2017 data. The increase is primarily due to the rise in LGBT identification of younger generations, who are far more likely to consider themselves something other than heterosexual.

Almost one in ten (9.1 percent) Millennials (Americans born between 1981 and 1996) and one in six (15.9 percent) members of Gen Z (born 1997-2002) identify as LGBTQ. In comparison, only 3.8 percent of Generation X (born 1965-80), 2 percent of Baby Boomers (born 1946-64), and 1.3 percent of Traditionalists (born before 1946) identify as something other than heterosexual.

The largest non-heterosexual category is bisexual. More than half of LGBTQ adults (54.6 percent) identify as bisexual, compared to about a quarter (24.5 percent) who say they are gay, 11.7 percent who identify as lesbian, and 11.3 percent who identify as transgender. An additional 3.3 percent volunteer another non-heterosexual preference or term to describe their sexual orientation, such as queer or same-gender-loving. (Respondents could give multiple responses when describing their sexual identification, which is why the totals exceed 100 percent.)

The vast majority of Gen Z adults who identify as LGBTQ (72 percent) say they are bisexual. Gallup notes that 11.5 percent of all Gen Z adults in the United States say they are bisexual, with about 2 percent each identifying as gay, lesbian, or transgender.

About half of Millennials who identify as LGBTQ say they are bisexual. In older age groups, expressed bisexual preference is not significantly more common than expressed gay or lesbian preference.

Women are also more likely than men to identify as LGBTQ (6.4 percent vs. 4.9 percent, respectively) and bisexual (4.3 percent, with 1.3 percent identifying as lesbian and 1.3 percent as something else). Read More

All Hallows Evening Prayer for Saturday Evening (February 27, 2021) Is Now Online

All Hallows Evening Prayer is a service of worship in the evening for all pilgrims on the journey to the heavenly city.

Rather than giving up something, Lent is a good time to take up something new such a new spiritual practice—something that will help us grow spiritually and which we can keep up after the Lenten season is behind us. Lectio Divina, for example. The practice of the presence of God. Arrow prayers. Breath prayer. Centering prayer. All these spiritual practices will enrich our spiritual lives. They are also means of grace. 

John Wesley, Anglican priest and founder of the Methodist Movement, urged his followers not to idly wait for God’s grace to come to them but to actively cultivate the means of grace in their lives. Through the means of grace, they would open themselves to how and where God was working in their lives.

The Scripture reading for this Saturday evening is Colossians 1: 3-14 Thanksgiving and Prayer

The homily is titled, “In Tune with God’s Will.”

The second psalm is Ken Canedo’s paraphrase of Psalm 91, “Be With Me, Lord,” available from Oregon Catholic Press (OCP). The dismissal song is Steven C. Warner’s “Tune My Heart According to Your Word.” It has a mantra-like ostinato refrain. It is available from GIA Publications.

The link to this Saturday evening’s service is—

https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2021/02/all-hallows-evening-prayer-for-saturday_27.html

Please feel free to share the link to the service with anyone whom you believe might benefit from the service.

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. An ad may follow a song so as soon as the song is finished, close the tab.

Previous services are online at https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/

May this service be a blessing to you.

25 Common Myths About Christianity, And Answers From James Emory White

Looking for a help in answering common objections to our faith? James Emery White ’s A Search for the Spiritual: Exploring Authentic Christianity (Baker Books) is an excellent resource. Here are some the topics James Emory White addresses.... Read More

4 Reasons Your First-Time Guest Process Should Be Boring

Many times we assume that we simply have to deliver the sizzle and sparkle to our first-time guests. After all, if we don’t knock their socks off with our golf shuttles and Disney-esque environments and free toaster ovens branded with our church logo, how can we ever convince them to come back?

Don’t get me wrong: I believe in surprise and delight. But I think what surprises and delights our guests may be different from what we would imagine. I’ve found that most of our first timers are surprised to discover we’ve thought through their first moments on campus. They’re delighted by small acts of service. They’re wowed by clear processes.

Here are four reasons I think “boring” is something to consider.... Read More

Most Small Groups Can Be Mediocre...

10 Lessons from a Church Whose Groups Are Exploding

I’ve always had a hard time with small groups as a church leader.

In my experience, whenever a church launches a new wave of small groups, you’re really hoping to just keep most of the people that show up on week 1 through week 10.

Usually, you launch with groups of 20 and are happy if you have groups of 8 by the end of the semester.

You might have had a similar experience.

As a result of this, I’ve grown a bit cynical about small group ministries. I’ve even had the thought that…

“Maybe small groups are just a bad idea. We could put people in serve groups instead.”

And I almost gave in to that thinking. But there was one problem with my theory.... Read More

When Dillon Smith refers to groups of 20 and groups of 8, it is not clear whether he is referring to the size of the small groups or the number of small  groups. 20 people is too large a number of people for a small group. With that may people you no longer have small group dynamics. On the other hand, 8 to 10 people is not a bad size for a small group. Some small groups do not jell. So a church may start out with more small groups than it ends up with. We ran our small groups at the Journey for 6 weeks at a time. At the end of the 6 weeks a small group participant might join a new group or stay with the group in which they had been participating. Groups were also encouraged to multiply and form new groups. I was a co-leader or participant in a small group for ten years while I was at the Journey. The reason that I was initially attracted to the church was that it was only 9 months old and had a small group ministry. Our small groups were co-led. We often rotated leadership in our small groups to give everyone an opportunity to learn how to conduct a small group meeting. We offered periodic small group leader training for potential leaders and hosts.  Our small groups were usually hosted by a couple who opened their home for small group meetings; in the case of university students, one or two students. 

Five Tips on Handling Angry People

I have observed that worship leaders, pastors, and church planters, live in a constant state of being either angry, depressed or delusional, perhaps because we are often handling angry people.

One might say, “I am neither angry nor depressed.”

Delusional: “An idiosyncratic belief or impression that is not in accordance with a generally accepted reality.” (Wordreference.com)

Ministry is hard. Handling angry people is hard. Dealing with our own emotions is hard.

A passionate, emotional pastor planting a church with opinionated people is bound to encounter a conflict or two … per hour.

The conflicts are not the problem. The responses usually are.

Harsh words in the midst of conflict are like weeds in an untended garden. They crop up everywhere until they finally take over and choke out any fruitful conversation. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. Sinful people blame-shift. Read More

One of the things that I learned as a social worker from the staff of a children's psychiatric unit is that anger and rage are cyclic. The best time to intervene is when the anger/rage cycle is at low ebb, when the patient has exhausted his anger and rage. Children and adults who are out of control will go very rapidly through the anger/rage cycle. They will keep feeding their anger and rage. They may require restraint and sedation. 

When dealing with an angry person, listening to them is important. During that time they may exhaust their anger and become more rational. One will also gain a better idea of how the angry person is feeding their anger and whether they may present a danger to themselves or to others. It is not a good idea to respond to what the angry person is saying when their anger is at its height. The best time to respond to them is when their anger is at low ebb and they may be open to hearing what one is going to say. Even then one should exercise care in what one says . 

In some cases an angry person may use anger and outbursts of rage to manipulate other people. They have learned to use anger to intimidate other people and to control them. For this reason it is useful to know the history of the angry person. They may have poor impulse control and a low frustration tolerance. They may have learned to respond with anger and rage to situations that in other people may elicit feelings of anxiety or fear. They may have a history of physical violence in which case one will need to protect oneself and anyone else against whom they may direct their anger. In such cases it may be necessary to involve law enforcement and for them to suffer the negative consequences of their anger and rage outbursts. 

Pastor, Preach to the People in the Room

A few weeks ago, I listened to one of the first sermons I preached. I’m not sure what inspired me to make this decision. But unless you’re a glutton for punishment, I do not recommend you to do the same.

I can honestly say that younger me faithfully exegeted the text, but the sermon still fell flat. I can point to a dozen reasons why that was the case, but this was one of the biggest: I wasn’t preaching to the people in the room.

In other words, I had a certain person in mind — perhaps a seminary professor or my own pastor at the time — and I chose my language, illustrations, and overall feel of the sermon to impress them. So while I was technically preaching to a room full of believers in rural Georgia, I was actually preaching to people who weren’t in the room at all.

I doubt this temptation is exclusive to new preachers. We all craft our sermons with someone in mind, but we’re all tempted to make that someone a professor, a peer, or a certain group of people on social media. Read More

The Rise of Churches Producing Local Television in Smaller Markets

One of the things I never expected during a pandemic was the rise of churches using local TV to share their message. In markets like Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Lebanon, Ohio; Mandeville, Louisiana; and Destin, Florida; visionary churches have embraced broadcast TV during the lockdown and are making a powerful impact on their communities.

The problem is that so many pastors and leaders consider broadcast television a platform of yesterday rather than tomorrow. But there’s plenty of reasons that I’m not ready to count TV out of the game. After all, when movies were invented in the late 1800’s, that didn’t eliminate live events. And when radio was invented it didn’t eliminate movies. And when TV was invented it didn’t eliminate radio. And now, the Internet won’t eliminate television. Certainly things change and during each transition, the previous medium finds a new level. But ultimately they all find their place in the media universe. Read More

First United Methodist Church of Murray, Kentucky streams its Sunday services on Facebook and on the local cable TV network. Older members of the community may not have internet but they do have cable TV. They are able to view  the church's services over the local cable TV network. The church was doing this before the COVID-19 pandemic but the practice  has proven a boon since the pandemic. 

In addition to local broadcast and cable TV, another medium that churches might use is local radio. Broadcasting a service is simpler than streaming a service and people in rural areas often have poor TV reception and no internet access. They are, however, able to hear their local radio station.

What I have observed is that churches have a lot to learn about videoing their services for streaming on the Internet or local broadcast or cable TV--for instance, using tight, close-up shots of the pastor, assistant ministers, cantors, and other vocalists and avoiding panning the camera back and forth across a sparsely-filled sanctuary or taking long, panorama shots of the praise band spread out across the platform. When people attend church, they rarely look around them. They look at specific people on the platform. They may look at an altar or a wall cross or some other focal point. Facebook and TV viewers do not need a bird's eye view of the service. What they need is a visual experience similar to one that they would have if they were there in the sanctuary. As for the lyrics of hymns and songs, it is better to use large letter captioning or have the slide of the lyrics fill the entire screen. Viewers do not need to see the cantor or other vocalist. All they need to see is the lyrics and to hear the cantor or other vocalist. 

Karl Vaters: Your Small Church Has What People Need the Most Right Now [Podcast]

Karl Vaters has been in pastoral ministry for over 30 years. He is the teaching pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, a healthy small church in Orange County, California. Karl has written several books, including his latest, “The Church Recovery Guide: How Your Congregation Can Adapt and Thrive after a Crisis.” At KarlVaters.com, he shares resources to help small church pastors lead well and capitalize on the unique advantages that come with pastoring a small church. Listen Now

Are Christian Schools Training Christians or Americans?

Jesus made clear that we pledge allegiance only to God. But some Christian education pledges allegiance to the world too.

How do we rightly understand the people who stormed the Capitol last month? MSNBC analyst Mehdi Hasan, soon after the riot, wrote that we must ask, Where were they radicalized?

Hasan’s answer was right-wing news and social media, a frantic feed of Fox and Facebook. But in a column for Religion Dispatches, Chrissy Stroop pointed to Christian education as well. Citing a Huffington Post report that connects rhetoric from former President Donald Trump with lessons in widely used Christian textbooks produced by Abeka Publishing and Bob Jones University Press, Stroop argued “conservative Christian” schools are “sources of radicalization” with a “toxic influence” that contributed to the seditious violence in Washington on January 6.

On the one hand, if Stroop’s broad verdict is right, I should have joined the Capitol mob. I am a product of Christian primary education—even used Abeka books. Still, I can’t argue with Stroop’s basic contention that the mushrooming visibility of Christian nationalism in American evangelical circles requires new scrutiny of Christian schooling. The question I keep returning to is this: Are our schools training Christians or Americans? Read More

I have had similar thoughts about a homeschool curriculum that has been advertised on Church Leaders and other Christian websites. The ads showed two blond-haired, blue-eyed children, the Statue of Liberty, and the American flag and no Christian symbols. The two children were in their teens and drawn in a style reminiscent of the Hitler Youth posters of the 1930s and 1940s--Aryan youth, Ubermench. Based upon the ads, I was prompted to wonder what this homeschool curriculum was teaching. I am a historian by training if not by vocation and I have studied the Hitler Youth movement in Germany and I am familiar with their propaganda posters. The similarity of style was striking. Coincidence? Maybe? 

A number of "Christian" schools here in the South  were originally launched as private academies for the children of parents who were opposed to the segregation of public schools and since that time have been morphed into "Christian" schools purportedly teaching "Christian" values. 

While some Christian schools may play a role in the radicalization of the "alternate-right," I suspect that the main culprit is the internet. I have been a student at the local state university for more than five years and I have noticed a segment of the student body has been exposed to Neo-Nazi thought and values. I heard one male student tell a female student in the hallway that he was a Nazi. He appeared to be trying to impress the girl, but judging by her reaction, I do not believe that she grasped what he was saying. I gathered from a member of the staff at the university that anti-Semitic, Neo-Nazi videos may be viewed on You-Tube as "Christian" videos, Her husband often viewed them and she was asking me questions about whether the views expressed in them were really Christian views. 

White supremacy has always had its supporters in the South (and outside the South too) and the South has produced some outspoken Neo-Nazis like David Duke. However, the blending of white supremacist,  Neo-Nazi, and nativist thought with what its adherents calls Christianity but is devoid of Jesus' influence and an extreme form of patriotism could irreparably damage orthodox Christianity in the United States.  All Christians could be tarred with the same brush. For this reason I believe that orthodox Christians need to tone down the political rhetoric online and in the pulpit. Our Lord did not commission us to spread a particular political ideology or promote a particular politician and to make converts to that ideology or supporters of that politician. He commissioned us to spread the gospel and to make disciples of all people--followers of himself, not a politician. That is the task which he has entrusted to us, not the establishment of a Christian version of the Islamic Dar al Islam in the United States. 

9 Things You Should Know About Pollution

Pollution is the largest environmental cause of disease and premature death in the world. For example, according to a recent study in the journal Environmental Research, 10.3 million premature deaths annually are attributable to outdoor air pollution.

The number of estimated excess annual deaths due to lower respiratory infections in children (4 years and younger) because of that type of pollutant is estimated to be 876 in North America, 747 in South America, and 605 in Europe. Yet despite the devastating effect on humanity, pollution is a topic hardly discussed in public—even among Christians.

Here are nine things you should know about pollution and its effect on our global neighbors. Read More

4 Challenges Connecting Pastors and Police Officers

Pastors and police have been at the forefront of many news stories in recent years—and both have several challenges in common.

Having served as a pastor for 33 years and a police chaplain for six years, my respect toward these two important professions is immense. Conversely, my disrespect against someone from either profession who preys on those they’ve promised to protect is also immense.

I think it will be helpful to both ministers and officers to consider these four challenges we have in common. Read More

10 Ministry Questions That You Should Ask Yourself Each Week

As you lead in children and family ministry, it's crucial to be self-aware and to keep asking yourself questions that will help you stay on course. We often talk about having an accountability partner and that is a great thing. But it's also just as important to keep yourself in check. And one of the best ways to do this is to ask yourself questions each week and act upon the answers you get.

Here are 10 questions you can ask yourself each week.... Read More

Students Are the Church of the Today!

I was 13 when the Lord saved me, and I’m grateful for the Sunday school teachers and youth ministers who taught me, challenged me, corrected me, and supported me as a teenager living in a non-Christian home. Still, my church then used the language of “the future of the church” for students—and I’m not convinced that’s the best language. Here’s why.... Read More

The Tectonic Plates Of Spiritual Formation

One grave misunderstanding about spiritual formation is that it is focused solely on, primarily on, the toning of the bedrock of our inner, hidden life. But what is true is that what you see on the surface of a person, on the surface of you, speaks of what is happening in the holy deeps. One shift beneath the surface – will completely change the entire landscape.

Spiritual formation is life formation; a reshaping of our inner and outer ways that is compelled and precipitated by unseen movements deep within the soul. Read More

One of the areas in which many churches fall flat is the discipling of new believers and the ongoing spiritual formation of believers. We should not only be growing in our devotion to the Lord Jesus but also in our adherence to his teaching and our emulation of his example.

12 Ways to Create an Awesome Easter Online Experience

Last year many churches did Easter online for the first time. Since it was new and rushed we didn’t put our best foot forward. But it’s now a year later and we still have a little over a month, so there’s no reason why your online experience can’t be awesome in 2021. Below are 12 ways to help you plan an incredible Easter online experience. If you want additional coaching to make this your best Easter yet, visit PlanEaster.com. I would love to come alongside you and help make it a success. Read More

In Germany churches are traditionally decorated with catkins at Easter.

Four Ways to Kill a Movement

 

In his book, Movements that Change the World, Steve Addison notes five characteristics of a movement. They are white hot faith, commitment to a cause, contagious relationships, rapid mobilization, and adaptive methods. It definitely seems by reading the book of Acts, these five characteristics were present in the early church movement.

As Christianity continued to spread throughout the empire it increasingly became an exponential movement (see Rodney Stark’s, The Rise of Christianity) to the point the Roman Empire adopted it as its official religion. It really is remarkable that in three centuries Christianity went from a fringe movement to being the central religion of an empire.

Many scholars and historians have studied the movement of the church over the last 1700 years. While there have been pockets of movements throughout history as well as in different parts of the globe, it seems contemporary Christianity in the West finds herself struggling to be a formidable movement. At least in the West, Christianity has been, and continues to be, pushed to the margins of society and culture.

However, even in the margins of society, God can ignite movements on the fringes that impact the center of culture. The reality is, we are in desperate need of God doing that again. While we may be more aware of characteristics of movements, I want to share four ways to kill a movement, which I believe are reasons why Christianity struggles to see gospel movements in the West. Read More

Assess Your Ministry after a Year of Pivoting

If there’s one word that sums up the experience of the church in 2020 (and now 2021) it may be the word “Pivot.” The foundational assumptions of when, where, and how we facilitate ministry have been upended. Because of COVID, it’s likely your Sunday School classes and community groups haven’t been meeting. If you are having worship gatherings they are likely at a greatly reduced capacity. People simply aren’t coming like they did before COVID.

We have all always known the real church isn’t a building. Every one of us could preach a sermon or lay out a lesson that passionately proclaims the church is the people not the steeple. Even so, that hasn’t kept us from relying on in-person gatherings as the primary way of conducting church. So what can we do in light of the setbacks the church is experiencing?

Your initial reaction may be one of paralysis; choosing to watch and wait and wonder when things will go back to normal again so you can go back to doing ministry the way you have always done it. But there’s danger that comes with getting stuck in this “freeze” response. People need pastoral care, Bible study, and biblical perspective right now.

While people may not be coming to church, they still desperately need the influence of the church in their lives. As people deal with isolation, job losses, health crises, and death, they need Jesus. We as the church need to act with a sense or urgency during this season. If people can’t or won’t come to church, we need to find new ways to take church to them. The gospel is too important. We need to be determined to not allow our ministry to be deterred or deferred. It’s time for us to take active steps to pivot our strategies. We need to warm up to the idea of Plan B. Read More

Most ‘Nones’ Still Keep the Faith

When research looks beyond affiliation, the move away from religious institutions becomes more nuanced.

I pastor an American Baptist church in a small town in rural Illinois. When the current building was dedicated in 1968, there were more than 300 members. By the last 1990s, there were about a hundred. When I became the pastor in 2006, just 50. Now, on a good Sunday I can look out from the pulpit and see 20 souls in the seats.

Where did they all go? I became a social scientist, in part, to try to figure that out. In my forthcoming book, The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, And Where They Are Going, I document in detail how and why so many Americans are now counted among the ranks of religiously unaffiliated in the United States.

What I discovered was that while many people have walked away from a religious affiliation, they haven’t left all aspects of religion and spirituality behind. So, while growing numbers of Americans may not readily identify as Christian any longer, they still show up to a worship service a few times a year or maintain their belief in God.

The reality is that many of the nones are really “somes.” Read More

10 Characteristics of Churches That Keep Young Adults

A Lifeway Research study of young adults raised in the church discovered certain characteristics can have an impact on the likelihood they drop out of church.

The good news for small churches is that neither the size of the church or the size of the student ministry has any influence on drop-out rates.

The most important characteristics are ones that every church can strive to embrace.

Young adults who regularly attended church as teenagers were given a list of various characteristics and asked if those words matched their impression of members at the church they attended prior to age 18 or the congregation they attended as an 18- to 22-year-old.

On several words, there are no significant differences between those who dropped out of church as a young adult and those who continued attending regularly.

On other characteristics, however, there is a marked difference in attitudes among those who left church and those who stayed. Read More

These 10 church characteristics are those that highlighted different perspectives on church among dropouts and consistent attendees. For churches that want to retain teenagers into adulthood, these traits matter.

Learn How to 'Adult' Before You 'Missionary'

Every head bowed, every eye closed. Good. Now, do you feel a stirring deep in your soul when I talk about missions? If so, stand up.

If you’ve spent any time in evangelicalism, you know all too well this familiar scene, when the trajectory of one’s life boils down to a single, mystical moment as the band ascends the stage and a synth pad drones in the background.

January isn’t just the season of resolutions, frigid temps, and caloric deficits. It’s also conference season in the evangelical world. And for many college-age believers, it’s a chance to double-down on their spirituality, arms high and heart abandoned in a sea of like-minded students.

I’m not against conferences—many of them I love. I work conferences regularly, I am friends with those involved, and I even attended a Christian university where our thrice-weekly chapel was itself a literal arena event. But the problem with spiritual mountaintop experiences, like any other high, is that there’s always a low. Just as the demon-riddled lowland greeted the disciples after the transfiguration, the monotonous valley of everyday life never lags too far behind the final chorus. This is normal. And it wouldn’t be a problem at all, in fact, if it weren’t so radically divergent from the enchanting bill of goods the Christian conference cottage industry often sells young adults.

Many conferences rally young people to do extraordinary, counter-cultural, radical things for kingdom. High school, college, and seminary students are exhorted to do anything but settle for a predictable, cozy existence. The drumbeat, intentional or not, is risk, run, burn out, and die for Jesus.

This, admittedly, is what many young people—and the rest of us—probably need in order to pierce through the haze of apathy that envelops our cushy American lifestyles. But I doubt if such rhetoric always represents the counsel most fitting for current college students. Read More

All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (February 24, 2021) Is Now Online

All Hallows Evening Prayer is a service of worship in the evening for all pilgrims on the journey to the heavenly city.

Prayer is one of the many ways that God works invisibly in us to invigorate, strengthen, and confirm our faith. It is one of the many ways that we and through us those around us can experience God’s grace—God’s love and God’s power.

The Scripture reading for this Wednesday evening is Philippians 4:4-9 Exhortations

The homily is titled, “Let Everyone See Your Gentleness.”

The dismissal song, John Bell and Brian Maul’s “Will You Come and Follow Me (The Summons)” is available from GIA Publications.

The link to this Wednesday’s evening’s service is—

https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2021/02/all-hallows-evening-prayer-for_24.html

Please feel free to share the link to the service with anyone whom you believe might benefit from the service.

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. An ad may follow a song so as soon as the song is finished, close the tab.

Previous services are online at https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/

May this service be a blessing to you.

Worship That Makes a Difference

By Robin G Jordan 

A point Jesus appears to be making in his teaching is that our worship of God should impact our lives and through us it should impact the lives of others. Jesus us gave us the two Great Commandments—to love God with every atom of our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves. In his teaching Jesus expanded on who is our “neighbor” to include not only those who are close to us, those who are like ourselves, but those whom we do not know, those who are different from us. We express our love of God in our worship, in our Sunday worship gatherings, in person and online, and in our daily devotions. We also express it in our obedience to the teaching of his Son, Jesus. Obeying Jesus is obeying God.

Worship that does not affect our lives is not true worship. True worship not only turns our hearts, minds, and affections to God, but it also turns them to those who Jesus called our “neighbor.” We experience concern for their emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being and we act on our concern.

It is not enough to go to an in-person service or view an online service and come away from this experience with warm fuzzy feelings about God and ourselves. The purpose of our worship is not to elevate our mood and to enhance our self-esteem. The purpose of worship is to deepen our relationship with God and in turn our relationship with those Jesus called our “neighbor.”

The purpose of our worship is also not to strengthen the bonds of fellowship between ourselves and the other members of our church albeit the strengthening of these bonds is one of its benefits. The purpose of our worship is to draw near to God, to acknowledge our sinfulness, to ask and receive God’s forgiveness, to proclaim God’s mighty acts, to hear what he requires from us, to intercede with God through his Son for our fellow human beings, to celebrate what he has done for us through his Son, and to offer our praise and thanksgiving.

Our worship, however, does not end when the in-person service or the online service ends. It continues as we go about telling others about Jesus and ministering to their needs, loving and serving Jesus in them. It continues as we go about living our lives the way Jesus taught us to live them.

This does not happen by itself. Those attending our in-person services or watching our online ones must be taught that our worship extends beyond these services. Worship is more than singing a hymn or reciting a psalm or canticle. For followers of Jesus worship is a way of life in which we live the two Great Commandments. We live our lives to God’s glory. We do not just talk about it. We do it!

It is something that not only new believers must learn and practice but also long-time Christians. There is considerable evidence that many who call themselves Christians have not been properly discipled, particularly when it comes to living their lives in accordance with Jesus’ teaching and example.

It also has bearing on the way we conduct our assemblies, our worship gatherings. In his first letter to the Corinthians the apostle Paul offers some helpful guidance. 

First, our assemblies must be edifying. They must build up the faith of those participating in them. They must encourage, inspire, and instruct.

Second, our assemblies must also be orderly and dignified. This does not mean that they must be staid—stodgy and dull—but it does mean that they should exhibit a seriousness of manner, appearance, and language. An affected folksiness and excessive familiarity are not appropriate. God knows us better than we know ourselves. This does not rule out informality in worship or the use of plain speech and humor.

Third, our assemblies must be conducted in the vernacular, a language that is easily understood by the population of a locality. While we should be respectful in addressing God, we do not need to adopt a special language to communicate our respect. Paul set as a test of the understandability of the language used in our assemblies an outsider wandering into one of our gatherings off the street and understanding everything that he hears.

While most churches observe these guidelines, they may overlook a fourth guideline. Those who attend our assemblies should come prepared to actively participate in the gathering, to make a contribution to the gathering. They should be given an opportunity to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit that God has given them.

This entails far more than listening to a choir or a praise band and to a preacher. It requires a high level of congregational participation in songs, Scripture readings, prayers, and other elements of the service. Worship is not something that others can do for us, but it is something which we must do for ourselves. Such a degree of involvement conveys and reinforces the message that worship is something in which all Christians are expected to take part—not only in church meetings but also in their lives.

The relegation of churchgoers to the role of passive spectators is an error into which the church has fallen several times in its history. They include the Medieval period, Puritan times, the Catholic Revival, and our day. While I have not seen any research that backs up this observation, I suspect that passivity in the Sunday worship gathering encourages passivity outside that gathering.

Choirs and small ensembles of instrumentalists and vocalists have a place in our assembles. Their role is to lead and support the singing of the congregation and not to take the place of congregational singing. They may contribute special music to the assembly’s worship, but this music should not overshadow the assembly’s song. The role of the priest or ordained minister is to preside over the assembly, not to do all the Scripture  reading, preaching, and praying.

Worship may then be described as the reorientation of our heart, minds, affections, and lives to God. We cannot reorient ourselves to God on our own. It requires God’s intervention in our lives in the form of God’s grace—God’s undeserved and unmerited favor and goodwill toward us and God’s presence and power working through the Holy Spirit in us.

This reorientation to God also entails a reorientation to our neighbor. The two go hand in hand. It is more than a change of attitude. It is also a change of behavior. We not only act differently toward God, but we also act differently toward our fellow human beings. It makes a difference not just in our own lives but also in the lives of those around us.

BLESS: A 5-Step Path to Relational Evangelism

“For the formerly unchurched, relationships played a part in 57 percent of the decisions to return to the church.”

The church is losing influence in our larger culture. Our evangelism challenge is growing rapidly. One indicator is that, today, many people who in the past identified with Christianity no longer do. Last year, Pew released figures that tell us that in the past seven years, the number of people in the U.S. who consider themselves Christians has gone down from about 78 percent to about 71 percent.

What’s more, the people who say they identify with no religion (the “nones”) have gone up in the last seven years from about 16 percent to nearly 22 percent. And for emerging adults ages 19 to 35, the change has been from 25 percent to 35 percent. Our mission field is getting bigger.

With this in mind, how do we best reach the unchurched? At the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism, we are pursuing research to help us find answers to that question. But we do have earlier research from Thom Rainer that tells us what was working in 2000, when his survey was conducted. These findings came from interviews of the formerly unchurched and demonstrate the impact relational evangelism can have on formerly unchurched people. Read More

Also See:
3 Critical Components of Leading Others Toward Spiritual Renewal
BLESS Missional Practices as a Sideways Step into Evangelism
BLESS
The B.L.E.S.S. Evangelism Model -- Scroll down the page.
The BLESS Strategy in Evangelism - Dr. Rick Richardson [Video]
Invest and Invite: Evangelism is Spelled BLESS: Rick Richardson[Video]
How to Create a Church Culture that Sees Evangelism as Critical - Dave Ferguson [Video]

Like Alpha, BLESS can be adapted to online.

The Best Method For Discipling Believers In A Thriving Small Church

“What discipleship curriculum do you recommend for small churches?”

I get asked that question a lot. And my answer almost always disappoints the questioner.

“Whatever works in your context.”

Here’s why I can answer so casually about such an important church subject. Read More

Also See:

Simple Steps for Discipling Believers in a Thriving Small Church

Forty Discipleship Lessons

The importance of discipling to forming and maturing fully-developed, committed followers of Jesus Christ cannot be overstated. 

Fighting Back Against Ministry Fatigue

Although we all are hopeful that COVID’s grip will soon loosen, our next season of ministry will be full of new challenges and opportunities. Will you have enough gas left in your tank when God answers your prayers for people to return on campus and on mission? If you are still running in a ministry sprint mode that started last spring, NOW is a great time to change your pace before you hit the wall.

It is tempting to think ministry fatigue is the inevitable cost of our call to ministry, but I can assure you that it is neither normal, admirable, or sustainable. I want to suggest four ways you can fight fatigue. Read More

6 Ways to Meet Both In-Person and Digital Ministry Needs

Portmanteau words are blended words, the result of combining two words to make a new one. The new word represents elements and meanings of the two words used to create it. Here are a few examples of portmanteau words you may already know:

• Hangry (hungry and angry)
• Brunch (breakfast and lunch)
• Spork (spoon and fork)

Now, we can add the word “phygital” to the list above. Phygital is the combination of the words physical and digital. Phygital reflects the ways that physical and digital elements are being experienced by people today.

Phygital first appeared in the world of marketing to describe the ways marketers created experiences in physical retail shops that combined with digital ones. Kiosks are an example. You walk into a store, then use a kiosk to either order or design the exact product you want. Read More

9 Ways to Make Social Media More Christian

Remember Emily Post? Her famous rules of etiquette served generations of people needing to know the right way to set a table, proper decorum for houseguests, or the correct titles to use in an invitation.

Alas, there is no Emily Post for social media. Those of us who are non-digital natives and find ourselves immersed in this new social media frontier are thus left to figure out for ourselves the rules of conduct, best manners, and infinite varieties of faux pas to avoid.

I’m no expert on social media (or etiquette), but as a heavy user for years, I’ve observed countless examples of good manners and bad—from both others and myself. Over time, I have begun to develop some of my own rules of conduct and principles of politeness.

Please note that I know little to nothing about the technical side of social media or the tips and strategies that marketing experts suggest as ways to maximize “platform” and “exposure.”

I’m just a person who loves ideas and dialogue—the things that are most human about social media—and who wants to see Christians do more to make social media more human and more Christian. Read More

The State of Church Attendance as Covid Turns One

We are just weeks away from the one-year mark when Covid-19 disrupted the world and forced us all into a season of quarantine. Twelve months later, with most schools and restaurants reopened, we’ve learned how to go on with life while seeking to mitigate the spread of the disease and protect frontline medical workers from being overwhelmed with cases.

The majority of churches have reopened as well, but ministries geared toward adults, students, and children have lagged behind worship services. Even as vaccinations are on the rise and hospitalizations are falling, pastors are unsure about the future. Here is a snapshot of the latest from Lifeway Research (see all the findings here, and another summary from Aaron Earls.). Read More

Also See:
Fewer Churches Held In-person Services in January

Our Pilgrimage Through Lent

A historian weighs in on how the medieval tradition can shape the days leading up to Easter.

One of my pet peeves is receiving an email during the latter part of Lent with the sign-off “Happy Easter!” or “Jesus is risen!” I have to fight the temptation to reply, “Not just yet!” Such proclamations, although well meaning, rush me to a destination I’m not ready to reach. Before I experience the joy of Easter morning, a lengthy journey awaits.

Each year during Lent, I point my spiritual feet to Jerusalem, preparing to walk my way to the cross and the empty tomb. The path is difficult and long, leading through the hills and valleys of prayer, personal reckoning, and repentance. But it is necessary—each step I take readies my heart for resurrection. Read More

The early Celtic monks offered this piece of advice to would-be pilgrims to Rome. "You will not find Christ in Rome unless you take him with you." Rome, Jerusalem, and the burial sites of various saints were destination of pilgrims in Medieval times. The photo shows a section of the Camino de Santiago, the route Spanish pilgrims took to what was believed to be the tomb of Saint James. According to legend, his body had been brought to Spain following his death and buried there. The advice of the early Celtic monks also applies to our Lenten pilgrimage. We will not find him at the end of our journey unless he sets out with us. 

5 Ways You Shouldn’t Try to Be Like Jesus

One of the most common ways people relate to Jesus is by seeing him as an example to follow. This idea is captured in the popular modern phrase “What would Jesus do?” or in the acronym WWJD. Even many non-Christians recognize Jesus as a positive moral example. While it’s not the primary way we should relate to Jesus—relating to him as creator, sustainer, and redeemer is—following his example is thoroughly biblical.

However, I recently had a discussion with some who said something like this: “I’m a follower of Jesus. If Jesus obeyed the law, then so will I.” While it sounds biblical on the surface, it’s misguided. In this post, I’d like to briefly survey what the Bible teaches about being like Jesus and then offer some cautions against an overly simplistic approach to trying to be like Jesus, where we follow him in ways we were never meant to. Those who reason this way have the best of intentions, but rather than honor Jesus they dishonor him. Read More

15 Accountability Questions That Matter

I realize it’s possible to lie to an accountability partner, but I still think it’s important someone asks us hard questions. More than that, I think it’s imperative we have at least one God-given friendship with someone of the same gender who can read our heart. Here’s the way Kent Hughes summarizes it in his book, Disciplines of a Godly Man (though, I suspect his words apply to godly women, too):[i]

Men, if you are married, your wife must be your most intimate friend, but to say, “my wife is my best friend” can be a cop-out. You also need Christian male friends who have a same-sex understanding of the serpentine passages of your heart, who will not only offer counsel and pray for you, but will also hold you accountable to your commitments and responsibilities when necessary.

Here, then, are some questions worth asking. Even if you don’t use all of them, maybe some will be helpful to you....[ii] Read More

Planting New Churches

The Anglican Church and the Methodist Church have a common heritage. The Methodist Movement began as a spiritual renewal movement in the Church of England, evangelizing and discipling the nominally Christian population of the United Kingdom. From the UK Methodism spread to what would become the United States and around the world.

Our Church-Planting Heritage

In the early days of American Methodism, most churches didn’t have full-time pastors; they had circuit riders, itinerant preachers who rode their horses around a cluster of churches. “No sooner was a congregation established somewhere,” writes retired bishop Will Willimon, “than the circuit was reorganized and the traveling preacher sent somewhere that had no church.” The frequency with which the Methodist movement started churches led to the claim that there were more Methodist churches than US post offices. Like Johnny Appleseed, the Methodist movement planted new communities of faith as the English-speaking population increased and spread westward. Today, United Methodist bishops still appoint pastors to churches in an “itinerant system,” a remnant of this missionary heritage.

Early American Methodism also began as a lay movement. “Everyday” Christians, not clergy, were the driving force in organizing new small groups, planting new churches, and preaching to new believers—people with names like Robert Strawbridge and Barbara Heck. Jacob Albright was another such lay member of an early Methodist group. The son of German immigrants, he saw the potential of this new Methodist movement to reach a flood of new German immigrants to America. Soon his followers created a new denomination, the Evangelical Association, which was more tailored to the needs of his ethnic group.

By 1965, Methodists were the most numerous of all Protestant denominations in the United States. In 1968, two centuries after this lay-led, church-planting, missionary movement began, The Evangelical United Brethren Church and The Methodist Church would merge to form The United Methodist Church. Read More