Wednesday's Catch: "6 Truths About the Church’s Future' And More

6 Truths About the Church’s Future
We’re hearing a lot these days about dechurching, deconstruction, and decline. Church attendance in America is dropping. Is this a crisis or merely a correction? Is it more of a problem or an opportunity? What can we expect for the future of the American church landscape?

How Church Abuse Contributes to Dechurched Casualties
In this episode of As in Heaven, hosts Jim Davis and Mike Aitcheson welcome Justin Holcomb to discuss the meaning of “dechurched casualties” and how abuse in a church environment contributes to people leaving the church. They discuss how to minister to those who have experienced abuse, especially spiritual and church abuse, and how the gospel is the ultimate source of healing.

Saddleback, the SBC, and the Truth about Egalitarians
Todd Korpi presents four key truths about egalitarians, inspired by the reasons Rick Warren is challenging the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee's ruling disfellowshipping Saddleback Church.

Rick Warren Argues That Infighting, ‘Contempt Toward Women’ Are To Blame for SBC’s Decline
Rick Warren, who recently explained why Saddleback Church is challenging its recent removal from the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), posted a video about “The SBC at the Crossroads.” In the first of what he says will be several videos, Saddleback’s founder and former lead pastor addressed the denomination’s continuing decline and the reasons behind it. Warren also referenced his deep Southern Baptist roots and his love for its people.

2 Mistakes Christians Make During LGBTQ+ Pride Month
Dale Chamberlain identifies two mistakes that he sees Christians make which he thinks Christians should avoid.

How Evangelical Christian Writer Jemar Tisby Became a Radioactive Symbol of ‘Wokeness’
Once an evangelical insider with a textbook conversion story, Tisby has become persona non grata in some Christian circles for his books on race and religion, including the 2019 bestseller, The Color of Compromise.

5 Times When It’s Difficult to Lead
"...since change is necessary and inevitable," writes Ron Edmondson, "Understanding these scenarios – before we attempt change – may help us lead change better."

9 Essentials of a Great Worship Leader
Alex Duke is convinced these nine things are must-haves for anyone leading a congregation in song week after week. Far from exhaustive, they are a set of traits, postures and characteristics he believes are informed by Scripture and ought to transcend culture and denomination.

7 Attributes of a Great Worship Leader
"I’ve been blessed with many a great worship leader and the pastors with whom to work," writes Ron Edmondson. "I’ve worked with enough now to form some opinions of what makes a great one."

Let’s Pray Real Quick 

Too often, we make prayer a rushed obligation instead of a meaningful interaction. How is it that we can spend an hour or more talking about God and find it an inconvenience to talk to Him?

Discipling the Next Generation
How are we equipping the parents in our churches to disciple their own children?

7 Ingredients for Vibrant Spiritual Formation in Your Church
The ingredients for building a healthy corporate spiritual life through spiritual formation are simple and produce life-changing results.

Tuesday's Catch: 'A Theology (Not Ideology) of Creation Care' And More

A Theology (Not Ideology) of Creation Care

We have been charged to care for God’s creation. To be stewards of all that God has made and entrusted to us. Since the Industrial Revolution, we have been able to do more care for creation than ever before, as well as more harm.

5 Ways Churches Leaders Can Respond When People Don’t Come Back
Church leaders may be eager to return to life as normal, but the pandemic has changed us. Even the most energetic churches are seeing only a fraction of their attendees return.

Drop Church Complexity, Gain Kingdom Impact
Complexity clogs discipleship pathways. We have good news, but we may still miss out on the kingdom impact that only comes with focus.

What Not to Say When You’re Developing New Ideas
The best ideas in an organizational setting often come by getting a group together and throw out random new ideas or ways of doing things. You can usually come up with better solutions if you put the right people in a room and let them throw lots of ideas on the table—or on a white board—even seemingly bad ideas (at least at first). But there are some phrases you must ban when developing ideas.

5 Questions for Great Stage Communication
Some leaders are more gifted in communication than others, but great communication is never limited to only the superstars. You don’t have to be in the top-rated Ted Talk speakers to be a highly effective leader. Here’s more encouraging news, regardless of the level of your natural talent, if you focus on intentional practice, you can improve. I list some tools and practices for improvement at the end of this post.

Using YouTube to Help Your Neighbors
In today’s world, everyone is a digital explorer. We all make multiple decisions every day with the help of online ratings, reviews and product descriptions. Whether it’s streaming a movie at home, buying a new pair of shoes or deciding which church to visit, the internet has forever changed the way people make decisions. That’s why YouTube is the most important technology for any church wanting to reach more people.

7 Reasons Why Your Church Should Engage in Door-to-Door Evangelism
Door-to-door evangelism tends to get a bad rap, and many Christians question its effectiveness. But in our experience, the people in our community have responded positively. At about half of the homes we visit, someone answers the door and a positive conversation ensues.

Monday's Catch: 'The Future of Work in Church: Ten Realities You Might Not Know' And More

Honor the dead and pray for the living.

The Future of Work in Church: Ten Realities You Might Not Know

The most common question we get at Church Answers about work in the church is, “What is the next full time staff person we need to hire?” But, in most churches, that is not the right question. Indeed, most churches do not or will not even have the financial option to ask that question. The better question is, “What is the future of work at church?” As church leaders ask that question, the answer becomes clearer and more relevant.

7 Practices To Help Keep Your Church Young
All churches become chronologically older every year, but why do some remain young, vital, and more spiritually fruitful than others? There is a lifecycle to all churches, but intentional leadership can make a huge difference. The point here is not to select and preserve modern-day cathedrals, but we do have a responsibility to lead churches that are vibrant, flourishing, and bring life change through the person and power of Jesus for as long as we can.

Changing Spaces—Make Your Building Work for You
At some point in the life cycle of a church, large or small, leaders must decide either to renovate or to build a new worship space. Whether remodeling or diving into new construction, church leaders must consider a number of issues in order to create the most accommodating and inviting atmosphere to serve current church members and attract visitors.

How to Evaluate Your Pastor
Part of the calling of elders is to help pastors remain energized and effective in their callings. And an annual pastoral review is a helpful way to fulfill this responsibility. A proper pastoral evaluation process will be intentionally supportive of the pastor in his calling and positively constructive in helping the pastor identify areas for needed improvement....

A Guide to Trauma-Informed Youth Ministry
Creating a trauma-informed youth ministry requires intentionality, compassion, and a commitment to learning and growth.

How to Get your Teaching into Kids' Long-Term Memory
As children's ministry leaders, our goal should be to get the truth of God's Word into children's long-term memory.

7 Proven Strategies to Launch More Small Groups
Most churches cannot launch groups fast enough to keep up with the demand for discipleship. As the worship services grow larger, the small groups ministry gets further and further behind. Well, that’s not entirely true. Churches CAN launch groups fast enough to keep up with the demand for discipleship, if they change up how they are launching groups. Here are 7 things I’ve discovered over the last 15 years in working with over 1,500 churches across North America. These aren’t just 7 ideas or 7 philosophies. These are 7 proven strategies to launch groups.

3 Reflections on Evangelism in the Modern West
When Christians evangelize, they call their hearers to trust Jesus for salvation. The problem is, almost every word in “trust Jesus for your salvation” is liable to be misunderstood by Western secular people today.

95 Louisiana churches leave UMC amid denominational schism over homosexuality
Nearly 100 United Methodist Church congregations in Louisiana had their disaffiliation votes ratified by the regional conference last weekend, joining hundreds of others nationwide that have left the mainline Protestant denomination in the last year amid a schism over homosexuality.

This schism appears to be occurring along primarily regional lines and mirror conflicting regional attitudes. The lion's share of the churches disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church are in the South and the Southwest.

Sundays at All Hallows (Sunday, May 28, 2023) Is Now Online

 

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows. This Sunday, the Feast of Pentecost, also known as Holy Spirit Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, Whit Sunday, Whitsunday and Whitsun, commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and other believers while they were gathered in a house in Jerusalem during the Festival of Weeks. This event is in some Christian traditions considered the birth of the Church. The descent of the Holy Spirit on the gathering was the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that his followers would receive power from on high, enabling them to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Samaria, and beyond. It would launch what is called the Great Commission, which is the principal mission of the Church—to tell people about Jesus and make them disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Triune God and instructing them in Jesus’ commandments, his teaching.

Readings: Acts 2: 1-21, 1 Corinthians 12: 3-13, and John 7: 37-39

Message: What Is Revival? Why Is Revival Desirable?

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2023/05/sundays-at-all-hallows-sunday-may-28.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:

-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: 'Barna Research: People Like Jesus. His Followers? Not So Much' And More

Barna Research: People Like Jesus. His Followers? Not So Much
“I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians.” That biting quote often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi seems to sum up results of the latest survey in the Barna Group’s “Spiritually Open” series.

On the Post-Pandemic Church
The decrease in church attendance in the United States in the wake of COVID has been well documented for some time. The Pew Research Center conducted a meta-analysis of five such studies earlier this year and found complicated but consistent findings that the COVID-19 pandemic correlated with a drop in worship attendance by any means.

Half a Million More
Yes, we are living in a post-Christian world. Yes, the rise of the nones is real. But this didn’t stop the early church.

Taking Our Evangelism From ‘Me’ to ‘We’
“We”-based evangelism makes evangelism accessible for those of us who aren’t experts or extroverts.

Remember Your True Citizenship, Love the Foreigner
While immigration remains a divisive topic in America, differing views on politics and policies should not distract Christians from their calling to love others. This is especially true at a time when immigration is on the rise—a recent report shows that the number of immigrants in America’s biggest counties grew drastically between 2021 and 2022.

Stop Worrying That You’ll Upset Older Donors or Church Members
They're more hip than you think....

4 Questions to Ask About Measuring Ministry Metrics
How do we track items that impact the success of ministry? After identifying what we are measuring, there are four questions we need to ask.

Remembering United Methodism’s Maestro
The Rev. Carlton R. “Sam” Young died May 21 at age 97. He edited both The Methodist Hymnal of 1966 and The United Methodist Hymnal of 1989. Fellow church musicians consider him a towering figure, given his contributions as a hymnal editor, composer, arranger and hymnody scholar.

Friday's Catch: 'Most Americans Don't Like Christian Celebrity Culture, Megachurches: Study" And More

Most Americans Don't Like Christian Celebrity Culture, Megachurches: Study
While a majority of Americans have a positive view of Jesus, most, including Christians, also have a negative opinion of celebrity Christian culture, celebrity pastors, Evangelicals, megachurches and famous worship bands, a new study from Barna Group shows.

The First Preaching Commandment: Thou Shalt not Steal Sermons
Resist the temptation to plagiarize other pastors’ sermons. Here are five practical steps to consider when preparing a message.

Worship Music Is Emotionally Manipulative. Do You Trust the Leader Plucking the Strings?
The Spirit is at work, but so are the mechanisms around high-production sets.

What Churches Need to Consider When Background Screening Volunteers, Staff
Pastors and church leaders are responsible to their youngest, most vulnerable attendees whose parents entrust to children’s ministry programs. Conducting background checks on volunteers and staff who work with children is an important step in protecting them from potential predators.

Emotional Concussions: Helping Children Cope With Life’s Traumas
In today’s world, many children experience emotional concussions. These crises and traumas can be just as lethal, and sometimes even more so, than physical concussions.

The FAQs: More States Restrict Gender Procedures That Mutilate Minors
What just happened? In Nebraska, lawmakers recently approved a law that combines restrictions on abortion and gender-affirming care. The bill, LB 574, bans abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for medical emergencies, sexual assault, or incest, and restricts so-called gender-affirming care for transgender minors younger than 19.

5 Family-Friendly Outreach Ideas for Your Children’s Ministry
Encourage families at your church to reach out and share God’s love in your community with these family-friendly outreach ideas.

Making Groups Work: The Key to Congregational Transformation
Many times, pastors want groups that just work. We get into the most trouble when we treat groups, and even people, as a science.

Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (Thursday, May 25, 2023) Is Now Online

 

Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows. This Thursday is the last Thursday in the Season of Easter. This upcoming Sunday is the Feast of Pentecost on which we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and the birth of the Church. In many local churches Christians will, in addition to thanking God for the gift of the Holy Spirit, be praying for the renewal of the Church, for the reinvigoration of its witness, and for a fresh spiritual awakening in our land and throughout the world.

Reading: John 17: 20-26

Message: Will Christians Ever Enjoy Perfect Unity?

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2023/05/thursday-evenings-at-all-hallows_25.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:

-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: '9 Ways to Start Your Journey as a Trauma-Informed Church' And More

9 Ways to Start Your Journey as a Trauma-Informed Church

Adopting a trauma-informed approach within a church is an ongoing process of compassionately loving our neighbors. Here are 9 ways to begin your trauma-informed journey.

Study Helps Churches Expand Their ‘Halo Effect’
Partners for Sacred Places found that even small rural churches have a positive economic effect upon their community--what the organization terms the "halo effect."

12 Reasons Why Your Church Doesn’t Produce Spiritual Growth
"I originally wrote this article back in 2012," Tony Morgan writes. "What amazes me is that it’s just over a decade later and so many of these findings still explain why churches are struggling to continue discipling in todays’ current ministry landscape."

Most Churchgoers Say They Want to Serve, Fewer Actually Do
Despite saying they want to serve people outside their churches, few churchgoers are even serving within the context of their own churches.

5 Wrong Ways to Think About Church Growth
Church growth statistics are helpful because they encourage us to stop thinking in at least five unhealthy ways.

4 Questions to Ask About Measuring Ministry Metrics
How do we track items that impact the success of ministry? After identifying what we are measuring, there are four questions we need to ask.

4 Ways to Successfully Lead Through Adversity
Change is never easy, but when it comes to an institution such as the church, it can be hard to shift from how things always have been done to doing them anew....Instead of the leader giving into the temptation to give up, what if God can use the adverse circumstances to help strengthen the spiritual fortitude of the pastor and church?

A Small Group Path to Worshipful Submission
This article on the path to worshipful submission is an excerpt from Steve Gladen’s book Planning Small Groups With Purpose.

How To Tell a Jesus Story
Even before the Gospels were written down, the early Christians gathered in homes and public spaces to tell stories about Jesus and his teachings. In Fresh Expressions and other innovative forms of Christian community focused on people who aren’t already part of the church, the simple practice of sharing Jesus stories brings this tradition alive today.

Less than half of US adults believe in God without a doubt, but majority still pray: study
While less than half of adults in the U.S. believe in God without a doubt or attend religious services frequently, the majority, almost 80%, say they still pray, a new study from NORC at the University of Chicago shows.

Wednesday's Catch: 'Four Ways to Shift Church Culture from Apathy to Expectation of Growth' And More

Four Ways to Shift Church Culture from Apathy to Expectation of Growth
The American church is at a crisis moment. Only 1% of churches have an ongoing evangelism emphasis. Apathy in the church is nothing new. The New Testament letters demonstrate how a lack of enthusiasm for God’s work goes back to the inception of the early church. Why is the American church apathetic today? ...one fundamental problem stands out.

A Few Surprising Perspectives about Your Unchurched Neighbors
Many of your neighbors are unchurched. Several of them may not know Christ. Who are they, and what are their perceptions? Our research team asked this question and found several things you must know about the unchurched.

3 Reasons We Avoid Evangelism
When it comes to the gospel, we don’t need to dress it up to make it cool. We need to break it down to make it clear.

How to Start a Conversation About Jesus
A friend of mine likes to say, “The best gospel presentation is the one given.” That’s true. And convicting. Many good books, sermons, and seminars can help us prepare to share our faith. But none of these resources can do for us what we often find the hardest thing to do: just start the conversation.

Are Muslims Right About the Bible?
Most Muslims know very little about the Bible and its contents, yet typically they’re familiar from childhood with several lines of accusation against it.

Survey: The American Church Post-COVID-19
New findings from the American Worldview Inventory 2023 (AWVI 2023), the first national post-pandemic study of Americans’ worldview, have confirmed and now quantified what many have long suspected—that the COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the very foundations of faith in the United States.

What Is Casual Dechurching and Is There Hope?
In this episode of As in Heaven, Jim Davis and Michael Graham welcome Patrick Miller to discuss the meaning of casual dechurching. They provide insights into why roughly three-quarters of those who have dechurched fit this category. You’ll learn how we can better engage this group of people and why there’s tremendous hope that many of them will return to church.

7 Tips for Connecting New Church Members
Do you have lots of new people and yet your church doesn’t grow? Do just as many people walk in the door as those that walk out the back door? Take a look at these seven tips and ask yourself where you rate in each area, 1 to 10.

Tuesday's Catch: 'The Role of Singing in the Life of the Church' And More

The Role of Singing in the Life of the Church
According to Scripture, God has both created and called us to sing for three principal reasons: to help us praise, to help us pray, and to help us proclaim. Let’s look at each of these reasons in turn.

10 Reasons Why Singing Is Essential to Worship
Joe Lum expounds on what the Scriptures teach about why singing is essential when God’s people gather as a congregation.

3 Spiritual Benefits of Singing in Church
Singing...is not an accessory to our worship every week. Singing is not filler in a service. Congregational singing is essential to our life with Christ.... There are really three important spiritual benefits to congregational singing.

4 Reasons Why You Should Sing at Church
...why do we sing so much at church? If you’ve grown up in church, it’s just what you’ve always done. But for those new to church, it often feels weird and can be a big barrier to moving forward in your journey exploring the claims of Christ.The truth of why we sing so much at church is that singing is a uniting action. Here are four different ways singing unites us as followers of Christ.

Your Church Needs You to Sing
Your brothers and sisters in your local church need you. They need you to show up. They need you to be engaged. And, perhaps more than many of us realize, they need you to sing.

5 Lessons Humanitarian Leaders Can Learn from Improv
Improv and humanitarian work may seem like two different worlds, but there’s more overlap than you might think.

Why Do Christians Struggle to Love?
“The Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to love like Jesus loved, which is impossible without him.”

5 Reasons Men Don’t Pray At Home
Can you honestly say that you pray regularly with your wife? If asked, what would your kids say? Do they see you depending upon and trusting God by “asking, seeking, and knocking” (Matthew 7:7)?

4 Ways To Teach Your Child About “Safe” And “Unsafe” Touch
Teaching your child about stranger danger may not be enough in today’s day and age. With the cases of child abuse steadily rising, it is important that your child knows the difference between good touch and bad touch. And although most children as young as 4 years old understand the concept of unsafe and safe touch, getting into details without a plan can make things go sideways.

Child sexual abuse occurs at home, church, and school. The perpetrator is very often someone whom the child knows.

Working on the Inside, not only the Outside
Jesus is calling people to a consistently godly life here, not one that only looks acceptable on the outside. It is easier to look godly than to actually be godly. We must work on the kinds of things that others do not see, things like resisting temptation, cultivating prayer, and deepening in our understanding of God’s word. As we do these things, our outside will also change.

Don’t Let Your Culture Keep You from Christlikeness
Each culture can demonstrate both the glory of God and the fallenness of mankind.

Monday's Catch: 'The One Big Reason Church Attendance Is Declining' And More

The One Big Reason Church Attendance Is Declining (and Most Church Leaders Are Unaware)
People are attending less or not at all for one major reason: In the words of the PRRI study, they “stopped believing in the religion’s teachings.”

How The Church Today Is Getting Discipleship Wrong
What if the popular understanding of discipleship produces some of the unhealthiness, stagnation, and decline we see all around us in the church? And what if you could do something about it by rethinking what you mean by discipleship?

10 Questions More Important Than “What Was Your Sunday Attendance?”
Never let the excitement of higher attendance or the discouragement of lower attendance divert you from your church’s primary goal.

First Person: Pulling In the Same Direction
Most of us don’t wake up in the morning and think about unity, but we appreciate it when we see it, whether it’s the perfect synchronization of Olympic crew, the silent symphony of a functioning automobile, or the spectacular sight of a winter flock of geese, flying in V-formation toward warmer climes.

15 Things About John Calvin You May Not Know
"...Calvin had a particular fondness for cats. Legend has it that he would often stop and play with stray cats he encountered while walking in the streets of Geneva."

How to Evaluate Worship at Your Church
Evaluation is already occurring in the halls and parking lots. So why wouldn’t we want to preempt those conversations with a process that encourages worship renewal instead of just as a response to worship conflict?

Leaderless Small Groups
Without more leaders, how do you launch more groups?

A New Convert’s Guide to Christianese
This is a tongue-in-cheek article about the jargon that some Christians use, a jargon that leaves everyone else scratching their heads.

Sundays at All Hallows (Sunday, May 21, 2023) Is Now Online

 

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows. This Sunday is the seventh Sunday of Eastertide, also known as the sixth Sunday after Easter Sunday and the Sunday after Ascension. The Easter Season is drawing to a close, but our celebration of Jesus’ resurrection will continue throughout the year. Every Sunday is a feast of the resurrection on which Christians celebrate their Lord’s victory over death and the promise of new life in him.

Readings: Acts 1: 6-14, 1 Peter 4:12–14; 5:6–11, and John 17: 1-11

Message: Our Generous God

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2023/05/sundays-at-all-hallows-sunday-may-21.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:

-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: 'Welcome the Stranger' And More

Welcome the Stranger
When faith says to help migrants – and the law says don’t....

8 Reasons Even Christians Are Lonely
The United States is experiencing an "epidemic of loneliness," according to the US Surgeon General. Chuck Lawless give several reasons why eve believers are susceptible to loneliness.

Fern Creek ‘more Southern Baptist’ than most, female pastor says of appeal
Southern Baptist pastor Linda Popham questions why she and her church were singled out from other Southern Bapist churches with women senior pastors.

Tim Keller, retired New York megachurch pastor and bestselling author, dies at 72
The success of Keller's Redeemer Presbyterian Church in the heart of New York City as well as his bestselling books made him one of the most influential evangelicals in the US.

Live As If Jesus Rules and Eternity Is Real
When Paul told the Colossian church to set their minds on things above and not on the things of this present world, he was basically saying this: Live as if Jesus rules and eternity is real. If you’re a Christian, that’s not news to you. But the problem for us, just like it was for the Colossians, is that we are forgetful. And forgetfulness of these basic truths, Jesus said, is the primary thing that makes people go awry with money.

Are Your Teenagers Daring to Share?
A new, free curriculum to help them confidently navigate a Gospel conversation.

141 Pennsylvania churches leave UMC over homosexuality debate
One hundred forty-one congregations in Pennsylvania have officially left the United Methodist Church, largely because of the ongoing debate over sexual ethics in the mainline Protestant denomination.

By pulling out of the United Methodist Church, conservatives are increasing the likelihood that the UMC will move i a more progressive direction. If it does, they will be as much to lame as the progressives in the UMC. If anything can be learned from the experience of the Anglican Church in North America, the Global Methodist Church may not prove to be all that disaffiliating clergy and congregations hope it will be.

One in 4 US Mormons has thought about leaving the LDS Church, study shows
PRRI's findings showed Latter-day Saints were some of the most religious — but often uncertain — believers.

Friday's Catch: 'Working Women Are Leaving the Church. Here’s How to Bring Them Back.' And More

Working Women Are Leaving the Church. Here’s How to Bring Them Back.
Between work and family, they are 'on call' 24/7, 365 days a year, and Tuesday mid-morning Bible study just doesn’t fit their schedule.

Read more The Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics articles.

The Top Two Things Gen Z Women Need from Your Women's Ministry
In order to equip this next generation to faithfully live for Christ, we need to help them love God with their minds.

Clinical Depression and Ministry: 4 Steps Toward Health
Most ministry leaders are unsure how to help people—or even themselves—through dark seasons, including seasons of clinical depression.

With Joy and Thanksgiving We Welcome You
This article is the seventh in a series called "A Good and Joyful Thing: A series on liturgical spirituality."

In ‘Words of Jesus,’ The Corner Room Sets Six Scriptures to Song
Among the most welcome trends in the contemporary Christian music scene is the renewed focus on simply putting Scripture to song.

3 Things New Believers Experience in Small Groups
As a new believer attends your small group, there are three key components that they will begin to experience....

5 Ways to Prepare to Hear  Preaching
We rightly expect our pastors to spend hours preparing before they preach on Sundays. But what should the people in the pew be doing? How can God’s people prepare to receive the message the preacher has prepared?

The Secret Power of Kindness
Whereas we would imagine that Christians should be the kindest people on earth, given our faith in Christ’s promise and our commitment to his way of life, most of us know that this is not the case. In fact, sometimes, it seems that we struggle more than others to show kindness, especially when our most beloved traditions or opinions are at stake.

Thursday's Catch: '3 Key Reasons to Talk About Mental Health at Church' And More

3 Key Reasons to Talk About Mental Health at Church
The lack of discussion on mental health in the Church can make it challenging for individuals to seek help and support—from one of the best places to receive hope and healing.

The Power of Solutions Can Transform Your Leadership (and Your Team)
Just pointing out problems doesn't fix the problems....

How Normative-Sized Church Pastors Are Recruiting Leaders
A group of pastors and church leaders have a conversation about what it’s like recruiting leaders in the normative-sized church.

Former Bethel Worship Leader Steffany Gretzinger Explains How We’ve Gotten Worship Wrong
Without naming names or recording labels, Gretzinger spoke caution to worship leaders, especially young worship leaders. It’s so easy to lose focus. While many worship songs are focused on the one, true God, so many more songs speak to our individual experience and benefits we receive from God. “Can we first be obsessed with the one we are singing to?” asked Gretzinger.

Don’t Give Up Too Quickly
Perhaps the Lord is displaying his wisdom when he makes us wait. He’s showing what we really want when we either abandon or persist in prayer."

Best Small Group Food Ideas: Dump Cake
You haven’t made a dump cake before? Basically it’s an easy dessert you create by dumping a few ingredients, usually using a cake mix and fruit filling, into a pan and baking it in the oven. There are many dump cake recipes to be discovered in cookbooks and online.

Faith leaders urge Scottish Parliament not to legalise assisted suicide
Scottish faith leaders are today making a joint plea to MSPs to reject the legalisation of assisted suicide in Scotland. The Moderator of the Church of Scotland General Assembly, the Rt Rev Iain Greenshields, the Vice President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Scotland, Bishop John Keenan, and the Imam of Dundee Central Mosque, Imam Shaykh Hamza Khandwalla, will hold a meeting with MSPs at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday to express their opposition.

Anger management and guns
Anger is clearly at the root of our mass shootings.

Most Parents Effective at Passing Down Faith and Politics
Parents transmit their faith and politics to their children at similar rates despite saying they care more about passing down faith.

Judge clears way for disaffiliations from United Methodist Church in north Georgia
The North Georgia Conference had barred churches wishing to leave the UMC from disaffiliating before the 2024 General Conference.

Related: Judge lifts North Georgia disaffiliation pause

Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (Thursday, May 18, 2023) Is Now Online

 

Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows. This Thursday is the Feast of the Ascension, or Ascension Day, a day on which a number of Christian traditions celebrate Jesus’ bodily ascension into heaven forty days after he rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. In some traditions the feast is celebrated on this coming Sunday, the Sunday after Ascension.

Reading: Revelation 5

Message: A Vision of Heaven, a Model for Christian Worship and Living

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2023/05/thursday-evenings-at-all-hallows_18.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:

-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: 'Serving God in Unglamorous Places' And More

Serving God in Unglamorous Places

God calls most of his followers to serve him in unglamorous situations.

The Best Metric to Determine Evangelistic Health in Your Church
... too many churches are sitting still and becoming apathetic with evangelism. Unfortunately, this apathy means fewer people are hearing the gospel. It’s time to move outward again.

Sunday, Monday, and the Marketplace: Equipping Congregants for Their Calling
The fact that so many believe the church is silent or indifferent toward work and the marketplace should drive pastors to their knees.

8 Ways to Reach Single Adults Through Your Church
Perhaps one of these suggestions will help you as you reach this group in your community....

The Best (And Least Expensive) Way To Grow Your Church
...and it's probably not what you think.

9 Reasons People Don’t Join in Worship Singing
Worship leaders around the world are sadly changing their church’s worship (often unintentionally) into a spectator event, as evidenced by the lack of worship singing from the congregation.

We cannot pay homage to God through proxies. We must show God respect and offer him praise ourselves.

10 Tips for Using Social Media to Connect with Parents
We live in a digital, social media driven culture. Children's ministries have a great opportunity to incorporate social media into their ministry strategy. With that basic understanding, let's explore some ways we can use social media to connect with parents.

Join That Church
Why God made you for membership.

4 Current Realities that Challenge Meaningful Relationships
The human soul longs for intimacy and connection, yet genuine community seems to become more and more difficult to attain. Why might this be true?

Saddleback Church appeals Southern Baptist Convention ouster over woman pastor
It is one of three churches appealing decisions recently made by the denomination’s Executive Committee to remove eight congregations from official affiliation.

EXCLUSIVE: Rick Warren Tells ChurchLeaders 5 Reasons Why Saddleback Is Challenging SBC Removal
Saddleback Church’s founder and former lead pastor, Rick Warren, shared with ChurchLeaders why the church is challenging the ruling of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee disfellowshiping Saddleback Church over its appointment of women pastors.

Protestant churches seeing drop in foster care, adoption among churchgoers: Lifeway
Protestant churchgoers are less likely to report seeing people in the pews engaged in adoption and foster care compared to a few years ago, according to a recent report by Lifeway Research.

Poll: Religious attendance is shrinking but those who remain are happy
In the PRRI study, 57% of Americans say they seldom or never attend religious services. Among those who do, 89% said they were proud to be associated with their congregation.

"Garden girl" brings joy (and veggies) to the homebound
Visiting homebound church members and neighbors may not be a popular pastime for most kids, but seven-year-old Julia Eskridge has been doing it since she was only two. She's following in her mom's footsteps and her Nana's too.

UPDATED: Thieves steal West Tennessee church’s organ pipes as they were headed for restoration
Calvary Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tennessee, is asking the public for help after a moving truck filled with pipes from the church’s historic organ was stolen last weekend.

Tuesday's Catch: 'New American Values' And More

New American Values

“Patriotism, religious faith, having children and other priorities that helped define the national character for generations... are receding in importance to Americans.”

8 Lies Churches Tell
Toxic church cultures prop themselves up with false narratives.

Orienting Our Hearts and Minds for Effective Foster Care
If you're considering being a foster care parent or supporting foster care, it’s helpful to develop postures—orientations—of the heart and mind.

5 Hats That a Lead Pastor Must Wear
When each hat is attended, the plurality can function in health and strength. But when one is neglected, or several are, you may find yourself unprepared for a storm.

11 Tips for Preaching a Trauma-Informed Sermon
A trauma-informed sermon can provide comfort and hope to those affected by trauma while offering sound biblical teaching.

Spotlight on Preaching
Really effective preaching takes place by a man who is part of the church in which he preaches, and he is preaching to people he knows.

It Takes a Village to Raise a Child of Faith
Studies have shown kids need approximately 5 other adults in their lives to extend an influence of faith in order to have a lasting faith.

How to Help Students Stay in Church After High School
Most students stop attending church after high school, at least for a time. So how can we help students as they transition to a new life stage?

Number of Americans attending in-person church services is rising
Three years after government restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic forced many churches to close and only offer services online, a new report reveals the state of in-person attendance. Fortunately for pastors, the share of Americans who've returned to in-person worship services continues to increase, while a sizable proportion of churchgoers continue to embrace the virtual option.

67 Arkansas churches leave the UMC
Sixty-seven congregations in Arkansas have officially disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church, being part of a wave of departures driven largely by the mainline Protestant denomination’s ongoing debate over LGBT issues. At a Special Session of the UMC Arkansas Annual Conference held at the Hot Springs Convention Center on Saturday, the regional body voted to approve the departures of 67 churches.

Saddleback Church Announces Female Campus Pastor. Will Its Leaders Appeal SBC Removal?
Saddleback Church announced Katie Edwards as Lake Forest’s new campus pastor during its Sunday morning worship service last week (May 7). Along with the announcement about Edwards, Saddleback Church’s lead pastor, Andy Wood, shared that Lake Forest’s campus pastor and elder, Jason Williams, has transitioned to executive pastor of ministries. Williams was Lake Forest’s campus pastor.

Southern Baptists lost nearly half a million members in 2022
The Southern Baptist Convention has lost 3 million members since 2006, about half of that in the last five years.

Monday's Catch: 'How to Throw Away Accumulated Junk in Your Church' And More

How to Throw Away Accumulated Junk in Your Church

You might be surprised that this issue really exists in churches. It really does in a lot of churches.

13 Signs Your Organization Has A Healthy Learning Culture
Let’s combine two leadership concepts. First is culture.... Second, is continual learning. Smart leaders are passionate about personal growth and part of growth is constant learning. Combining these two fundamental leadership concepts results in the creation of a learning culture.

FAQ: If There’s No Purgatory, Will We Be Pure Enough for Heaven?
In order to stand in the presence of God, we need to be pure and holy. When we look at ourselves, we know how far we are from this perfect purity. So, if we’re going to enter heaven, don’t we need to be purified in some way after this life? Isn’t purgatory necessary?

Do Deep Messages Impress Your Seminary, but Confuse Your Church?
Why do we tend to over-complicate everything?

What the Psalter Should Teach Us about the Songs We Sing
How can we foster a culture of theological depth in our churches?

Stop Using the Term "Sunday School"
Ever wonder where the name "Sunday School" originated?

The Path to Wise Decision-Making
Balancing facts, feelings, and faith uniquely positions us to discern God’s will and bring Him glory in our decision-making.

Amid Catholic opposition, House passes GOP-backed border security bill
Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso called the bill 'harmful' and 'extreme' in a letter signaling the US bishops’ opposition to the legislation. The legislation is not likely to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Sundays at All Hallows (Sunday, May 14, 2023) Is Now Online

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows. Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, on a Sunday. Since earliest days of Christianity, they have observed Sundays as the Lord’s Day, celebrating his resurrection and the promise of new life for those who believe.

Readings: Acts 17:22–31, 1 Peter 3:13–22; John 14:15–21

Message: "What’s Love Got to Do with It?"

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2023/05/sundays-at-all-hallows-sunday-may-14.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:

-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.

Sturday Lagniappe: 'A Royal Mess: Reevaluating the Church's Role in the Wedding Business' And More

A Royal Mess: Reevaluating the Church's Role in the Wedding Business

Weddings were originally not a rite of the Church. Clergy officiating at weddings is an extrabiblical practice.

No Holiness But Social Holiness: Comuning and Sending Forth This article is the sixth in a series we're called "A Good and Joyful Thing: A series on liturgical spirituality."

What does ‘Amen’ mean?
We say it every time we pray, but what exactly are we saying? What are we talking about?

Different Uses for Different Questions
When we observe a text, we collect all the raw materials for interpretation. And that which drives interpretation forward is the asking of questions. To interpret well, we must be intensely curious and investigate our observations as fully as possible.Bu t the asking of questions ought not be a complete free-for-all. Different kinds of questions have different uses. Let’s take advantage of those differences.

Youth Pastor Tensions: When You Clash With Your Senior Pastor
Let’s explore the challenges and possible solutions.

3 Perfect Opportunities to Share Your Faith
Jerry Root Why Is the SBC Membership Declining?takes a look at three different kinds of evangelistic contexts we may encounter when engaging in personal evangelism.

Why Is the SBC Membership Declining?
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) released its annual statistics about membership, attendance, baptism, and other matters this week. The data paints a portrait of the largest Protestant denomination in the United States undergoing a significant decline in a relatively short period of time.

ERLC urges Congress to address border crisis
The Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity has urged Congress to find a solution for the “ongoing humanitarian emergency” at the United States’ southern border.

The reaction to the expiration of the Title 42 restrictions has been characterized by fear-mongering, catastrophizing, and hysteria on social media, a reaction that foreign actors are exploiting to promote civil unrest and politicians to further their own ends. There is a lot of misinformation and disinformation circulating on the internet.

West Texas diocese calls for volunteers, donations as Title 42 immigration restrictions expire

The Plaza de Paz Respite Center in San Antonio, Texas, is facing a shortage of volunteers, food and supplies to serve the hundreds of migrants and asylum-seekers arriving every day. The shortage is anticipated to worsen as a large influx of asylum-seekers is expected to cross the U.S. border when Title 42 restrictions and the federal public health emergency end on May 11.

Friday's Catch: 'America under threat from syncretism" And More

America under threat from syncretism, George Barna says in study; churches urged to respond
While the World Health Organization has declared that COVID-19 is no longer a “public health emergency,” America’s embrace of syncretism — the fusion of different religions — and the growing rejection of a biblical worldview remains a threat to general quality of life in a post-pandemic world, especially for children, new research from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University suggests.

Why We Need to Start Preaching and Teaching the Basics of Christianity
Christians are more ignorant of the faith that we thought....

The Hypostatic Union
“Who do you say that I am?” This question by Jesus is perhaps one of the most important questions we must answer, for life and death depend on it.

The Art of One-Anothering
True holiness may begin between God and the soul, but it finds full expression in community with other people.

7 Things to Avoid When Teaching Women’s Bible Study
Teaching a passage of Scripture to those who have studied it is far more demanding than teaching one to those who have not. My hope is that by giving Bible study participants homework, it will challenge their thinking enough that by the time they hear me teach, they won’t just take my word for it. Knowing that they will think critically about my teaching holds me accountable to avoid seven common teaching pitfalls.

Vital Aspects of Prayer
What do you expect when you pray? The curse of modern Christianity is that we expect little from the Lord, too much from the church, and nothing from ourselves.

Five Skills Needed to Manage a Great Church Website
Today, anyone can build a church website using tools that do the programming for you. However, that doesn’t mean everyone can build a great website, and in the world of church websites, there are far more good websites than great websites.

4 Reasons Why Every Pastor Should Lead a Small Group
There are four reasons why every pastor should lead a small group....

How to Build on Your Creative Potential
Let’s face it: building on your creative potential is hard. So the question is—where are you right now? At what point did you get bought off with a raise? At what point did you give up? And perhaps, more importantly, what are you willing to do to break out of those walls?

Bridging the Gap Between Serving in the Church and Serving in the Community
Churches emphasizing internal and external service will find it leads to growth and a restored connection of the church with the community.

It’s Harvest Time!
Start thinking in terms of “now,” not “then,” when it comes to evangelism.

Texas megachurch that left UMC forming its own Methodist denomination
A Texas megachurch that voted to leave the United Methodist Church last year has decided to launch its own network of churches once its disaffiliation from the UMC is finalized.

Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (Thursday, May 11, 2023) Is Now Online

 

Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he left behind disciples to be stand ins for him until he returned again. He entrusted to them the task of spreading the good news of God's love and making more disciples so that all who hear the good news would be reconciled to God.

Reading: 1 Peter 2: 11-17

Message: How to Be Genuine Representatives and Ambassadors of Jesus

Link: https://allhallowsmurray.blogspot.com/2023/05/thursday-evenings-at-all-hallows_11.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:

-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: 'Ed Stetzer: The Church of 2030' And More

Ed Stetzer: The Church of 2030
While the year 2030 may feel as if it is a long time away, it is going to be here faster than we know. What does the future hold for the church in the years between now and 2030, and then beyond?

Get Your Church Ready Now for Summer's Extreme Heat
What can your congregation do to reduce the health risks of extreme heat besides lowering the air conditioner temperature? How about....

6 Ways to Train Young Adults to Serve in Ministry
One of the best ways to combat disengagement is to have a well-developed plan to equip young adults to serve in ministry in the church.

Livestreaming 101
Let’s take a look at some of the resources that a church would need to set up a well-functioning livestreaming option.

Store Up Today for Tomorrow’s Crisis
...if we want to be the kind of person who speaks words of wisdom and grace, then we have to begin by storing up wisdom and grace.

Down to a Fine Art
At Real Life Ministries, a nondenominational church based in Post Falls, Idaho, members are using their creative gifts for the Lord, learning new talents, and making disciples along the way.

Don’t Overcomplicate Evangelism
... if a church is to flourish, evangelism must be central to the life of the body.

Wednesday's Catch: 'The Religious Life of Gen Z' And More

The Religious Life of Gen Z

At the beginning of the 20th century, sociologist Max Weber prophesied that religion-less modernity would become unbearable for secular society. He predicted the emergence of what he called late modernity, a period in which people embraced a kind of polytheism, hybridizing their spirituality by welding together different beliefs and practices in an attempt to find enchantment in the midst of bland secularism. He might have been right.

Who Are the Dechurched in America and Why Did They Leave?
In this episode of As In Heaven, host Jim Davis welcomes guests Ryan Burge and Michael Graham to discuss the dechurched in America—who are they and why did they leave? They discuss detailed insights about the 40 million adult Americans who have dechurched in the last 30 years and talk in-depth about the four different profiles of dechurched evangelicals.

Some fascinating research findings.

7 Things All Growing Churches Have in Common
Once a month at Sun Valley Community Church (the church I have the privilege of serving at) we gather all of our staff from all of our campuses to have some fun, celebrate wins, keep everybody on the same page and often times do some leadership development training. Last week Chad Moore, who serves as the Lead Pastor at Sun Valley shared 7 Things that All Growing Churches have in Common…I thought these may be helpful to you in your local church context....

3 Essentials to Lead with an Ownership Mindset
Owners lead distinctively and noticeably different than others. Owners see things differently than others. They care more deeply, take responsibility more seriously, and sacrifice more willingly. We don’t have to be actual owners to authentically lead that way. It’s a choice we can make, and the results speak for themselves.

About Your Pastor
The last three years have seen more political, cultural and ideological divides plague our nation than at any other time in recent memory. Adding to the volatility and stress has been how those very political, cultural and ideological divides have often been cast as religious in nature. This put every pastor in the crosshairs.

Five Essential Accountability Standards for Pastors and Paid Church Staff
Accountability is the acceptance of responsibility for your actions. But what does this acceptance look like with paid church staff?

Communion as Apologetic
To celebrate the Lord’s Supper in a way that reinforces classism or segregation rejects the meal’s meaning.

7 Things They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary About Funerals
Performing funerals is a reality of being the pastor of a church of any size and style. Even if your church is primarily filled with young people, from time to time you will be called upon by families to perform a funeral.

8 Areas of Discipleship for New Believers
Church leaders must think strategically and thoughtfully about how to help new believers live out their journey with Christ.

The Great Imbalance in the Amazon Rainforest
The global purpose of God has always faced resistance from the nationalistic people of God.

Historian urges bishops: Reclaim ‘vile’ heritage
Ashley Boggan, a United Methodist historian and agency top executive, challenged bishops to learn from history to work toward a brighter future. She noted that the challenges John Wesley faced are not all that dissimilar from what The United Methodist Church faces today. She pointed to how Wesley took risks to reach people in his day, submitting to be “more vile” by preaching outdoors.That Wesleyan example of “vile-tality” could be what church leaders need today, Boggan said.

18 Christian colleges have closed or merged since beginning of COVID-19 pandemic
Eighteen of the dozens of colleges that have closed permanently or have been forced to merge since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic were Christian colleges, according to a recent report.