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Thursday, June 29, 2023

Thursday's Catch: "Why the ‘Active Decline’ in US Church Attendance Is ‘Urgent,’ but Not Without Hope" And More


“We are currently in the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country,” said Jim Davis, speaking last week with his colleague, Michael Graham, on “The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast.” A study Davis and Graham commissioned has found that 40 million adult Americans, 15 million of whom are evangelicals, are no longer attending church, a situation the two describe as “bleak.”

Church attendance still below pre-pandemic levels despite slight uptick, new data shows 
Religious worship service attendance in the United States is still below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels despite a slight increase in the last two years, with a slightly steeper decline among Catholics than Protestants, survey data suggests.

Her Body is a Border: We Need to Better Protect and Provide For Women and Girls
Women migrants and refugees face additional challenges, both from individual interactions with others and from lack of structural support.

John Piper says women shouldn’t lead parachurch organizations
Notable theologian, author and Bible teacher John Piper argued this week that women should not hold spiritually authoritative positions in parachurch organizations, believing that this runs afoul of "God-ordained differences" between men and women.

7 Church Hiring Mistakes That Could Cost You Thousands
According to Brian Orme, "If you take these recruiting tips and apply them—and avoid the hiring mistakes—I firmly believe you will save thousands of dollars in the long run. Of course, the reverse is also true. If you ignore these pro tips for hiring, you could end up paying out a lot more than you ever imagined. But please don’t."

7 Unique Traits of Spiritual Leaders
A spiritual leader is more like this: An authentic human being, who genuinely seeks to live their life by Jesus’ example, filled by the Spirit, and leading in alignment with God’s will, purpose and plan. So, what are the unique distinctives of a Christian spiritual leader?

8 Ways Pastors can Refresh Their Tired Souls
Consider these 8 ways to refresh your tired soul....

The pastor who teaches the congregation to pray
Granted, none of us do it very well. Even the great Apostle Paul said, “We do not know how to pray as we should” (Romans 8:26). So, we are not saying any of us do it as well as we should, only that we know enough to be able to help others. Here are some thoughts on the subject....

Small Church Stage Lighting: You Can Do It!
Even a small church stage can be dramatical improved by good lighting–and you can do it!
Your church does not have to have a stage to benefit from better lighting.
7 Tips for Asking Really Good Questions
"When it comes to evangelism, if we can learn to ask good questions, I believe we will find it much easier to have helpful, more relaxed, and more fruitful conversations about our faith in Jesus. That said, here are seven tips for asking really good question...." writes Andy Banister.

How Christians Can Respond to Gender Dysphoria
We are Christ’s ambassadors, messengers entrusted with good news for those with gender dysphoria. He offers wholeness.

The Episcopal Church Must Be Made Stronger in the Hinterland
Chip Preh may have said more than he realized when he described how he destroyed fire ant mounds. All the work a colony of fire ants put into the construction of a mound destroyed by someone who does not welcome their presence. Isn't that to some degree what has happened in the Episcopal Church?
The Episcopal Church has had many opportunities to not only strengthen existing churches but also to plant new churches. It has failed to take advantage of these opportunities. The last decade of the twentieth century was declared "a decade of evangelism." Numerous Episcopal clergy announced, "This is the Episcopal Church. We don't do evangelism!" 

In the first decade of the twenty-first century my bishop launched a new church planting initiative in the diocese. It met for a large part with indifference and disinterest from the diocese's clergy. In my own deanery one church asked the bishop not to plant any new churches in the deanery although the deanery had a rapidly growing population and could have supported two or more new works. 

The bishop initially complied with this request but later changed his mind when the Anglican Mission in America announced that it was planting a new church in the deanery. The new work was supplied by clergy from the bishop's old deanery because the clergy of the deanery refused to have anything to do with the church plant.

The events of 2003 would effectively kill that work and a second new work in the bishop's old deanery. Chip Preh may have indeed said more than he realized!

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