Wednesday's Catch: 'The Church is More than a Content Producer' And More

The Church is More than a Content Producer

...in an age of streaming media, we need to be reminded that “the church is not content.”

The shift toward the church as a content producer began before the digital age. In the late nineteenth and early twenteth century in some churches adult Sunday school was better attended than the church's services of public worship. The songs used in these services have been increasingly chosen to put the congregation in the right frame of mind for what is seen as the highpoint of the service, the sermon, and to highlight or reinforce the message of the sermon. In many churches services have become strongly didactic in their tone.

Why Pastors Above the Age of 70 Will Become Increasingly Common
In this podcast Thom and Sam Rainer share five reasons why pastors above the age of 70 will become increasingly common.

The Looming Deferred Maintenance Crisis in Many Churches (and How to Solve It)
Sticker shock with deferred maintenance projects will prompt some congregations to consider closing.

The Future of Anglican Theological Education: A Dean's Diagnosis
To imagine the future of theological education in the Anglican world is to engage in a combination of prognostication and prescription.

Eric Geiger: My 3 Goals in Preaching
One way to describe this sacred stewardship is “Teach Christ and the text in their context.” The aim is three-fold....

Preaching to the Imagination
We need to know the Bible so well that we can then see how it speaks to our preaching contexts and then bring the truth to bear in the realities of our hearers.

Leaders Share Keys to Discipling Men in Church
Research shows men’s discipleship lags behind women’s. The power of relationships can help make disciples of men in church.

In the Modern Areopagus, 5 Billion People Are Listening
For missions, this presents a great opportunity. We should capitalize on social media, the new realm of ideas, both for introducing people to new faith concepts and as a bridge to in-person gospel conversations.

What if Evangelism Isn’t Your Gift?
...it is tempting to want to delegate something as important as eternity to a professional, or someone who seems to have a special gift from the Lord. However, the fact is, each of us can (and should) share Christ.

Researchers find surprisingly 'low use of the Bible' among Protestants, Catholics in Germany
A new study from the theologians at the University of Leipzig finds that only 1.6% of the German population reads the Bible at least once a day, and only 3.2% read it every week, despite half of its population identifying as Protestant or Catholic.