The Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) only came into being in 2009. To suggest that it will overtake the Episcopal Church (TEC) — so large and long-established — might sound absurd. But it is in the cards, as this article shows. Not soon, but also not that far away.
David Goodhew is looking at the statistics reported by the two rival churches themselves. His study does not consider how much the growth the ACNA is experiencing is transfer growth and how much is conversion growth, nor does it look at which dioceses in the ACNA are experiencing growth, the type of growth they are experiencing, which dioceses are aggressively planting new churches, and other relevant details that are need to evaluate the growth of the ACNA. It does not consider the divisions in the ACNA that are simmering just below the surface. It also does not address the question which is being raised in some quarters in the ACNA and outside the ACNA, "Does the ACNA represents authentic historic Anglicanism any more than TEC?" What should concern us more than which church is the biggest is how effective is a church denomination-wide in telling people about Jesus, making new disciples who are genuine followers of Jesus, and enfolding them in dynamic new churches.Season 2, Episode 2: The De-Churching of America
In the United States, we are experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country. Recent research shows about 15 percent of American adults — that’s 40 million people — have stopped going to church, and all of this, within the past 25 years. It’s a drop that has affected every region in the country, every theological tradition, every age group, every ethnicity, every education level, every income bracket.
3 Times Jesus Modeled How To Treat Sinners
Jesus modeled well for us how to treat sinners. Ever since the SCOTUS decision in the United States, which legalized gay marriage, there have been scathing comments from all sides and an overwhelming amount of questions about how Christians should respond to the culture around us. The best thing we can do is follow Jesus regarding how to treat sinners.
The Case for a Church Choir
Choral music itself will never be a thing of the past, but impoverished are the congregations who are forcing their people to experience singing in secular settings. How important are church choirs? How vital are they to a healthy ministry? Why have them at all? Many people are asking questions like these. Tragically, some congregations have decided that the whole business of nurturing and supporting a choir is just not who they are, or who they are anymore.
Americans who attend church online read the Bible more than those who attend in person: study
Americans who attend church services online may be more likely to read the Bible at least once a week than those who go to in-person services, according to the findings of a survey.
A factor which may account at least in part for this trend is what Trevin Wax describes in his podcast, "...the religiously unaffiliated—the fastest-growing religious demographic in the United States—are often still religious in personal and privatized senses, only that their religious identities are in flux, mixing and matching various practices."8 Digital Shifts: Simple Changes to Transform Your Church’s Online Ministry
Whether it was the use of Roman roads to carry letter dispatches from the apostles to local churches in the first century, or the widespread adoption of radio and television for evangelism and Christian education in the 20th, the church has often been an early adopter of new technology, driven by a calling to participate in God’s reconciliatory mission in the world.
VOICES: 7 ways to crank up evangelism in youth
When teenagers share the good news of Jesus with their friends, teammates and classmates, not only does the Gospel advance in others’ lives, but it also has a personal impact on them.
4 Questions To Gauge Your Spiritual Health
As a Christian, it’s easy to develop habits of spirituality and yet still miss what Jesus came to do. We fill our lives with a bunch of Christian things like church, Bible studies, small groups, and all the other church events. Yet, we aren’t any closer to Jesus.The difficult thing about it is that we might not even realize our lives becomes filled with “Christian” things instead becoming full of Jesus. Christianity becomes like a club that we’re a part of. And it misleads us into thinking we have become more like Jesus.
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