One of the most important questions you can ever answer about yourself is, what is the one thing for which I’m really living?
Award winning Episcopal history of a tradition of racism for adult and youth study groups
There are many good books on racism but few notable works that have as their focus the turmoil in the Episcopal Church as it lumbered toward integration. Justified By Her Children: Deeds of Courage Confronting a Tradition of Racism recounts the brave deeds of little known men, women and young people coming into conflict with the evils of racial segregation in the church.
Equipping Women to Begin a Women’s Ministry in Your Church
If you are a pastor or church leader considering ways to equip women to begin a women’s ministry, here are four things to consider.
Use Social Media Reinforcement After Your Sermon—And Before!
Social media is a powerful medium, you can use it to make your Sunday morning preaching more effective and more likely to enact life-change in your congregation. Call it social media reinforcement. Here are some super easy ideas to engage with people about your sermon in the days before or after you actually preach it.
What Is the Most Important Thing Taught in the Bible?
The apostle Paul reminds the Corinthian church of the most important thing in all of Scripture—the gospel.In many churches today the focus ends up drifting away from the gospel to other things.
Be Confident in God’s Direction
Confidence is important for all leaders, but it’s particularly important for leaders pursuing God’s mission in the world. Why is confidence so important for biblical leadership?
Dean Alan W. Jones of San Francisco, 1940-2024
The Very Rev. Alan W. Jones, dean emeritus of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, died Sunday at 83. The dean’s most recent successor, the Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young, announced his death on Grace’s website on January 15.
Heartbreak, hope follow season of church exits
The Lewis Center for Church Leadership has released its third and final report comparing U.S. congregations disaffiliating from The United Methodist Church with those staying. About 25% of the denomination’s U.S. churches have left since 2019 under a policy prompted by intensifying debate over LGBTQ inclusion. But even as they mourn these losses, United Methodists are starting new faith communities and welcoming people long unaffiliated with any church. Also worth noting: The vast majority of United Methodist congregations remain in the denomination.
We can’t take democracy for granted
Racial and religious minorities depend upon the values of pluralism and the rule of law for our rights to be protected.
The ‘god’ many American Christians worship
Driving along Highway 27 in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., in mid-September 2021, motorists were surprised to see a billboard bearing a phrase from the Bible they had often heard during the Christmas season in their churches: “Unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders.” The quotation is taken from the King James Version of Isaiah 9:6 and is also the text of one of the beloved choruses of Handel’s Messiah. But this billboard was not an early Christmas message of hope. It was instead a partisan political trope.
Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.
“Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people.
“Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. See, I have warned you about this ahead of time. (Matthew 24: 4-13; 23-25 NLT)
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