The religiously unaffiliated are no longer growing in the U.S. What do church leaders need to know about the changing religious landscape?
Making sense of denominational decline and church shifting
Evangelical Protestantism continues to be a growing force in American Christianity, as Mainline Protestant denominations continue to decline, but where are these converts coming from?
For fastest-growing churches in America, it’s location, location, location
If you want to have a fast-growing church, there are 47 counties in America that fit the ideal criteria for success, according to an empirical analysis by Ryan Burge. Successful church plants today most often meet these four criteria, Burge report....
Why is everyone talking about 'narcissism', and should Christians be concerned?
Are we experiencing a "narcissism epidemic"? Has the personality traits of a number of public figures helped to raise our awareness of this personality disorder in political and religious leaders and the harmful effects it can have upon our nation's system of goverment and its churches and religious organizations?
Among the symptoms of a narcissistic personality disorder recognized by the American Psychiatric Association are "'grandiose self-importance', exhibitionism, fantasies of greatness, emotional dysfunctions, and interpersonal problems such as 'feeling entitled to special favours, taking advantage of others, and inability to empathize with the feelings of others.'"Anglicanism and Depression
“Good blazing fires” — that’s one thing that helps if you are down. It is part of a witty, wise discussion of how to face down depression by the Anglican cleric Sidney Smith, whose life ran across the 18th and 19th centuries. When we face an epidemic of mental illness and a febrile church, Smith’s advice and sense of humor repay study. In recent years, Anglicans have much over which they could get depressed. Smith helps us about face life’s ups and downs with faith.
1 million United Methodists exit in 1 day
United Methodism’s largest overseas jurisdiction has voted to quit the denomination in response to the church’s divorcing sex from marriage at its governing General Conference earlier this month. The United Methodist Church in the Ivory Coast voted on May 28 to exit the denomination. In 2022, this conference reportedly had over 1.2 million members. So, its departure means over one tenth of United Methodism has in one day left the denomination. Oddly, United Methodist News Service reported the vote very briefly in an emailed news digest but as of today has no article on its website. Perhaps it will post a fuller account later.
The wing of the United Methdist Church which spearheaded the changes adopted at the last General Conference from what I could observe did not fully weigh the consequences of these changes. It either downplayed them or gave a positive spin to them. As the article points out, the Ivory Coast Conference has historic ties to British Methodism and had been an independent Methodist jurisdiction until fairly recently when it affilated with the United Methodist Church. It would appear that it saw no further benefit in continuing that affiiliation.
How the changes adopted by the General Conference will affect the UMC in the United States remains to be seen. Similar changes adopted by the governing bodies of other mainline denominations have not helped to arrest their decline.Lonely at the Top: Confronting the Isolation Faced by Church Leaders
What would make your ministry flourish right now?
Why Youth Leave the Church: 10 Surprising Reasons Teens Disappear
Why youth leave the church is a challenging, often-discussed topic. Read on for expert insights into why teens leave churches and youth ministries after graduation.
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