Tuesday's Catch: 'The Strength (and Possible Weakness) of Small-Church Life' And More

The Strength (and Possible Weakness) of Small-Church Life
What is the primary strength of a small church? I have asked this question in many settings and with many different people, and they all reply in the same way. Their wording may be different, but their answer is the same.

The Six Purposes of the Church: How They Really Play Out in a Local Congregation.
The purposes of the church originate with the early churches in the New Testament. When Rick Warren wrote The Purpose Driven Church in 1995, the purposes became commonplace in conversations in churches around the world. Thom takes a detailed journey about the purposes of the church through nine episodes. Keep all of them together to share with your church leaders and members. Here are the links to all nine episodes.

Part 1 of 9: Why We Talk about the Purposes of the Church Today
Part 2 of 9: How We Landed on Six Purposes
Part 3 of 9: The Practical Benefits of Understanding the Purposes of the Church
Part 4 of 9: The Purpose of Evangelism
Part 5 of 9: The Purpose of Discipleship
Part 6 of 9: The Purpose of Ministry
Part 7 of 9: The Purpose of Fellowship
Part 8 of 9: The Purpose of Worship
Part 9 of 9: The Purpose of Prayer

Welcoming the Stranger
...how do we truly welcome the stranger?

The Prayer Book, Memorialization, and Communion Across Difference
I want to lay out what took place in Louisville, both for those who are still understandably a bit confused and for posterity, as these matters will not be going away. As we will see, these issues overlap in some important ways.

What comes next for the United Methodist Church?
Not even the sainted hymnist of Methodism, Charles Wesley, could sing better of the United Methodist Church’s future than King George III in the musical Hamilton: What comes next?

Meet Cathy, the new AI chatbot and Episcopal Church expert
Unlike many of her religious AI predecessors, Cathy isn’t posing as a pastor or guru but a virtual guide.

4 surprisingly simple keys to effectively sharing the Gospel
Sharing the Gospel is like flying an airplane. You want to take off smoothly, have a solid flight plan, know how to deal with emergency situations and then, of course, land safely.