Saturday Lagniappe: 'Church in Wales earmarks £10m for mission and growth' And More

Church in Wales earmarks £10m for mission and growth
The Church in Wales is to invest nearly £10m in a number of new projects aimed at increasing church attendance. Multi-million pound grants will be split across projects in north-east Wales, Swansea and Monmouthshire. The grants are part of the Church in Wales' wider £100m investment in schemes to boost evangelism as it grapples with declining attendance.

Wisconsin community mourns church’s closing, celebrates decades of ministry and memories
In the terminology of the sparsely populated rural communities that span Wisconsin’s northern half, Lugerville is known as unincorporated. The nearby city of Park Falls, population 2,400, could be considered a crossroads community, but Lugerville is more like a wide spot in the road – an identity the community clearly embraces.

As Thom Rainer observed in a podcast to which I posted a link yesterday, as people age, they are less likely to attend church. He also observed that Boomers, particularly affluent white empty nesters, also do a lot of traveling once they have retired. In a future article I hope to look at a number of factors that have contributed to the decline of the Episcopal Church since it first began to decline in 1967.

Free Church bishop doorsteps pregnant woman with police after sacking vicar husband for popular free speech videos
The Rev. Brett Murphy was sacked by the Free Church of England (FCE) following a series of ‘scattershot’ allegations that left him and his family, including his pregnant wife, on the verge of homelessness.

Related Articles: Wardens’ statement from Emmanuel Morecombe and Outspoken pastor fired from Free Church of England over social media ministry

Chattanooga’s largest United Methodist church rejects disaffiliation after survey and votes
Chattanooga's largest United Methodist Church will not leave the denomination after leaders and members overwhelmingly voted the idea down. Christ United Methodist Church on East Brainerd Road had in recent months mulled splitting off from the United Methodist Church, which at a spring meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, lifted bans on openly gay-clergy and church sanction of same-sex marriage.

Pay attention to what Trump lies about most
Outlandish? Yes. Farcical? Absolutely. But also sinister and revealing.

Related Articles: Opinion: Nobody's ever talked the way Trump does. It's like no one before. Or so it seems and Springfield nonsense is part of plan to dehumanize immigrants, UnidosUS president warns

The GOP’s slow turn from American evangelicalism
‘America First’ is at war with ‘a shining city on a hill.’

In a World of Misinformation: Tools for the Ethical Truth-Seeker
Misrepresentations, half-truths and outright lies are common in any political season. But this year, the numbers have exploded beyond anything ever experienced. Add in new evidence of election interference from Russia through RT (Russia Today) — the Kremlin’s media arm — plus absolute lies about immigrants eating pets, one must ask: How can anyone know what is true or not? Part of the problem is that so many people now live in an echo chamber of their own opinions thanks to social media. New journalism-sounding websites cropping up can fool some people who do not check to make sure the information is true.

Holiness in an Age of Worldliness
...many Christians seem scarcely interested in holiness and little concerned by Scripture’s warnings for those who do not pursue holiness. It is easy to get Christians passionate about family matters, or cultural issues, or political concerns. But some Christians have actually argued that part of “knowing what time it is” in our cultural moment is recognizing that virtues like obedience, truth-telling and purity of speech are unnecessary obstacles to defeating our political enemies. More commonly, churches or pastors that lean hard into the Bible’s exhortation to holiness are likely to be called pietistic, legalistic and unloving.

Hospitality in the Bible: Following Jesus’s Hospitality of the Cross
The Gospel of John tells us that on the night that he was betrayed, Jesus knew—at the outset of the evening—that “the Father had given him all things into his hands” (13:3 LEB). This is marvelous and strange and a loaded biblical image.

Extending Your Leadership Mileage as a Pastor
Both Josh and Sam have been in ministry for a combined 42 years. Along the way, they’ve learned a few things about extending your mileage as a pastor. What can you do to stay the course for the long term? The co-hosts have some thoughts.

Declining vocations and clergy shortages in a number of denominations nt only mean that pastors need to extend their mileage but also these denominations may need to rethink the role of the laity.

4 Ways to Develop an Irresistible Culture in Your Ministry
Culture is your brand. The way your team greets people, deals with challenges, ministers to kids and families, and even says goodbye. The look and feel of your ministry comes from the brand you create. So you can’t leave it up to chance. Here are four key ways to develop the culture you want.

How do we transition children from Sunday School to service?
For those of you who, for whatever reason, have concluded Sunday School is a helpful thing in your context, the question remains. If we’ve got one, how do we help our kids transition from Sunday School to main service? What I’m going to say here isn’t the way to do it, just a way that we have tended to find helpful.