A church’s outreach strategy should involve multiple efforts. But one of those efforts should include hospitality toward guests to your worship services. Some churches make visitors their primary focus for outreach, and others see it as a later step after much prior investment. Either way, looking at a recent Lifeway Research question on how churches welcome guests prompts some helpful thinking about how we can invest in guests.
Church Online Giving Platforms – 5 Great Choices
We’ve rounded up our five favorite church online giving platforms to help you provide your congregation with the option to give online and mobile.
New Jersey mayor says town won’t seize Episcopal church if public doesn’t support plan
Mayor Dan Rodrick of Toms River, New Jersey, has delayed a council vote on his plan to seize an Episcopal church’s property, and he told Episcopal News Service he would end his effort to turn the church’s 11 acres into parkland if town officials confirm the public doesn’t support it.
115 Years Later, South Dakota Church Gets Running Water
Very soon, parishioners and visitors of the Church of the Mediator will be able to fulfill a routine the World Health Organization calls “one of the most effective ways of keeping diseases at bay” without leaving its four walls. Thanks to a United Thank Offering (UTO) grant approved by the Executive Council in June, the church now has the funds to install running water in the centuries-old structure.
Evangelical to Lead Australian Church
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Mark Short, Bishop of Canberra & Goulburn since 2019, was elected on July 19 as Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia. He is the first non-metropolitan to be elected as primate since the church began electing its chief bishop in 1910, and the first evangelical to lead the church since the early 1980s.
Trump supporters report higher levels of psychopathy, manipulativeness, callousness, and narcissism A new psychological study has found that people who report favorable views of Donald Trump also tend to score higher on measures of callousness, manipulation, and other malevolent traits—and lower on empathy and compassion. The findings, based on two large surveys of U.S. adults, shed light on how personality traits relate to political beliefs, including support for Trump and conservative ideology. The research was recently published in the Journal of Research in Personality.
Also See: The Scandal of Evangelical Empathy: How Did We Even Get Here?As This Church Has Received It: To What Are We Vowing?
Since the last General Convention, it has become commonplace to say that the Episcopal Church has two doctrines on marriage. Matthew Olver has written helpfully on the situation in several essays (see here and here). Both the traditional view that marriage can only be between a man and a woman, and the more recent view that marriage is between two persons (regardless of sex), are effectively enshrined in both our canons and liturgies—or will be, pending the second reading of the prayer book revision in 2027.
Baptists in Australia, New Zealand and Canada wrestle with LGBTQ inclusion
Like it long has in the U.S., disagreement over same-sex marriage and congregational autonomy are also driving a wedge between Baptists in Australia.
How Long Should a Pastor Preach?
That lament echoes through the Psalms, appears in Habakkuk, recurs in Revelation—and pervades the meandering minds of restless parishioners obliged to suffer the pastor’s preaching past the point of effectiveness and endurance. An expression of extreme suffering and bewilderment is hardly the response a pastor hopes for when he delivers himself of a week’s worth of preparation, no matter what the sermon length. So; how long should a pastor preach?
VOICES: Will God answer a prayer that’s not good for you?
What if you prayed for something that would actually hurt you — would God still give it to you? A story from King David’s life answers that question.
Effective Cell Group Topics You Can Use
The goal of my men’s life group is to make everyone a disciple who makes other disciples. This should be the goal of every cell group. Although I lead the group, I’m more of the coach than the leader. That is, my role is to make sure everyone in the group is participating and becoming a disciple in the process. Cell group topics must support this goal.
Margin in Youth Ministry: 6 Steps To Slowing Down
Need more margin in youth ministry? You’re not alone! Youth ministry is a marathon filled with a thousand sprints. Whether it’s jumping from camp to camp over the summer or getting ready for fall kickoff, it’s easy to get wiped out. If only you had some margin....
“I Enjoyed the Sermon,” and Other Things You Shouldn’t Say
What’s wrong with “I enjoyed the sermon”? The people who say this mean well. They aren’t the haters who find fault with minutiae in every sermon. These aren’t the theological thought-police, who are constantly scouring sermons for hints of heresy. They are people who love the preacher and care for their pastor. They’re seeking to be an encouragement. But they don’t realise how discouraging it is to hear that someone merely enjoyed your sermon.
The Importance of Daily Time in God’s Word and Prayer
Greg Stier explains how a simple habit can reset your soul, anchor your heart, and transform your life.
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