Friday's Catch: 'Analysis: Church Leaders Respond to Mullally’s Selection' And More

Analysis: Church Leaders Respond to Mullally’s Selection
Archbishop-designate Sarah Mullally is not well-known. Beyond the Church of England, responses to her selection have been relatively muted and occasionally ill-informed. Comments in recent days have tended to focus on her sex, her opinions about human sexuality, and her kind and reconciling temperament.

Holy Innovation: A Framework for Choosing Your Next Ministry Idea
With limited resources of people, funds, and time, how can churches sort through ideas to discover the next step God is inviting them to take? Kenda Creasy Dean uses the “How-Now-Wow” exercise as a framework to sort and prioritize ideas. While “How” ideas are “moonshots,” “Now” ideas are easy-to-implement but with modest impact. “Wow” ideas are the sweet spot for transformative change.

Congregational Vitality Begins with An Inward Journey
If there are internal conflicts within your worshipping community, will others want to worship at your church? Pastor Andreá Cummings invites us to consider the importance of internal spiritual health that is required for there to be any hope of numerical or missional outreach vitality. She suggests three possibilities for church leaders to consider if internal issues hamper the church’s mission with others.

Gen Z Is Spiritually Hungry. Let’s Get Ready to Feed Them.
In The Anxious Generation Goes to Church: What the Research Says About What Younger Generations Need (and Want) from Your Church, Thom S. Rainer, CEO of Church Answers, argues that the church has a phenomenal opportunity to reach a generation with the gospel. The church has the social and spiritual remedies to the challenges Gen Z is facing.

I have not yet reviewed this book. However, I have generally found Thom Rainer's books informative and helpful.

Judge bars ICE from taking some violent actions against religious activists, journalists
The suit was primarily brought by journalists who allege they have been targeted by federal agents, but the list of plaintiffs also included the Rev. David Black, a Chicago-area Presbyterian minister.

When history doesn’t rhyme: A look at the conservative-liberal spectrum
Modern Christianity is mindbogglingly diverse: 45,000 denominations, by one recent estimate. Christian history teaches us this is not new. From the beginning, Christians understood Jesus differently.

In the United States of 2025, though, this diversity is on the wane — and this concerns me deeply.

How Power Corrupts Pure Religion
In 1534, Henry VIII—whom the Pope dubbed “Defender of the Faith” because of his work opposing Luther’s teaching—broke from Rome and established himself as the head of the newly formed Church of England. What caused the change? Henry wanted to retain his grip on power, and to do that, he needed the male heir his wife couldn’t provide him—yet the Vatican wouldn’t grant his divorce.

For the sake of historical accuracy I must point out that Henry VIII did NOT form a new church--an all too common misunderstanding of English Church history. Henry VIII ended papal authority over the existing Church of England, the Ecclesia Anglicana, a church that has a history going back to the Anglo-Saxon period in English history and which has antecedents in the earlier Celtic Church in the British Isles. Henry VIII was not breaking new ground. The Byzantine emperors exercised authority over the churches of the East

Church-state separation and separating fact from fantasy
My granddaughter Zoey loves and reads fantasy. She loves tales of dragons, wizards and elves. Me, not so much. However, I am visiting my granddaughters and the adults who spawned them. Every grandparent understands that order.

My visit coincides with a book I finished on the plane out here to North Carolina. Randall Balmer’s America’s Best Idea: The Separation of Church and State. Balmer’s book is a work of history, a field that researches the past and includes commentary on what those events meant.

How Has Evangelicals’ Theology Changed?
The 2025 State of Theology study reveals areas where evangelicals’ beliefs have changed in the past few years.

If I Were a Pastor Again at Christmas Time
If I were the pastor once again, of a church during the Christmas season, here are a few things I would do....

Joe McKeever's Christmas list contains some great ideas for the Christmas season.

New book illuminates the beauty and breadth of Episcopal worship
A new book by Canon David R. Pitts offers a compelling and comprehensive look at the rituals and traditions that shape worship and belief in the Episcopal Church. Lift Up Your Hearts: Liturgies and Ceremonies of the Episcopal Church is a vital resource for clergy, liturgical planners, and laity alike—a treasure chest of wisdom, guidance, and inspiration for all who seek to engage more fully in the worship life of the Church.

I have not had an opportunity to review this book so I cannot comment on its contents or the particular leanings of the author as far as churchmanship is concerned, as evidenced in the book.

New book debunks spanking and the 'myths' of Christian parenting
In The Myth of Good Christian Parenting, authors Marissa Franks Burt and Kelsey Kramer McGinnis argue that these methods aren’t as biblical or effective as their purveyors would have Christian parents believe.

I worked in the field of child welfare for almost three decades and from what I observed during that time was that spanking did not work and often led to the use of more severe forms of corporal punishment and the physical and emotional abuse of the child.

Image Credit: The Church of England