Monday's Catch: 'Why Do Unchurched People Come to Church at Christmastime?' And More

Why Do Unchurched People Come to Church at Christmastime?
Every December, pastors and church leaders notice something extraordinary—sanctuaries fill up, even with faces not seen since last Christmas. The lights, music, and message of hope draw people through the doors who might never come any other time of year. It’s a mystery worth pondering: Why do unchurched people come to church at Christmastime? The answer can help us serve unchurched people at Christmas better, communicate the gospel more clearly, and make those first-time visits a doorway to lasting faith.

What the Unchurched Really Think About Church (New Research Says…)
I love the process of discovery through research. The journey begins with a question and swerves through multiple twists and turns before finally arriving at an answer. Our team at Church Answers recently conducted a research project that took several months to complete. We wanted to know if unchurched people felt differently about the church than those who are regular attendees. A survey of current research did not yield the results we desired, so we embarked on a study of our own. We found new, surprising insights from the unchurched.

GAFCON says its members will leave Anglican Communion to form rival network
The conservative Anglican network GAFCON, a mix of leaders from Anglican provinces and breakaway groups, released a statement Oct. 16 saying it would disengage from the Anglican Communion’s existing deliberative bodies and create a rival to the Anglican Communion with an unspecified number of provinces.

Rejecting Canterbury decision, conservative bishops claim lead of Anglican Communion
It is not clear exactly whether the statement, which reprises familiar rhetoric from earlier declarations, will have an effect.

The Future of Anglicanism Has Arrived: What GAFCON’s Statement Means for Evangelicals
On October 16, the anniversary of the martyrdom of Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, the leaders of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) released a statement beginning with the striking words: “The future has arrived.”

For many outside Anglicanism, this may sound like insider church politics. But the statement represents something much larger: a historic reordering of the Anglican Communion that has profound significance for global evangelicalism.

What first caught my eye when I first saw this article on Facebook was the red door in the photo. Someone should have informed whomever selected the photo that painting the church door red is not an Evangelical practice but a Anglo-Catholic one, first introduced in the 19th century as a way of telling churchgoers that a particular church celebrated Mass in accordance with the doctrine and ceremonial associated with its Roman Catholic counterpart, including the Roman Catholic doctrine of eucharistic sacrifice and the Roman Catholic practice of elevating the consecrated host for adoration. Evangelicals, on the other hand, painted their church doors grey. Instead mounting a cross on the top of the church steeple or tower, they mounted a windcock, a rooster-shaped weather vane.

A long awaited future
The recent announcement from the Gafcon Primates, The Future Has Arrived (16 October 2025), begins a new era in the long history of the Anglican churches.

Poggo Responds to GAFCON Communion Launch
Bishop Anthony Poggo, the Anglican Communion’s secretary general, responded to GAFCON’s October 16 about launching a Global Anglican Communion with a calm and gracious pastoral letter. He urged deeper engagement with the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals, which seek to maintain the greatest degree of communion possible among Anglicans at a time of deep disagreement.

Also See: ‘You Have Broken My Heart’—A Letter to My Siblings in GAFCON

The Church of England Has Competition Now?
The Church of England isn't the only Anglican Denomination in the UK. This video examines a recent entry into the mix.

VOICES: 10 reasons why God removes His glory from churches
The tragic declaration in 1 Samuel 4:22 — “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured” — resonates like a prophetic alarm across generations. The ark, a symbol of God’s manifest presence and covenant with His people, was seized by the Philistines because of Israel’s rebellion and spiritual negligence. Ichabod, the name given to the child born in that moment of national despair, signified a divine indictment: God’s glory had withdrawn from His people.

What caused such a catastrophic loss? Scripture gives us profound insight, not only in this historical episode but also in other moments when God’s glory departed or was withheld from His people. These patterns offer sobering warnings to the contemporary Church. Below are ten reasons the glory departs from those once chosen by God....

Christian nationalism is a power grab, Kaylor says in new book
There’s a simple reason Christian nationalists are willing to abandon long-held values and rewrite, redact and reinterpret the Bible as needed to support Donald Trump, Brian Kaylor says.

“They want power,” said Kaylor, a Baptist minister, editor-in-chief of Word&Way and author of The Bible According to Christian Nationalists: Exploiting Scripture for Political Power.

Therapists Warn This Normalized Trump Behavior Is Causing Real-World Harm
Should President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan be “Make America Mean Again”? It turns out, maybe.

A third of Americans say the Bible is 'totally accurate,' survey finds
Americans are split on the accuracy of the Bible, as the public remains divided about institutional trust in religion and the family, a new study finds.

Study Finds Churchgoers Are Becoming Less Certain the Bible Is Clear About Sexuality, Gender, Abortion
American churchgoers are becoming less sure about what the Bible says regarding abortion, human sexuality, and gender, according to a study conducted by Family Research Council’s Center for Biblical Worldview.

Also See: Most churchgoers don't think Bible has clear teachings about homosexuality, transgenderism: poll

'We need to change,' says incoming Church of Scotland Moderator
The Rev Gordon Kennedy has been appointed to be the next Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. He will succeed the Rt Rev Rosie Frew.

Who was St Luke and what do we know about him?
18 October is St Luke’s Day. But who was St Luke, and what do we know about him? This is the story....

10 Christmas Sermon Ideas That Engage and Inspire
As the Christmas season approaches, pastors everywhere face the joyful challenge of preaching a message that feel familiar yet timeless and fresh. Each year, familiar texts call us back to the manger—but how do you keep them from sounding routine? With the right approach, your Christmas sermon can rekindle awe, deepen faith, and invite both regulars and newcomers into the story of God’s love made flesh. These Christmas sermon ideas can help you connect Scripture to hearts and lives in meaningful ways.

This Christmas, Consider an Acoustic Worship Set
It’s the most wonderful time of the year—but it’s also one of the busiest for worship teams. Between rehearsals, productions, and special services, the Christmas season can sometimes feel more like a performance marathon than a time of genuine worship. What if, this year, your church took a different approach? What if you scaled back the production and embraced a quieter, more reflective experience—an acoustic worship set that allows the message of Christmas to breathe?

5 Ways to Deliver Group Leader Training
Group leader training shouldn’t be just a nice-to-have but a strategic investment in the health and growth of your entire church community.

Christmas Giving Ideas: 10 Ways to Transform the Holiday
Those of us who love the Christmas season (and I plead guilty!) often are in the market for ways to make it more meaningful. I polled some friends and would like to share some of the results they had regarding Christmas giving ideas. Give more. Give yourself. Give the unexpected. Give ten times as much as they expect. Give more than ever before. Shop less. Buy fewer. Spend less. Stress less. Quit giving to the adults; give only to the children. Give no more than three presents per child. Emphasize the personal aspect.

Write more notes. If you send Christmas cards, write personal notes on them. Don’t be afraid to tell people you love them, even if you need to vary the verb and make it “I treasure you.” (Or, cherish, adore, appreciate or thank God for you).

The Bible is a firm foundation in an ever-changing mission field
When many of us as Christians hear the word mission, the first thought is of distant places, of Christ's words to reach “the ends of the earth.” And rightly so. God’s mission is to reconcile to Himself people from all nations through Christ. But God’s heart is not just for faraway lands. The mission also includes our friends, neighbours and the communities right on our doorstep, in a country where for the first time since records began, less than half of the country identifies as a Christian.

This statistic might discourage us, but we are also seeing positive signs of renewed interest, particularly amongst Gen Z, with church attendance quadrupling from 4% to 16%. There is a growing cultural moment of openness and curiosity with the spiritual realm, and Christianity in particular.