Wednesday's Catch: 'Beyond the Small-Town Stereotype: Rural Churches Are Growing' And More

Beyond the Small-Town Stereotype: Rural Churches Are Growing
What do rural churches and their growth look like?

Research suggests young Canadians showing greater openness to religion
A new research report suggests that young Canadians may be showing greater openness to religion, even as overall religious affiliation in the country remains low.

Jailed Rwandan Bishop Pleads for Justice
Former Rwandan Bishop Samuel Mugisha Mugiraneza, said by many of his former flock and several of his fellow bishops to be unfairly imprisoned, will now have his day in court this week. A hearing on his appeal of a sentence of three and half years in prison for pasturing his cattle on church property is scheduled for March 18.

5 Ways Churches Risk Losing Their Tax-Exempt Status
Here are five of the most common ways churches put their tax-exempt status at risk.

Relief as Scottish Parliament rejects assisted suicide in historic vote
Liam McArthur has lost his bid to to legalise assisted suicide in Scotland after an hours-long final debate in which more MSPs stood up to speak against the proposals than for.

The Challenge and Opportunity of Metamodern Christianity
Gone are the days of coherent systems of belief we inherit from our parents. Gone are the days of stable religious adherence across time. We’ve simply seen too much.

The Pastor’s Betrayal: A Hidden Trauma Many Church Leaders Carry
For most pastors, betrayal is not an abstract concept. It is a lived experience. Sadly.

Here We Are Now ... (Entertain Us)
This blog post isn’t really a plug for Nirvana, although they were the anthem of my youth. But it does capture an instinct that some of us can have when we approach sermons. At our worst, and more often than we would like to admit, we can be people who seek after novelty, stylistic excellence, and ear-tickling preaching. We passively consume sermons and worship services with little effort.

Young adults turn to Quakers' silent worship to offset — and cope with — a noisy world
At the Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia's Old City, more and more young people are seeking respite from a clamorous technological age in the silent worship of a centuries-old faith.

The Danger of AI Isn’t Misinformation. It’s Mis-Formation.
The spiritual danger of AI is that it might condition us to take shortcuts in the means God uses to form disciples. Here are three ways this can quietly compete with biblical spirituality.

6 Ways to Encourage Commitment to Small Group 

To combat apathy among small group attendees, here are six ideas to help encourage commitment to small groups.

Regular church attendance associated with lower likelihood of mental health diagnoses
“Conservatives who attend church weekly are the least likely to have ever been diagnosed with a mental health condition,” sociologist Ryan Burge reported Thursday on X.

By contrast, he added, “liberals who have low attendance are the most likely to have a diagnosis.”

[Book review] The other half of church: Christian community, brain science, and overcoming spiritual stagnation
Lots of churches in the Global North are cerebral, shaped by the impact of the Enlightenment on culture. Other churches (non-white, Global South) are often more ‘spiritual,’ prayerful, and expectant. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all learn from each other’s strengths and find more common ground? It’s just possible that this book could help us do that.

Does Your Church Have a Discipleship Culture? How to Cultivate It
Discipling others is essential to ministry. As one pastor well explains, “Churches don’t need programs so much as they need cultures of discipling, cultures where each member prioritizes the spiritual health of others.”1

But if this is the case, how can a church build that culture of discipleship?