Saturday Lagniappe: 'Gen Z and Belonging to the Church' And More

Gen Z and Belonging to the Church
Is the attraction to Christianity consumerism, a desire for superficial belonging, or something else?

The Hyper-Traditionalist Movement in Church Architecture (Is Anyone Really Building Churches This Way?)
Sam interviews Todd Brown and Isaac Brown of Brown Church Development Group. A growing number of church leaders, architects, and donors are reconsidering what sacred space should look like. In this episode, we explore the rise of the hyper-traditionalist movement in church architecture—a revival of classical, Gothic, Romanesque, Byzantine, and other historic styles that aim to communicate permanence, beauty, and theological depth. While this movement is still niche in North America, it is more than an aesthetic preference. It reflects a broader conviction that church buildings should feel unmistakably sacred rather than utilitarian or disposable.

When a church caters to the aesthetics of a few and puts form before function in the construction of a sanctuary or worship center, the result is not only a more expensive building but one that ill-suited to the needs of a 21st century congregation. Despite the claims of "if you build it, they will come," architectural evangelism is an ineffective means of evangelism.

These houses of worship are older than America. How they outlasted wars, schisms and lawsuits.
Only about 1% of houses of worship in the U.S. today existed in 1776. Here are four that predate the revolution — and still hold services.

Protesters Stormed a Church. Now States Are Criminalizing Worship Disruptions.
The large protest that erupted inside a Minnesota church earlier this year led to high-profile arrests and federal charges. Another byproduct? Tougher legislation.

At least seven states have been debating bills that increase penalties for people who enter churches unlawfully to disrupt worship services and harass congregants or pastors. So far, four states and one New York county have enacted such laws, which critics say infringe on free speech and expression.

Archbishop Duncan named Interim Bishop of the Western Gulf Coast
The ACNA's College of Bishops at a meeting on Thursday, May 21st opted not to elect a Bishop Ordinary for the Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast and named former Archbishop Bob Duncan as Interim Bishop for a period of not more than a year, during which time it is hoped the diocese will settle on a replacement for retiring Bishop Clark Lowenfield.

Speaker says God "raised up" Trump to build White House ballroom, sparking online backlash
A preacher’s comments claiming that God “raised up” Donald Trump to build a ballroom at the White House have sparked widespread reactions online. The remarks were made by preacher Eric Metaxas during a nine-hour prayer festival where he discussed Trump and a proposed ballroom addition connected to the White House complex. Clips of the statement quickly circulated across social media platforms, triggering both criticism and support from viewers.

Architect reveals how to cool your home without AC this summe
As heatwaves become more intense and widespread, staying cool indoors is shifting from a comfort issue to a health priority.

In recent weeks, millions of people across the US have been placed under extreme heat warnings, with forecasters describing some events as “once-in-a-century” heatwaves. Temperatures across parts of the Northeast have surged into the triple digits, while experts have warned that a developing “super El Niño” could make future summers even hotter and more difficult to manage.

Taking these measures may reduce the need for air conditioning but they will not eliminate its need during periods of dangerous heat!

The largest US groundwater supply is running out
The largest underground water supply in the United States—responsible for sustaining a vast share of the nation’s farming—is steadily running dry, raising concerns about future food production and price volatility as supplies come under strain.

The Ogallala Aquifer, which lies beneath eight Great Plains states from South Dakota to Texas, provides roughly 30 percent of the groundwater used for irrigation in the U.S. and supports around a fifth of the country’s agricultural output.

Entire month of rain falls in US desert city in 2 days
Albuquerque has recorded more than two months’ worth of its average rainfall in May, an unusually wet stretch for a city that typically sees limited precipitation at this time of year.

The high amount of rain comes at a time when rainfall is typically lower, weeks before the monsoon season gets underway. The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Albuquerque warned of showers and thunderstorms several times earlier this week, and at times, rainfall was heavy enough to prompt flash flood warnings across the forecast region. Because Albuquerque sits in a high desert environment, rainfall often runs off quickly over hard, dry ground, making even brief storms capable of triggering dangerous flash flooding and underscoring the need for residents to stay alert during heavy rain.

Unseasonal heavy rain is not absorbed by the ground and does not replenish local aquifers. When it occurs for an extended period, it can not only cause flash flooding in dry gullies and dangerously high water in rivers and streams but it can seriously damage local agriculture--causing soil erosion, delaying planting of crops, and waterlogging existing crops causing plants to rot in the field.

Research paper warns that there’s a massive experiment at work to geoengineer the Earth’s climate The idea of manually tampering with our atmosphere to combat climate change, such as by seeding clouds with reflective particles to dim the Sun, remains extremely controversial. These acts of geoengineering could deliver us from climate doom, the thinking goes, or backfire spectacularly in ways we never anticipated — which is why scientists are proceeding with caution.

Also See: A climate fix with a hidden catch: Cutting methane reshapes ozone layer's comeback in unexpected ways

Antarctica is hiding a terrifying secret. It could put the world at risk.
Understanding sea level rise is complicated. A team of scientists working with the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes its best estimates using the most up-to-date understanding of glacier and ice shelf dynamics, but as past studies have shown, these features are being pushed to a point never before witnessed. As a result, understanding the behavior of these complicated natural systems is far from simple.

Also See: Sensitivity of Antarctic ice to climate change sharply increased after ice age shift, study shows; Bare supercontinent may have tipped ancient Earth into 'snowball' phase

A Theology (Not Ideology) of Creation Care
We have been charged to care for God’s creation. To be stewards of all that God has made and entrusted to us. Since the Industrial Revolution, we have been able to do more care for creation than ever before, as well as more harm.

That harm has ramifications that border on the nightmarish, and no one is more affected than the poorest of the poor. No matter what you may think is behind it all – natural causes, human causes, or both – that creation is suffering in unprecedented ways is without dispute.

Can Agentic AI Pastor Your Church
Churches and seminaries are facing a new challenge: the automation of pastoral work through agentic AI. Unlike generative tools such as ChatGPT or Gemini, agentic AI doesn’t wait for weekly prompts. Ask your AI agent once to prepare Sunday sermons by a certain day and time, and that’s it. The agent works around the clock and notifies you when the manuscript is ready for review.

OpenClaw, for example, enables your AI agent to live on your own hardware. It’s able to scan every file—from notes and meeting minutes to photos, texts, and emails—to craft sermons from the raw material of your life. Earlier AI tools could produce solid general content. Agentic AI goes further: It personalizes that content, drawing from recent congregational events and your own experiences for illustrations, and your people’s felt needs for application points. It can sound more like you than you do.

This isn’t a distant scenario. It’s here. And it raises serious challenges for preaching and pastoral ministry. Here are four.

The people who actually want AI to replace humanity
“I want AI to be a tool that allows human flourishing!” exclaimed Brad Carson, a former member of Congress. “There is an option out there where AI is just a tool for us.”

This is a normal thing to say in most circles. But Carson was speaking at an invite-only symposium dedicated to the idea of creating a “Worthy Successor” — an AI so impressive, so beyond the mere human, that we’d actually want it to replace humanity.

Also See: Top AI models showing disturbing behavior as they become more advanced; Humanity may reach singularity within just 4 years, trend shows

Trump order endorses plan to halve vaccines recommended for children
An executive order signed by Donald Trump with little fanfare on Friday could have a huge impact on the health of US children, as it instructs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to cut the number of recommended childhood vaccines almost in half.

The vague language of the order, which refers to “a scientific assessment that compared United States childhood immunization recommendations with those of peer nations” published in January by anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy’s health and human services department, does not explicitly state that the new recommendation removes vaccines against seven diseases from the schedule.

5 Keys To Open Up Faith-Building at Home
Today’s parents come with a wide variety of home-life circumstances. Church leaders need these five keys to open up faith-building at home. Use these tools to understand today’s parents. Then, help your parents pass on their faith to their children.