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| St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Manitou Springs, Colorado, Closed March 6, 2025 |
Church of England attendance has grown for a fifth year in a row, according to an early snapshot of official figures published today.
Last year, Church of England congregations were attended by an estimated 1.023 million regular worshippers. In 2019, before the outbreak of the pandemic, regular worshippers stood at 1.11 million.
St. Paul’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church Faces New Deadlines From OC
St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Ocean City says it is facing new deadlines from the Town of Ocean City, demanding that its indoor shelter cease operations by June 8.
New York Man Sentenced to Prison for Hate Crime against Episcopal Rector
A 32-year-old New York man has been sentenced to one-and-one-third to four years in prison for stalking and threatening an Episcopal priest in what prosecutors described as an anti-LGBTQ hate crime.
Goat herd feasts on Michigan church’s invasive plants
For almost a century, cartoons have depicted goats as animals that will eat anything. In Walt Disney’s 1928 animated short “Steamboat Willie,” for example, a goat eats Minnie Mouse’s guitar and sheet music. In Sony Pictures Animation’s 2026 full-length movie “GOAT,” the protagonist, a pygmy goat named Will Harris, eats an unopened tin can of nuts.
Goats cannot, in fact, eat just anything, but as foragers that prefer a varied diet of brush over pastures, they’re great for controlling invasive plant species. That’s why St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Romeo, Michigan, hired a herd of goats to munch on poison ivy, honeysuckle, shrubs, vines, thorns and other plants that have colonized its nearly 11-acre property.
Anglicans and the Abuja Contradiction
The Abuja Affirmation marks the end of an era. The third largest Christian communion, Anglicanism (behind only Catholicism and Orthodoxy), has splintered. While its demise has been a drawn-out affair, the church has reached an inflection point. A crisis of authority has existed for over fifty years, a crisis that conservative Anglicans had long sought to resolve by returning Anglicanism to its scriptural roots. At a meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, this March, bishops from around the communion declared that the crisis had been resolved; the authority of the Scriptures had been restored. Their announcement was triumphant. But it contradicted reality.
Also See: Analysis: The Abuja "Contradiction" That Isn'tHere’s what’s different about clergy sexual abuse claims in UMC
One of the most consequential rulings on clergy sexual abuse in the entire history of American jurisprudence has received virtually no media attention. Its defendant? The United Methodist Church.
In a 2024 ruling in Chestnut v. United Methodist Church, the Second Department of the New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division held that the UMC is not a “jural entity” and thus cannot be sued in a court of law.
Synod study group calls for greater role for laity in the selection of bishops
The study group’s recommendations are practical and easy to implement. They could be quickly adopted in the United States.
A Christian nation? At 250, America is still fighting over what that means
Historians say American history is more Christian than secular advocates claim — and less religious than Christian nationalists would have us believe. A look at the contested history of America as a Christian nation.
Also See: Religious freedom is for Christians only, says Jenna EllisThe Coming Baby Boomer Cliff: What Happens in Churches When They Are Gone?
Just a reminder. Don't miss this free webinar on May 14th at 1:00 PM EST. Register today.
Checklist: 9 Legal and Compliance Issues Every Church Should Review Annually
This annual church legal checklist is designed to help church leaders identify governance weaknesses, compliance gaps, and emerging legal risks before they escalate.
How to Stay Human in an AI World
If you think of social media as the drug fueling individualism, then with AI, that drug’s addictive nature has been made significantly more potent, like digital heroin.
Counter-Catechesis for Kids: Adapting ‘The Gospel Way Catechism’ for Gen Alpha
Catechisms are making a comeback. I hear regularly from pastors and church leaders who are interested in this question-and-answer method of Christian formation, both for children and adults. In a world with so many competing messages flowing to us through the endless scroll, we need the truth of the Christian faith to be pressed into our hearts.
5 Ways to Mobilize Your Church to Pray for Summer Camp
Churches that intentionally challenge their people to pray provide church-wide prayer support that impacts every moment of camp.
Churchgoers Look to Join With Others in Their Discipleship Walk
Churchgoers are getting better at building and deepening relationships within their congregations, but it’s still not a strength.
The Missing Reformed Doctrine for Spiritual Formation
Have you had the experience of feeling like your prayers simply bounced off the ceiling? Or your Scripture reading ceased to feel as meaningful as it once did? Have you looked back at seasons that felt like lush gardens of excitement, passion, and zeal for the things of God—but now feel more like you’re in the desert, spiritually barren, dry, and lifeless?
You might be surprised to know that the doctrine of spiritual desertion was a standard teaching of Protestant spiritual theology for centuries. Spiritual desertion is God’s act to lead his people into experiencing his absence to awaken them to the truth of how sinful and broken they truly are.
Spiritually burned out? Tish Harrison Warren and some ancient monks have advice.
Dealing with a sense of burnout and the weariness of modern life, author Tish Harrison Warren found help in the words of long-dead Christian mystics.
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