For about two decades, a polished Sunday experience could fill seats. Hire a tight band, invest in production, land a charismatic communicator, and the people would come. That formula worked. And then, quietly, it stopped.
This is not an argument against excellence. Churches that gather people should gather them well. But across the church landscape today, something is shifting in ways that lights and haze machines cannot fix. The question worth asking is not how to become cooler. It is what comes after cool.
5 Dangerous Ways Churches Convince Themselves They’re Growing
The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. Making it clear with your leaders what is really happening in your church is the first step to creating an impact in your community. I’ve seen many church leaders try to convince themselves and their people that they are growing, which is dangerous because then you won’t be motivated to change or do what is needed to reach the people God is calling you towards. Let’s be honest…do you sense that you’re trying to convince yourself you’re growing when you really aren’t?.
Why Members Leave Their Church and Never Come Back
In this episode, Thom and Sam explore one of the most sobering questions church leaders face: Why do formerly active members quietly disappear for good? After years of research with people who once attended faithfully but haven’t returned to any church for at least two years, clear patterns emerge. Most departures aren’t dramatic or theological. They’re gradual.
Most people cooperate—and underestimate others' willingness to cooperate, global study reveals
The study "Homo cooperans: Understanding the nature of human cooperation" arrives at a clear result: 69% of study participants chose to cooperate. At the same time, the study published in the journal Science shows that people systematically underestimate the willingness of others to cooperate.
BWIM puts up a billboard in Orlando
Messengers to next week’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting who arrive in Orlando by plane will be greeted by a surprising billboard on their drive from the airport to the convention center.
Baptist Women in Ministry has purchased space on a billboard on Beachline Expressway near the intersection of Sand Lake Road — the most likely path for conventiongoers to take.
The billboard’s message: “God calls women to pastor, preach and minister. Matthew 28:8, Acts 2:17-18.”
This is not an argument against excellence. Churches that gather people should gather them well. But across the church landscape today, something is shifting in ways that lights and haze machines cannot fix. The question worth asking is not how to become cooler. It is what comes after cool.
5 Dangerous Ways Churches Convince Themselves They’re Growing
The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. Making it clear with your leaders what is really happening in your church is the first step to creating an impact in your community. I’ve seen many church leaders try to convince themselves and their people that they are growing, which is dangerous because then you won’t be motivated to change or do what is needed to reach the people God is calling you towards. Let’s be honest…do you sense that you’re trying to convince yourself you’re growing when you really aren’t?.
Why Members Leave Their Church and Never Come Back
In this episode, Thom and Sam explore one of the most sobering questions church leaders face: Why do formerly active members quietly disappear for good? After years of research with people who once attended faithfully but haven’t returned to any church for at least two years, clear patterns emerge. Most departures aren’t dramatic or theological. They’re gradual.
Most people cooperate—and underestimate others' willingness to cooperate, global study reveals
The study "Homo cooperans: Understanding the nature of human cooperation" arrives at a clear result: 69% of study participants chose to cooperate. At the same time, the study published in the journal Science shows that people systematically underestimate the willingness of others to cooperate.
BWIM puts up a billboard in Orlando
Messengers to next week’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting who arrive in Orlando by plane will be greeted by a surprising billboard on their drive from the airport to the convention center.
Baptist Women in Ministry has purchased space on a billboard on Beachline Expressway near the intersection of Sand Lake Road — the most likely path for conventiongoers to take.
The billboard’s message: “God calls women to pastor, preach and minister. Matthew 28:8, Acts 2:17-18.”
Also See: The way we wereWhy evangelicals should oppose the new farm bill's Save Our Bacon Act
Evangelicals have largely forgotten past generations of evangelicals who not only fought against the slave trade and inhumane working conditions but also against animal cruelty.
"The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel." Proverbs 12:10 NLTIowa megachurch warns property permit denial could impact ministry in at-risk community
An Iowa city has rejected a request from a multisite megachurch to relocate its original campus to a former bank building. Church leaders say the decision could ultimately force the congregation to leave the neighborhood it has served for years.
The Waterloo Board of Adjustment voted 4-0 last week to reject a special-use permit for Hope City Church, a congregation of about 3,600 members, that would have allowed it to move into a former Wells Fargo building.
Zoning codes, municipal redevelopment plans, and unfriendly boards, commissions, and councils can be significant obstacles for new church plants as well assisting churches. Annualconferences and dioceses selling off vacant church buildings for secular use compounds this problem.Christian Idolatry? Evaluating Bethel Church and Bill Johnson
On June 14, 2025, Vance Boelter (allegedly) stalked and murdered Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and wounded Senator John Hoffman and Yvette, his wife.1 In the days immediately following the shooting, David French wrote an article in The New York Times titled “The Problem of the Christian Assassin.” In the piece, French broadly hints that Boelter, who attended the Christ for All Nations Institute in the 90s, is an “evangelical Christian” who belonged to the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). “Boelter,” French wrote, “wasn’t just a political assassin; he was a Christian assassin — and a person deeply connected to one of America’s most radical religious movements.”2 But is the NAR really an “evangelical Christian” movement?
NAR might be thought of as a “loose” affiliation of churches and organizations that share common doctrines and styles of worship. The vanguard of the NAR is Bethel Church in Redding, California, led by the charismatic (in both senses of the word) pastor, Bill Johnson, who has stretched Bethel’s influence over the entire globe through the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM).3
When You’re Too Weird to Lead
I’ve noticed that there are moments in church life when a man can feel the importance of a task before him and at the same time, think himself inadequate.
I know those moments well, because I experience them often.
In leaked document, Microsoft plots how to get people addicted to its AI
Some copywriter at Microsoft is getting a real stern talking to.
In an internal document obtained by 404 Media, the tech giant let slip that it wants to “make people addicted” to its new personal assistant AI agent, Scout — an alarming admission, given that AI companies have tirelessly fought against the criticism that they design their models to be as engaging as possible, to the point of being psychologically harmful and fueling mental health crises.
Some of what happens during youth can’t be reversed. It’s another reason to rethink kids’ screen time
Kara Alaimo is a professor of communication at Fairleigh Dickinson University and advises parents, students and teachers on how to manage screen time. Her book “Over the Influence: Why Social Media Is Toxic for Women and Girls — And How We Can Take It Back” was published in 2024.
Need another reason not to give your kid screens? It may permanently alter their brains, according to a new paper that reviewed and reported on current literature.
3 Ways To Make Life Easier for Your VBS Volunteers
From Group’s vacation Bible school editors, check out these 3 ways to make life easier for your VBS volunteers!
Also See: 3 Ways to Treat VBS Volunteers Like VIPsVirtue Signalling in the Church
Is it possible for a Christian to be more concerned about the appearance of godliness in their own lives, rather than the existence of it? To sound like they love God, but deep down actually fear man? To talk of virtuous deeds yet be substantially empty of them? I am living proof that the answer to those questions is yes. The worst part is, I find myself obsessed with projecting virtue not just in the secular spaces in which I operate, but in the stomping ground of my local church. The one place where virtue ought to be developed in a real and substantive way has instead become a home for shallow and performative signalling. Rather than being a place of willingly obscure sacrifice, it has devolved into a venue for not-so-subtle humble-bragging.
It is not unusual from a psycho-social perspective for human beings to have a different persona, or social self, for different sets of circumstances, a mask by which they conceal their real self. They may act one way with friends on a Friday night and another way with members of their church on Sunday morning. Being a disciple of Jesus entails acting the same way in whatever set of circumstances we find ourselves, that is, acting in accordance with Jesus' teaching and example.What does your invite to the community look like?
At Upward Sports, we understand the importance of community! We also understand that each church is unique in their approach.
Our desire is to come alongside your church to advance your mission, reach families in your city, and promote Jesus through the avenue of sports. Together, we will customize the best sports experience for your church, strengthening your outreach efforts.
Upward Sports is one of the sponsors of Rainer on Leadership and Church Answers podcasts.
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