Wednesday's Catch: 'The silent faith crisis no one in the Church is talking about' And More

Former St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church, Chattanooga, TN,
Sold to Catholic Diocese of Knoxville

VOICES: The silent faith crisis no one in the Church is talking about
There is a shift taking place that the Church cannot ignore.

Recent research from the 2025 State of Discipleship: Living Unashamed™ Survey (Lifeway Research), a national study of 2,130 Protestant churchgoers conducted in March 2025, reveals a sobering pattern in Christian witness and daily discipleship.

ACC Members Doubtful About Nairobi-Cairo Proposals
Anglican Consultative Council members seemed largely skeptical about recommendations for altering a venerable description of the Anglican Communion proposed by its faith and order body during presentations from table groups on June 30, the third day of meetings for ACC-19 in Belfast.

Also See: ACC scrutinizes, raises concerns about proposed changes to Anglican Communion structures

Why Christians Should Defend the Separation of Church and State
On June 26th, the Trump Administration's Religious Liberty Commission released a draft report calling for a reexamination of the traditional understanding of separation between church and state. The report argues that religion and government should be viewed as partners rather than distinct institutions and recommends expanding the role of religious expression within public life and government institutions. Supporters see these proposals as necessary protections for religious freedom.

Others, however, have expressed serious concerns. They warn that when government begins treating religion as an essential partner rather than maintaining neutrality among faiths, the rights of religious minorities, dissenting Christians, and nonreligious citizens become more vulnerable. History repeatedly demonstrates that when governments become closely aligned with a dominant religious tradition, those outside that tradition often find their freedoms diminished.

Those who express strong reservations in regards to the positions the commission has taken have history on their side. The centuries-old conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the Mid-East, the Hindu persecution of Christians in India, the Buddhist persecution of Christians in Nepal, and the Russian government's restrictions on Baptists and other non-Russian Orthodox religious groups also show that their concerns are not grounded solely on what happened in the past.

Should Churches Celebrate July 4th?
The smell of charcoal drifts down the block, flags line the porches, and somewhere a pastor is staring at a worship plan wondering how much of Independence Day belongs inside the sanctuary. It is one of the few holidays with no built-in Christian meaning. Christmas has a manger and Easter has an empty tomb. The Fourth of July has fireworks and a founding, and neither one preaches itself into a worship service.The smell of charcoal drifts down the block, flags line the porches, and somewhere a pastor is staring at a worship plan wondering how much of Independence Day belongs inside the sanctuary. It is one of the few holidays with no built-in Christian meaning. Christmas has a manger and Easter has an empty tomb. The Fourth of July has fireworks and a founding, and neither one preaches itself into a worship service.

That gap is exactly why the question keeps returning every summer. Godly, thoughtful leaders land in very different places on it, and most of them can defend their choice with Scripture. If you skip this decision, the calendar makes it for you. So it is worth naming the options plainly and choosing on purpose.

The FAQs: SCOTUS Says States May Reserve Women’s Sports for Biological Females
What just happened?

On June 30, 2026, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in two cases, West Virginia v. B. P. J. and Little v. Hecox, involving state laws that designate athletic teams by biological sex. By a vote of 6–3 on the Equal Protection question, the court held that states may bar biological males who identify as female from competing on women’s and girls’ teams.

As Justice Kavanaugh wrote for the majority, “Consistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the States may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex.”

Matthew Vines sets off a debate over what it means to be ‘queer’

One of the leading apologists for gay Christians has created a firestorm of controversy among Christians in the LGBTQ community with a column published in The New York Times June 30.

Matthew Vines is the author of the op-ed headlined, “I’m Gay, Not Queer. It Matters.” He rose to national attention a decade ago with publication of his bestselling book, God and the Gay Christian. From there, he launched The Reformation Project, which provides resources for Christians who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender and their family members.

2026 LGBT-Affirming Christian Denomination Report
Which US Christian denominations have the most affirming congregations in 2026?

PCUSA votes clergy monogamy overture out of order, refers for further study: 'Moral chaos'
A committee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) recently voted that a controversial overture to mandate monogamy among ordained clergy is out of order, but referred it for further study. CON-10, formerly OVT-044 and titled "On Requiring Ministers of Word and Sacrament to Be Monogamous," was referred last Wednesday by a 45–12 vote of the PCUSA's Constitutional Interpretation Committee to the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, according to The Presbyterian Outlook.

PCUSA sees membership drop by nearly 27,000, loss of 128 churches: report
Presbyterian Church (USA), the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States, lost over 26,000 members and 128 congregations in 2025, according to a new report.

A "Narrative Summary" of statistics released ahead of the PCUSA's 227th General Assembly was emailed to The Christian Post on Monday, showing a decline of 26,845 members from 2024 to 2025, with the denomination’s official membership number being 1,019,003 by the end of last year.

12 Common Misconceptions About God, Morality, and Salvation
Walk into almost any church on a Sunday and you will find people who love God, read their Bibles, and still believe things the Bible flatly denies. That is not a guess. National surveys of American Christians keep turning up the same pattern. People affirm one biblical truth in one breath and contradict it in the next.

The LifeWay Research and Ligonier Ministries State of Theology survey has tracked these beliefs for more than a decade, and the most recent wave polled roughly 3,000 U.S. adults. The findings are striking. Many self-identified evangelicals hold views that cut against the core of historic Christian teaching. Scott McConnell, who directs LifeWay Research, has summed up the problem simply: most people are comfortable holding beliefs that do not fit together.

Here are twelve of the most common misconceptions, why each one matters, and what Scripture actually teaches. If you lead a church, the last section is the part you will want to keep.

Want the foundation first? Start with this primer on salvation by grace through faith, then work through the list below.

The Sermon on the Mount as the Archway to the Christian Life
All Christians must pass through the archway of the Sermon on the Mount. But as history shows, there are many ways to approach these gates. In this article, then, I want to lay out what I understand to be a traditional pathway to the Sermon, so that readers might see Jesus’s words as summoning us upon his Way (John 14:6) as followers of the way (Acts 9:2).

11 Traits of a Foolish Pastor (and How To Avoid Them)
Most pastors never set out to become a fool. It happens slowly, one ignored correction at a time. Proverbs does not picture a fool as a harmless clown. It pictures someone unwise, unteachable, proud, and blind to the very flaw everyone else can see. We are told to step around that person, not argue with him, and think hard before handing him responsibility.

So here is the uncomfortable question. Can a pastor act like a fool? After decades in ministry and years coaching other leaders, I believe the answer is yes. The good news is that foolishness is a pattern, and patterns can be broken. Read these traits not as a list to throw at someone else, but as a mirror.

Also See: The Secret Pain of Pastors: 6 Hidden Struggles

Truth in Love: A Ministry Leader’s Guide to Compassionate Candor
Practiced in dependence on the Holy Spirit, Compassionate Candor is an act of obedience for us and an avenue of growth for those we lead.

You don’t want to be internet famous
I don’t want to be internet famous. But I know how to do it. It’s easy:

1. Play to an algorithm.

2. See step 1.

3. Repeat.

If you think I’m oversimplifying, I’m really not. This is what it takes. More than anything else, you have to pay attention to what the algorithm on your chosen platform rewards—what incites engagement—and act accordingly. And what does it reward most consistently? Anger. Rage. Hostility. These things the Bible calls “works of the flesh” (Gal. 5:19–21).

Anger, especially, moves fast. It is a high arousal emotion that immediately triggers our flight or flight responses. So if we want to be famous, all it takes is pulling that trigger.

How children learn to be good
Richard Weissbourd and Kiran Bhai are part of the leadership team at Making Caring Common, a Harvard Ed School initiative focused on making moral and social development a priority in child-raising. In this article, they answer this question:

Can we become better people—more caring, generous, honest, and just?

Christian missionaries find new frontier in VRChat
'As crazy as it sounds, God used virtual reality to call someone into that space to lay out the gospel in its fullness,' said Stewart Freeman, a former heavy VRChat user who rediscovered his faith through virtual reality.

Mission-minded Christians, those who take Jesus' command to make disciples of all people groups with the seriousness it warrants know they must go to these groups. They are not going to come to us no matter how welcoming we may think ourselves or the signs we erect in front of our churches.

Image Credit: FoodPantries.Org