Tuesday's Catch: 'What Percent of a Church Budget Should Personnel Costs Be?' And More

What Percent of a Church Budget Should Personnel Costs Be?
Jess and Thom discuss the often-asked question about personnel costs in churches. Though there are guidelines, there is no simple answer.

Also See: When Personnel Costs Are Too High

What Everyone Gets Wrong About the Unchurched - Webinar Replay
The recent changes in the unchurched population in the United States are significant. In their recently held webinar, Thom and Sam Rainer shared the top five insights about the unchurched that you may not be aware of. They presented valuable research highlighting the demographic shifts among those who rarely or never attend religious services. If you missed the live event, don’t worry! You can still catch up by watching the replay. Discover the essential insights every church leader needs to know. You can also download the slide show.

Also See: What Everyone Gets Wrong About the Unchurched - Webinar Slides

People Meet the Vision You Set—Not the One You Hide
Aaron Graham is leading a $37 million building campaign with 900 people and explains exactly how to inspire people to give to something much bigger than themselves.

We also cover what it’s like to be held hostage by an enemy army at ten years old, how to unite a congregation in a divided world, and how to tackle cultural lies.

MAGA evangelicals think they've found their post-Trump savior
Evangelicals think that they've found their next great hope as they gear up for the 2028 presidential election.

Journalist Sarah Posner penned a report addressing the new chatter about Mike Huckabee as the new heir of the MAGA evangelicals to regain influence in the Republican Party after Trump has largely placated them.

European farmers face 'unprecedented crisis' after successive heatwaves
Successive intense heatwaves and an increasingly severe, continent-wide drought have left many of Europe’s farmers in an “unprecedented” crisis, with vegetable and grain growers in particular warning of “catastrophic” harvests.

The United States is also experiencing drought and heatwaves on top of aquifer depletion, agricultural labor shortages, rising fuel prices, and soil deterioration. We are also seeing an uptick of food-borne diseases.

Hidden Martyrs of the Faith
The 19th century evangelical bishop J. C. Ryle wrote once that “The last day will prove that some of the holiest men that ever lived are hardly known”. This is very true. While there were 16 heroes in the Bible explicitly mentioned by name in Hebrews 11, the overwhelming number of believers in the Bible, who contributed to the Kingdom of God, have been lesser-known saints.

The Shape of the Catechism
Ever since its 1549 first edition, the Book of Common Prayer has included a catechism. After half a century, the catechism received a significant addition, but otherwise it stood almost unchanged in prayer books around the Anglican Communion for more than four hundred years.

This classic Anglican catechism is very short. It has 25 questions, and in its original form, only 13 questions. Longer catechisms are in vogue now, with catechisms of more than 100 questions (Episcopal Church) and 368 questions (Anglican Church in North America), not to mention the behemoth that is The Catechism of the Catholic Church. The classic Anglican catechism is smaller than Luther’s Small, and shorter than the Westminster Shorter.

Slop, Slop, Beautiful Slop
I know. I know. Truly smarter people have already written about this. I’m also late to the conversation. I didn’t think I needed to join it. But sadly, the slop marches on. I’m seeing AI so frequently that I am worried that the problem is with me. I’m the crazy one. I must be seeing it where it isn’t. Right? But no, things really are that bad.

The era of literal AI book-chomping has begun
Here is an update on a story you may not yet have heard of. It manages to be at once fascinating, deeply disturbing and a perfect living metaphor of our age...

Also See: AI Companies Are Buying—And Destroying—Antique Books. Here’s Why.

'Ominous': Nearly a quarter of kids chronically absent from school
Nearly a quarter of U.S. students were chronically absent from school last year in what researchers called an “ominous” trend for the education system.

In 2025, 22.6 percent of students missed 10 percent or more of the school year, the American Enterprise Institute found.

Serve your children by inviting them to serve in church
As we know from Scripture, actions must follow God’s Word. Believers do not contribute merit to their salvation by obeying the Lord. Rather, living out the Christian life is a natural outpouring of the Holy Spirit’s work within our hearts. Our lives and how we conduct ourselves must be soaked in the words and actions of Jesus Christ.

The Carpool Question I Pray Every Kid Keeps Asking
Writing in 1947, Dorothy Sayers said that from a young age, kids should learn the “grammar of theology”; they should “become acquainted with the story of God and Man in outline—i.e., the Old and New Testament presented as parts of a single narrative of Creation, Rebellion, and Redemption—and also with the [Apostle’s] Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments.” Even if our kids don’t know those last three items by heart, most evangelical parents follow Sayers’ advice.

We teach our kids the Bible’s basic storyline and give them a clear Christian vision of faith, devotion and ethical living. Yet while teaching our kids these basics, have we also taught them how to use this “grammar” as a grid for interpreting and evaluating the confusing messages they hear in today’s world?