11 November is St Martin’s Day, or Martinmas, which recalls a former soldier who pursued peace, and also Armistice Day, when the First World War ended. This is the story...
What Warren Bird’s Latest Research Reveals About Large & Multi-Site Churches
Dr. Warren Bird joins Phil Taylor and Tyler Drebits to discuss decades of research into the trends shaping churches in America. Warren shares his journey from pastor and church planter to researcher and author, including the unexpected opportunities that led to a writing career spanning 35 books.
The conversation focuses on Warren’s latest research into multisite churches and large churches. He shares findings about the continued growth of multisite, the increasing importance of small groups, post-pandemic attendance and spiritual vitality, and the challenges churches face around campus leadership, video teaching, succession, and organizational structure.
Emptier Pews, Fatter Mitres
Mainline denominations are dying, and the Episcopal Church is dying faster than most. Its pews are emptying, its parishes are closing, and its dioceses are merging to keep the lights on. Yet one line in the budget continues to climb. The bishops are getting raises.
It is a paradox to end all paradoxes. Men and women who believe little of the faith once for all delivered to the saints, who have no gospel to proclaim and no converts to show for it, are being rewarded as if they were running growing enterprises. In the church's largest dioceses, the median bishop now draws a compensation package of $291,569 a year. The President of the United States is paid $400,000. The bishop of a declining diocese now sits barely $108,000 short of the man who commands the most powerful nation on earth.
If there is a stench in the sanctuary, it is not coming from the candles.
None of the five Episcopal churches in the Jackson Purchase, the westernmost region of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, have a settled rector. When I moved to the region more than two decades ago, Grace, Paducah had a rector AND an assistant rector, St. John's, Murray, a rector, and St. Peter's of the Lakes, a priest in charge. Grace's assistant rector served as vicar for Trinity, Fulton, and St. Paul's, Hickman. Grace's most recent rector left mid-2026. The assistant rector position at Grace was eliminated sometime earlier. St. John's has been priestless for almost two years or longer. Now all these five churches must depend upon the sacramental ministry of supply priests, often retired priests from the neighboring Diocese of West Tennessee and not their own Diocese of Kentucky.Southwell Minster exposes difficult reality of funding a historic cathedral
Following the news that Southwell Minster faces closure unless it can find £20 million in funding, a representative of Association of English Cathedrals (AEC) has said that grandiose architecture can sometimes hide the difficult reality of funding these historic monuments.
The midterms showed that ideology isn't enough. The religious left should take note.
The MAGA movement woefully underestimated how much more relevant the cost of ground beef is than feeling theologically superior to the so-called ‘godless Democrats.’
The Church’s Role in a Political Swing
Dr. Dontá McGilvery reflects on the political shifts witnessed during the 2026 midterm elections and recent elections around the world. Drawing on his experience as a Poll Chaplain, he considers how churches can respond to global interconnectedness, changing demographics, and political uncertainty through spiritual discernment and a renewed commitment to loving their neighbors.
What Can We Do to Care for and Honor the Elderly in Our Churches?
This is an absolutely vital consideration for every Christian. It will test, I believe, whether we truly are a whole-life pro-life community in a way that we have not been tested before because we’re looking at a phenomenon called the “graying of America.” What’s happening is that in a typical population, you would experience a pyramid when it comes to age distribution. You have a few people who are elderly at the top and a lot of young people as you go down. But what we’re finding is called the rectangularization of that distribution. By the year 2035 in the United States, it’s predicted that there will be more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18.
Why You Need to Stop Trying to Control the Narrative (with Lysa TerKeurst)
You keep rescuing people who never asked to be saved, and calling it ministry. Lysa TerKeurst joins me to unpack why control so often disguises itself as concern, why you should stop trying to control the narrative, and how to know when your desire to control has gone toxic.
Lies Pastors are Tempted to Tell – And How to Resist Them
No one wants bad news. So we're tempted to downplay the negatives, upsell the positives and call it faith.
Leaving Well: 5 Ways to Prepare Your Church for Pastoral Transition
A pastor can make the pastoral transition healthier by thinking carefully about these key issues when preparing to leave.
Why Your Favorite Worship Song’s Grammar Matters
The question we should ask of our worship songs is not simply whether they make accurate statements about God. We should also ask what they enable the gathered church to say and do before God. A song may proclaim God’s holiness, confess our sin, cry out for mercy, or teach us to delight in God’s presence. These are not merely different lyrical themes. They are different theological actions.
Christian worship requires the full grammar of the church’s response to God. We need proclamation and petition, confession and adoration, lament and thanksgiving, the corporate “we” and the personal “I.” At its best, contemporary praise music contributes an indispensable register of direct, affective address.
The church should also, however, recover its biblical foundations in the Psalter and expand its range. The problem with contemporary praise music is not that it says “I” too often. It may be that its “I” is not yet capacious enough.
LGB identification falls sharply among US teenage girls
New data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that fewer younger teenagers are identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual, with the steepest decline occurring among ninth-grade girls, prompting debate over what may be driving the change.
3 Reasons You Should Not Date While Watching Porn
Several years ago, Brent joined our accountability group. We liked him immediately. He was energetic, funny, and insightful, yet he was regularly watching porn.
After a few weeks in the group, Brent cheerfully told us that he was talking to a girl and planning on asking her out. He was met with silence. After a moment or two, we told him that he was not ready to date.
Here are the three reasons we told Brent he should not date while he was still watching pornography.
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