The Barna report released this week (“Americans Open to Exploring New Ways of Experiencing God”) suggests that Americans are more and more inclined to find and practice faith outside the structures and context of traditional churches. The report verifies what many churches have already suspected and experienced. The report can be understood better by surveying …
Continue reading “Small Groups, House Churches, Simple Churches”
A new Barna report out this week documents and explains what many churches already know and are experiencing. Finding and practicing religion through traditional churches is less and less popular in our country. Our society and culture is in a time of individual personal exploration, with “new approaches to marriage, communications, sexuality, education, and more”, including how people …
Continue reading “Barna: Americans Open to Exploring New Faith Approaches”
We have been observing for at least two decades that Christianity is being pushed to the fringes of our society and culture. Beginning as early as the publication of Newbigin’s Foolishness to the Greeks, the removal of Christianity from the public sphere to the private has been observed and documented. One result of the privatization …
I have heard speculation recently that the economic downturn is increasing the interest of the American population in religion (in a way parallel to the increase observed after 9/11). A new study released this week by Gallup (March 23, 2009) shows that church attendance and the importance of religion in our daily lives has not …
Continue reading “Recession Doesn’t Change Church Attendance”
Just in case you are among the few readers who visit this blog but don’t check the website, let me call your attention to two recently published articles. It’s Not Working! asks how the church must reinvent its ministry model and methods to stem the recent decline and refresh the spirit of evangelism and mission. …
[Today, I share my ‘bits from bob’ article from last week’s church bulletin.] In the church of Jesus Christ, the gifts of God are in glorious view. The church is made up of many members. In the church is made obvious that every Christian has gifts. These gifts are to be used for the wellbeing …
Continue reading “Church: Where the Gifts of God Come into View”
Several readers have commented on the need for a website upgrade at the church. I am glad to report that the upgrade is almost complete, with a new design and fresh (and constantly updated) information. If you have not dropped by recently, I encourage you to click the link below, visit us again, and take …
Are you carefully watching the spiritual elements in our world? Have you seen the way Christianity is shifting and spreading, morphing into something that we have never seen before? Have you considered what is happening in our world spiritually? Are you observing of what God is doing? If so, it will come as no surprise …
I see an increasing number of articles that are asking important and hard questions about our self-understandings and self-identity as Christians. Answering these questions is essential in the task of being the missional, evangelistic body God intends. I am pleased that we as a brotherhood are thinking again about what we mean when we use …
Continue reading “church, Church, big C, little c, who are we?”
We had visitors yesterday. I like visitors–Nevada, West Virginia, Texas, our own community…. Our college students were home for fall break. The visitors help make up for the travelers. It is easy to become bored with the sameness of church week after week. Progress is not always evident. Sometimes it seems we experience the proverbial …
