What, if anything, helps Americans grow in their faith? When Barna Group asked, people offered a variety of answers—prayer, family or friends, reading the Bible, having children—but church did not even crack the top-10 list.
A closed church offered an opportunity for a new (old) style of church to arise. Weekend Edition on
The Diocese of Virginia looks at five churches that have experienced growth in the past five to seven years and asked “How have these communities not only survived but even thrived during a time when many are struggling?”
As the church continues to struggle the growth of the Spiritual-but-Nonreligious, Christian Century looks at how this impacts weddings. Traditionally, weddings have, til lately, been
Bishop Jon Bruno, Bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles, ordained Scott Claasen in a laundromat. Claasen was sponsored by Thad’s, an experimental community of
What might happen if your church never gets another member. Thoughts from Derek Penwell at
…the fastest-growing category seems to be that of the “spiritual but not religious”–people who have a sense of connection with a higher power and want to share it with others, without signing up to formal rules or beliefs. Generally, religion seems to do best at the extremes: either rigorously conservative or free and easy.
Believing that the ways of academic specilization and business-style management is leaving the church bereft, the Dean and faculty of General Seminary are embarking on an experiment to integrate theological education with the daily, lived experience of the church. They are calling this exploration “The Way of Wisdom.”
We hear a lot about how our congregations are not museums, but congregations can learn from some small local history museums near Boston have reinvented themselves, creating sustainable institutions that are going against two decades of decline for museums nationwide.