We are awfully late to this party, but fortunately, it is still in full swing. Father Matthew Moretz’s You Tube ministry is among the most creative evangelism and formation efforts under way in the Episcopal Church. Visit him here.
St. Columba’s was undergoing revival in those days, seeing tremendous growth in worship attendance, music ministry, outreach, mission, education, and spiritual formation – much like St. Michael’s is today. I joined the choir there – my mother took classes and was received into the Episcopal Church – and for the rest of my childhood we spent most of our quality time associated with parish life in one form or another.
There are plenty of anecdotal stories about hostile responses to any attempt to talk about Christian faith on today’s college campuses. There are also stories about how that sort of conversation is gratefully received by students. Which view, hostile or grateful, is right?
Tom Ehrich sees opportunity where others have voiced frustration when looking at the results of the recent Pew survey on Religion and Public Life. If people are seeking and moving from church to church, rather than bemoan the fact, we should be getting prepared for those who are going to be coming.
Some thoughts on the Pew Survey: It is not particularly news to me that America’s life of faith is defined by fluidity. All I have to do is look out from the pulpit every Sunday. In my own parish, I have four basic groups of parishioners: people who used to be Catholic, people who used to be Lutheran and people who used to be something else. Oh, I almost forgot, the fourth group of people are the ones who grew up and remain Episcopalian.
Theology on Tap is a Catholic program that’s been around for over a quarter century, and in Boston, the lecture series is becoming increasingly popular. Several churches take turns sponsoring the event at various bars around town; most recently, Church of the Advent, an Episcopal church on Beacon Hill, sponsored the event at Cheers as part of its “Portraits of Jesus” series.
“It came out of this observation that we have so many people in the neighborhood who are dog owners,” says The Rev. Sandra Castillo, rector at the Episcopal Church of the Advent and La Iglesia Episcopal de Nuestra Senora de las Americas. “We thought this might be a good way to reach out.”
Almost three-quarters of Americans who haven’t darkened the door of a church in the last six months think it is “full of hypocrites,” and even more of them consider Christianity to be more about organized religion than about loving God and people, according to a new survey. Almost half those surveyed–44 percent–agreed that “Christians get on my nerves.”
The Episcopal missionary work among asian people began more than a century ago in the western parts of the United States. Over the years the
Christian Research (UK) wants non-Christians to assess the churches because, in common with increasing numbers of church leaders, the organisation wishes to find out what does and does not work for the reluctant churchgoer. Christian Research is working with ShipofFools to promote the project.