church as abbey
People don't need to go to church. At least that's how the majority of people in America act. Less than 18% of the population attends church on any given Sunday. In the U.S. we are chasing downhill Europe's church attendance rate of 7%
church as abbey
In the gift economy, information wants to be free. So, here are the latest freebies I've run across that are both free and excellent. The new Neue Quarterly will be out soon, and my article "Remembering Why You Said Yes" is in this issue. You can
Community
We do a community VBS with 4 other small churches in our community -- 2 Baptist, 2 United Methodist, and 1 Presbyterian. This year we're using Group Publishing's Crocodile Dock. Here are some photos of the week so far:
Creativity
Over at Harvard Business's online blog, Umair Haque launches a blistering attack on Wonga, a UK payday lender that charges 2,689% annual interest! In other words, a $100 loan paid back a year later will cost the borrower $2,689. Incredibly, Haque points out that three venture
church as abbey
In all the conversation about churches and change, one particular topic seems to be the unmentioned gorilla in the room -- clergy pay. By clergy pay, I mean what most of us had in mind when we went to seminary -- "I'll get this great theological education
Creativity
You may have seen this YouTube video, but watch it again. Susan Boyle, frumpy, unemployed, 47-year old church worker is the new media darling from Britain's version of American Idol, called Britain's Got Talent. Unfortunately, YouTube has deactivated the embed feature for all of these videos,
Congregation
"Students don't want to serve in the local church when they graduate; they want to do something more exciting." -- Southern Baptist seminary administrator A prominent seminary administrator made that comment to me several weeks ago. I've been rolling it around in my head
Creativity
"People today are going to stay connected forever," says Jeff Jarvis. Jarvis, journalism professor and author of What Would Google Do? made that observation in a talk to Google employees recently. Jarvis's point is that Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Plaxo, FriendFeed, Twitter, Flickr, and a host of
Congregation
Jeff Jarvis, journalism guru and author of What Would Google Do? quoted from my post The Future of Churches: A Network of Niches. Needless to say, I'm honored and thrilled. Jarvis is one of the prophetic voices who warned of the decline of newspapers when everyone else was
Community
In their new book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and The Churches That Reach Them, Ed Stetzer, Richie Stanley, and Jason Hayes provide a comprehensive analysis of who the eighteen-to-twenty-somethings are and what churches are doing to reach them. Ed outlines the purpose of the book by saying --
Creativity
USA Today tells how one church turned its altar into a boxing ring, giving a whole new meaning to the term "church fight." New Life Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota set up the ring complete with ropes and corner posts, and staged a tae kwon do bout
Creativity
If you want to bring your church blog into the mobile world for free, here's how. I talked to a representative from 2ergo.com today. 2ergo provides a mobile platform for high profile mobile content providers like music companies, celebrities, large corporations, and other big users. Of course,