“I Love You. Love, God”
The Bible is a lot like the love messages parents receive from their children, Pastor Keith Anderson of Upper Dublin Lutheran Church says in a new YouTube video. “The Bible can be a messy, complicated, confusing book, but at the heart of the Bible is this message: ‘I love you. Love, God.” Short, direct video messages of inspiration can be easily shared via social media, and are easy for “wired” congregation members to share in their social circles. Read more 
What if the kids don’t want our church?
In the Huffington Post, Derek Penwell writes that many young adults don’t want the “treasures” that their parents/grandparents have been accumulating for them. The trend applies to the church as well, he says. He writes that “churches with massive overhead invested in things like church buildings, denominational infrastructures, functional church organizational models…are awakening to the fact that the generations that are supposed to be taking the institutional baton are showing very little interest in grabbing for it.” Read more
State of the Plate: Rise in e-Giving
A recent report by American Public Media’s “Marketplace Money” explored the growth of electronic giving options for churches as more and more people “go cashless” — especially younger adults. One expert who studies church giving trends reports that about 40% of congregations now use some kind of electronic giving. Has your church tried any kind of online or electronic giving? How’s it working? Please let us know your experience leaving a comment below or contacting us by email.
Beer and Hymns
“There is something very cool about singing Beautiful Savior, Amazing Grace, and A Mighty Fortress in a pub,” Pastor Keith Anderson of Upper Dublin Lutheran Church writes in his blog about the experience of UDLC’s first “Beer and Hymns” evening. “Sure, its partly the novelty of it, but it also worshipful, spiritual, intimate, fun, great outreach, and an affirmation of God’s presence in our daily lives – in all the places we gather, including pubs.” Read more
“I Am Doing A New Thing”
With all of the challenges the 21st Century Church faces to be a vital and relevant Gospel witness in word, worship, and service, how do we clean out the ecclesiastical attics and the basements and the drawers and closets to make room for the Good News of Jesus Christ and to clear away the clutter that may make seeing Gods activity difficult? Watch Part 1 of Bishop Burkat’s reflection on Isaiah 43:18-19, which asks us to reflect on which inherited gifts need to be honored and affirmed in our tradition, which gifts our congregation has to share with the Church, and what might get in the way of new people coming to our churches. Read more
Bible Study Explores God’s New Thing
Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? — Isaiah 43:18-19
Explore God’s promise of hope and renewal expressed by the Prophet Isaiah in a bible study based on Bishop Burkat’s presentation at last fall’s “God Is Doing Something New” conference events. This bible study, suitable for council retreats, small groups or ongoing bible study groups, will help you look at what central traditions need to be honored in your congregation as well as what “former things” might be clouding the view of what God is doing right now. Read more
Encouraging Education
What is the “new thing” that you have perceived God doing?
Going back to college and furthering my education.
How are you cooperating with God in this activity? How can other Christians and
congregations help?
My congregation supports me going back to college. Read more
What I Can Do to Make a Difference
What is the “new thing” that you have perceived God doing?
Helping me to broaden my reaching out to others. Making me increasingly aware of many things (little and big) I can do to make a difference to others and give them renewed hope and faith.
How are you cooperating with God in this activity? How can other Christians and congregations help?
I am trying to listen to my heart more and my ego less. Other Christians help me get on track or stay on track AND forgive me when I come up short. Read more
Gutenberg and Google
Over at the Hacking Christianity blog there are notes on a conversation with Leonard Sweet about his idea that the language of the world — and thus the Church — is shifting from Gutenberg to Google. He offers three key questions to reflect on how your church is connecting to the culture:
- How is your church learning the language of the culture?
- How is your ministry context connecting with the images and narratives of the culture?
- How do you retain the Gutenberg generation while reaching the Google generation?
Young Christians Leaving Church…and Rethinking Faith
The alarming church dropout rate for youth leaving high school is less about young people losing their faith and driven by their alienation from church participation and their search to connect faith with the world they live in, according to new research from The Barna Group.
In “You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving Church…And Rethinking Faith”, Barna’s David Kinnaman notes that “most young people with a Christian background are dropping out of conventional church involvement, not losing their faith.” (Read: Five Myths about Young Adult Church Dropouts). His research shows that about 3 in 10 young Christians stay involved with the church through college and young adulthood (although the ELCA has reported lower figures). Read more
“SBNR” – A Starting Point?
Amy Thompson Sevimli, assistant to the bishop in the ELCA’s Metro DC Synod, writes at Call & Response that people’s identification as “spiritual but not religious” can be a starting point for faith-filled conversation, if we listen first:
I firmly believe that the best way we can connect people with God in Christ — and with the way we worship that God in church — is by first listening to their spiritual story and only then telling our own. Often, they are more willing to listen to us than we are to them, usually not bored by us but fascinated by our faith and our willingness to give voice to it in a day when many are not. Spiritual but not religious is not an impediment to that conversation but an invitation if we are willing to accept it.
Preparation For New Pastor
What is the “new thing” that you have perceived God doing?
God is guiding us to examine our congregation’s strengths and weaknesses, needs, mission and goals for the future; He is preparing us for a new Pastor.
How are you cooperating with God in this activity? How can other Christians and
congregations help?
We value and embrace the support of the Synod to keep us focused on God’s mission. We
are engaging in activities of self-examination, introspection and discernment. Read more
Five Cultural Shifts You Should Pay Attention To
Over at Duke Divinity School’s Faith and Leadership blog, Presbyterian pastor Carol Howard Merritt writes about some trends that church leaders should be paying attention to, particularly in relation to younger (emerging) generations. Her top five:
- Younger generations aren’t faring well in this economy. How do we handle money/debt/success, and are giving expectations realistic for them.
- Young workers often don’t have the choice to take Sunday off. Do we have opportunities for them to engage in community and worship at other times? Read more
Goodbye, Hello
What is the “new thing” that you have perceived God doing?
Saying goodbye to the “old” pastor and entering a transition to a “new” one.
How are you cooperating with God in this activity? How can other Christians and congregations help?
I’m the “old” one leaving. I will pray for them. Other congregations can pray for them. Read more
On seeing God
The challenge is to preach a gospel that is livable, believable, and life-giving. Perhaps that is the most simple criterion by which we can discern Jesus’ teaching. It is always a call to death but is always life-giving in the long run. When you see life being created between people and within people, you see God. Where you see God, you will always see freedom. Restraint and passion—that is the paradoxical experience of the Holy. It takes time to learn. You grow into the ability to love another in a way that totally gives yourself and entrusts yourself and yet respects that person and stands back.
– Fr. Richard Rohr