I was reading a press release for a new book this morning.  It was pretty sensationalistic.  I have no idea if the book is good or not, but here are the statistics that they gave, giving George Barna full credit for this research.  Here’s what the press release said: In case you hadn’t noticed, the church is in serious trouble. Consider the following facts: Church attendance is declining at the rate of 13% per year. In 2005 the number of Americans who identified themselves as Protestant dropped below 50% for the first time. At the current rate, a majority of Americans will identify...

The nation’s churches have a weight problem. In one study of some 5,500 women and men ages 45 to 84, participants were more likely to be obese the more religiously active they were. Each step of the way, from those never attending worship to those attending weekly, greater religious activity was associated with significantly higher rates of obesity. The integral role food plays in many religious rituals and social functions and a desire not to stigmatize overweight members are among the reasons researchers offer for this anomaly in findings related to religion and health. The only sermons that...

Stop arguing theology and lead people to Jesus. That’s Dan Reiland’s opening line of a great post about whether we should argue theology, or shut up and get to work leading people to Christ.  Dan writes: Is this dangerous theological minimalism or wise practical leadership? It’s easy to say that it’s possibly or probably both. But that doesn’t get at the real tension. I think the tension resides in why we argue and whether or not we lead people to Jesus. You can read Dan’s thoughts on both here: Arguing Theology | Dan Reiland. The question of the day is:  What do you think?...

Wow… things are getting even more interesting in the Crystal Cathedral settlement. Last week, I did a post on churches and pastors that just don’t get it.  This could very well be part 2. Everything’s coming down to a judge’s determination this week (it was supposed to be yesterday, but has now been postponed until Thursday) as to what happens to the Cathedral.  It will either go with a local college or the Catholic Diocese.  It’s all up to the judge. But what was interesting to me yesterday was what was written about in the Orange Country Register. Evidently, Robert...

A church in Centralia, Washington, lost nearly $7,000 from its weekly collections recently when a staff member accidentally left the bag containing the collected funds on top of her car and headed to the bank.Fortunately, a man driving in this small community located about an hour south of Tacoma spotted the bag and picked it up. The man told KomoNews.com, which reported on the incident, he contacted the church and returned the funds because an honest mother and son returned his lost wallet some 40 years earlier. via Managing Your Church: Safely Depositing Weekly...