Author: Administrador

According to a Lifeway Research survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors sponsored by Exponential: 21 percent of churches have fewer than 50 people attending Sunday services 35 percent of churches have 50 to 99 people attending Sunday services 32 percent of churches have 100 to 249 people attending Sunday services 11 percent of churches have 250 … Continue reading “Are American Churches Growing?”

By Rob Hurtgen I used to dread going on hospital visitation. None of my training in college or seminary prepared me for that aspect of ministry. (To be fair to the great institutions I received my education from, I didn’t expect to be pastoring, so my training didn’t include pastoral care components.) When I first … Continue reading “3 Objectives in Hospital Visitation”

4 Priorities for Building a Pro-Life Community By Daryl Crouch News articles, white papers, policy debates, political campaigns, legislation, and even court rulings often feel like distant debates among strangers. That changes, however, when an abortion provider decides to open next door. Suddenly, the call to love our neighbors as ourselves becomes more than a … Continue reading “When Planned Parenthood Comes to Town”

Chris Butler, pastor of Chicago Embassy Church, leads a prayer walk through his community. By Aaron Earls The tax exemption for ministers’ housing allowances gained more legal backing last week. On Friday, March 15, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the pastors’ housing allowance, unanimously reversing a lower court ruling that … Continue reading “Court Rules in Favor of Pastors’ Housing Allowance”

By Caleb Brown Our culture is asking ecological questions. Indeed, many of the heartfelt debates in our country center on the relationship between humans and the rest of God’s creation. We know the Bible isn’t a science textbook. However, it speaks to ecological issues by teaching about the right relationship between humans and the natural … Continue reading “How Should the Church Treat Ecological Issues?”

Burak K photo – Pexels By Aaron Wilson Paradox: A seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which, when investigated, may prove to be well founded or true. –The Oxford Dictionary As a Christian who trusts in the infallibility of Scripture, I believe the Bible is 100 percent trustworthy and without error. However, God’s Word … Continue reading “14 Biblical Paradoxes Every Christian Should Know”

By Matt Henslee My journey into the ministry came at age 16 when I helped start a contemporary worship service at another church near my home church in Grand Prairie, Texas. For a variety of reasons, it was an eye-opening experience. At 18, I moved out and began pursuing my Bachelor of Arts at Dallas … Continue reading “Why an M.Div. Helped Me Become a Better Pastor”

Gift Habeshaw photo – Freely By Adelle Banks African-American young adults are more likely than their white counterparts to drop out of Protestant churches during their early adult years, new research shows. But equal percentages of black and white young adults say they currently attend services regularly. A new analysis of survey data released by Lifeway Research found … Continue reading “African-Americans More Likely to Drop Out of Church as Young Adults”

James Walsh photo – Unsplash By Maina Mwuara Born and raised in the heart of the Bible Belt, Vance Pitman never imagined he’d be ministering in “Sin City,” but that’s exactly where God led him. A mission-minded pastor, Pitman had been doing ministry in the South. As he read Scripture one morning—Luke 4, to be … Continue reading “3 Keys to Ministry Outside the Bible Belt”

By Luke Holmes How many sermons has your congregation heard? Quick math reveals more than 7,000 sermons have been preached from the pulpit at my church. Over the last seventy years, that accounts for two sermons a week—one on Sunday morning and one on Sunday night. There’ve been a few closures for weather, but not … Continue reading “3 Ways to Overcome Baggage When Preaching”