Blog Archives

The stress of the movable Sabbath

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Alan Rudnick — No Comments ↓

Someone at church once asked me, “When is your day off?” I replied, “Friday.” “Wow.” He said. “I wish I could have Friday’s off. Must be nice.” “Well, I don’t get many Sundays off. That must be nice to have…

Tagged with: Alan Rudnick, Christianity, Church, churches, congregation, Facebook, Formation, leadership, ministry, Relationships, Sabbath, Sabbath rest, spiritual formation, Spiritual Practice, stress', Sunday, worship
Posted in Health & Wholeness, Leadership, Mental Health, Spiritual Formation

The Church Draft

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Alan Rudnick — No Comments ↓

As millions of football fans will undoubtedly will be glued to their televisions and social media, they will hunger for the latest information about NFL draft picks. The NFL draft is part pageantry and part celebration for football teams and their…

Tagged with: Alan Rudnick, church draft, community, congregations, dialogue, Formation, leadership, Missional churches, Relationships, the church draft
Posted in Blog Posts, Leadership

My Boston take-aways

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Nell Green — No Comments ↓

These posts are truly difficult to write; partly because if you want to be real then you have to confess some things and partly because events such as occurred last week are not easy to process. I am not sure…

Tagged with: Boston, cross cultural, dialogue, immigrant, Immigration, interfaith, internationals, Islam, missional, refugees, Relationships, terrorists
Posted in Ministry, Missions, Social Issues

When ‘religious’ isn’t religious

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Alan Rudnick — 1 Comment ↓

As I started my daily read of newspapers, I was shocked (well, disappointed) to learn that our region was one of the least religious regions in America. A new Gallup poll found that, “Only 26 percent of those surveyed in…

Tagged with: Alan Rudnick, Christianity, Church, churches, congregation, faith, missional, Relationships, religion, religious, religious nones, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality
Posted in Religion

Poll: Most Americans feel connected to local church

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Alan Rudnick — No Comments ↓

In an age where cries from denominations about declining membership and church participation, a new poll offers some encouraging news on American’s feelings towards their congregation. A Rasmussen poll found that 54% of American adults feel at least “somewhat connected” to their local…

Tagged with: Alan Rudnick, Christianity, Church, Church Leadership, community, congregation, congregations, faith, Formation, leadership, ministry, missional, outreach, Politics, Relationships, spiritual formation, Spiritual Practice
Posted in Leadership

Would you wear a hijab for a day?

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Nell Green — No Comments ↓

February 1st was World Hijab Day. For those of you who might not know, hijab is the head covering worn by some Muslim women. The idea was to invite women who do not hijab, both Muslim and women of other…

Tagged with: dialogue, faith, hijab, immigrant, interfaith, internationals, Islam, missional, Relationships
Posted in Blog Posts, Education, Faithful Living, Ministry, Missiology, Missions, Religion, Social Issues

Legacy

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Ircel Harrison — No Comments ↓

As the president of the United States enters into his second term, there is much discussion among the “talking heads” about legacy. What will President Obama seek to do that will assure that he is remembered in the years to…

Tagged with: congregations, Relationships, spiritual formation
Posted in Faithful Living

Music fills the air

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Tommy Deal — 1 Comment ↓

Music is the universal language. Music is prevalent during this festive time of year. Music is imperative for a soul to really “sing.” Music is very much a part of my family. Melodies and harmonies abound around a family who…

Tagged with: congregation, faith, interfaith, ministry, Relationships, Spiritual Practice, worship
Posted in Faithful Living, Ministry, Music, Religion, Social Issues, Worship

Mumford & Sons sing of grace and life

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Darrell Gwaltney — 1 Comment ↓

I have been listening to Mumford & Sons’ new album Babel. Its deep biblical allusions and challenging lyrics about relationships and redemption invite repeated listenings. There’s enough in the album to keep my attention for a while. Two songs in particular have…

Tagged with: Babel, Broken Crown, Ghosts that we knew, Grace, Isaiah, Marcus Mumford, Mumford and Sons, Relationships
Posted in Music, Theology

Middle-aged youth

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Peggy Haymes — No Comments ↓

When the mother of a lifelong friend died, we came to pay our respects. As sometimes happens, the post-service family visitation became an impromptu youth group reunion. Great hugs and greetings were exchanged as we reconnected with some of those…

Tagged with: acceptance, Anchor Club, belonging, Christianity, Church, churches, community, congregation, high school, Relationships, Youth, youth group, youth ministry
Posted in Health & Wholeness

How Evangelicals can lead the way now

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Alan Rudnick — 8 Comments ↓

After the 2012 elections, Franklin Graham stated on CNN that our nation is on a “path of destruction” due to the 2012 election results. In addition Graham said, “If we are allowed to go down this road in the path…

Tagged with: Alan Rudnick, Barack Obama, change, congregation, dialogue, faith, Franklin Graham, missional, path of destruction, Politics, Relationships
Posted in Leadership, Public Policy

Worship wars are about distance not style

Posted on November 13, 2012 by George Bullard — No Comments ↓

I continue to hear of worship wars and rumors of worship wars. If you are still battling worship wars in your congregation, you may be in conflict over the wrong issue. Worship wars are not really about the style of…

Tagged with: change, Church, churches, conflict, congregation, congregations, contemporary worship, distance, emergent worship, George Bullard, postmodern, Relationships, style, traditional worship, worship, worship wars
Posted in Ministry

Subject: Fwd., Fwd., Fwd., Fwd., Fwd.,

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Nell Green — 4 Comments ↓

In general I don’t like emails that have been forwarded a dozen times. However, I do usually have a look at what I have been sent unless I have reason to suspicion a virus or such. Why take the time?…

Tagged with: dialogue, interfaith, internationals, Islam, love, missional, Relationships, social media
Posted in Missions

Why the “nones” are leaving church, but not God

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Alan Rudnick — 1 Comment ↓

It should make any established American denomination panic: the dramatic increase in number of Americans leaving organized religion. In 2007, the percentage of the religious unaffiliated was around 15% and now that number is around 20% according to a new…

Tagged with: congregation, faith, Formation, missional, Relationships, spiritual formation, Spiritual Practice, trends in church decline
Posted in Missiology, Spiritual Formation, Theology