Posts in Christianity
Most Pastors Lead Small Congregations, But Most Attend A Large Church

When thinking about the number of people attending their church each week, the experience of the average pastor is vastly different from that of the average churchgoer. The most recent Faith Communities Today study revealed seven in 10 U.S. congregations have 100 or fewer weekly service attendees. The average U.S. congregation sees 65 people gather each week.

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Why Are Christian influencers Promoting Mezuzahs?

(ANALYSIS) There’s a new TikTok trend for Christian influencers: Gluing a small, rectangular box with a scroll inside, marked with a cross, that observers can nail to their door frames. Available to buy on TikTok shop, the boxes — called “Grace Marks” — come in gray-marbled white as well as a “terrazzo” confetti-flecked version.

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On Religion: There’s More To Catholic Liturgy Wars Than The Latin Mass

(ANALYSIS) So far, Pope Leo XIV has not addressed ongoing debates about restrictions on use of the Tridentine Mass, often called the “traditional Latin Mass.” Bishops around the world have been pulled into these battles after the 2021 release of the Pope Francis apostolic letter “Traditionis Custodes (Guardians of Tradition).”

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‘Destroyed By Modernization’: Medieval Berlin’s Diverse Religious Roots Unearthed

Berlin faces growing intolerance of immigrants and their religions, especially Muslim Arabs from countries like Turkey and Syria. right-wing extremist political parties like the Alternative for Germany echo Nazi talking points and pine for a homogenous, white and Christian society. History, however, shows that such a time never existed.

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‘The Ritual’ A Refreshingly Earnest (If Unoriginal) Return To The Exorcism Genre

(REVIEW) “The Ritual” is a movie you’ve seen many times before. But the story is clearly powerful enough that it is worth retelling. Hopefully, filmmakers will start figuring out how to tell these stories in new and different ways. In the meantime, we have movies like “The Ritual” and can always rewatch a classic such as “The Exorcist” again.

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Saving Faith With Help From Social Enterprise

(ANALYSIS) Houses of worship need social enterprise now more than ever. Churches, synagogues and other houses of worship are facing a dire situation. Up to 100,000 U.S. houses of worship may close over the next decade.  The percentage of Americans belonging to a faith institution has plummeted from 70% to 47% over one generation with no sign of abating.

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Is Egypt’s Government Trying To Take Over Christianity's Most Important Monastery?

(ANALYSIS) Much of the Christian world, especially the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, have been roiled by reports that an Egyptian court has mandated that St. Catherine's Monastery be taken over by the government. This issue is especially explosive because St. Catherine's is arguably Christianity's most important monastery — but the situation also appears to be complex.

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2024 Election Post-Mortem: Latter-Day Saints

(ANALYSIS) I’ve written about this before, but it’s worth repeating here: Whenever I tweet a graph that contains a couple of the largest religious groups (evangelicals, Catholics, nonreligious), the first question that comes in the comments is inevitably, “Where are the Latter-day Saints?”

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More Ministry Leaders Expect Negative Impact By Trump Administration Policies

About 27% of Christian ministry leaders told MinistryWatch they believe the Trump administration’s policies will have a negative impact on the organization they lead or the work they do. This is an increase from 19% who gave the same answer in our January survey.

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Pope Leo XIV Is American: Does That Matter?

How will Leo’s formative three decades in the United States before life in Peru and Rome shape his church of 1.4 billion souls? Yes, the cardinals must be thinking an American could solve the Holy See’s $98 million annual deficit, severely underfunded pensions, and declining donations. They may also hope his solid administrative experience might tame the curia, the Vatican’s notoriously Italianate “deep state.”

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Special Report: Amid Decline, Clergy Reimagine A Future Through Connection

Your view of the health of American Christian congregations and of their clergy may very much depends on the angle taken: Up from the orchestra or looking down from the balcony. One thing seems evident: In a country in which Christian affiliation has declined (though there are signs it has stabilized) many Catholic and Protestant clergy face significant challenges.

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Streaming Killed Attention Spans And Community: Is Faith Next?

(ANALYSIS) Across America, a growing number of people of all ages are communing with the Holy Spirit via their smartphones and laptops. Once the stuff of pews and pulpits, faith now flows through fiber optics. It’s convenient, sure. No parking, no crowds, no early wake-ups. But is it really church? The answer appears to be no — a resounding no.

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The Drop In Religious Participation May Have Stabilized — For Now

(OPINION) Reading all about the decline of religion, I always find myself pondering the mystery of faith itself. Where does faith come from? Why do some people have it and others don’t? Why do some abandon it and others hold fast despite ill winds?

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2024 Election Post-Mortem: Black Americans, Religion and the Vote

(ANALYSIS) The Black church in America is an entirely different culture than the average White evangelical or mainline tradition. Anyone who has attended a worship service in a Black church tradition knows that to be true. But beyond a difference in worship styles, there are many ways that the Black church should be considered its own category.

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When It Comes To Giving, Baby Boomers Remain Most Generous

There may be more than one reason Generation X is dubbed the Forgotten Generation. According to a Giving USA survey, they are being surpassed by their younger counterparts — millennials — when it comes to charitable giving. However, baby boomers surpass everyone.

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Crossroads Podcast: Screens, Sanity And Spiritual Silence In Our Kids

The bottom line: At some point, parents in traditional forms of faith are going to have to teach their children — the younger the better — that their their home is different from those in which many of their friends are being raised. That can be tough sledding, but these hard topics Will. Not. Go. Away.

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⚾️ ‘New Pope, New Me’: Devout Catholic Baseball Star Finds His Hitting Groove 🔌

Texas Rangers slugger Jake Burger’s return to form coincided with the election of a fellow Midwesterner as the first U.S.-born pope. Faith is ingrained in the devout Catholic athlete and his family.

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How African Churches Are Shaping Western Christianity From Lagos To London

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Christianity flowed from Europe and North America to Africa, often carried by missionaries. But in the 21st century, the pattern has reversed. African-led churches are now sending their own missionaries abroad, and many are planting churches in many former colonial capitals.

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Why Do Our Bibles Keep Changing?

(ANALYSIS) There are two reasons, translations and texts, both of which have cropped up in the news of religion this year. The venerable King James Version (KJV) appeared without changes over centuries. Today, experts continually reconsider the best available evidence to improve our English Bibles.

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On Religion: The Collapse Of The Anglican Church In Canada

(ANALYSIS) In the year of our Lord 1967, the Anglican Church of Canada had 1,218,666 members and 272,400 worshippers on a typical Sunday. In a recent report, the church found 294,382 members on parish rolls and 58,871 people attending Sunday worship services. It has been decades since Anglicanism was a dominant form of Christianity in Canada.

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