At a time when more than three billion people worldwide live without access to a local church, International Cooperating Ministries is inviting Christians to help bridge that gap. The Virginia-based missions organization, which has helped construct more than 13,600 permanent church buildings in 110 countries, recently launched its new Community Impact Partners program.
Read More(ANALYSIS) For decades, one name was ubiquitous in American evangelical homes: Focus on the Family. A media empire with millions of listeners and readers, its messages about parenting, marriage and politics seemed to reach every conservative Christian church and school. And one man’s name was nearly synonymous with Focus on the Family: James Dobson.
Read MoreIt helps to remember that this Lutheran denomination has lost roughly half of its members during the last 50 years and insiders have suggested that it may die by 2050.
Read MorePastors have a lot of thoughts about discipleship, but they aren’t sure it’s happening in their churches. In the first part of the State of Discipleship study from Lifeway Research, U.S. Protestant pastors shared their understanding of what discipleship means and how it best occurs. The full State of Discipleship will be released over the next year, providing the perspectives of both pastors and churchgoers.
Read MoreJames Dobson, a politically influential conservative and anti-abortion activist who founded the Christian ministry Focus on the Family, died on Thursday at the age of 89. Dobson started Focus on the Family in 1977, which had more than 1,000 employees at its peak in the mid-90s, giving him the chance to influence legislation and White House policy for decades.
Read MoreThe lead pastor of Central Bible Church in Fort Worth, Texas, has resigned after confessing to a “pattern of moral failure,” according to an announcement posted earlier this month on the church’s website. While the announcement is now deleted, the text of it is still visible on Google’s search page.
Read More(OPINION) Back in 2023, I wrote that I was “both frustrated and mesmerized” by the first season of this docuseries. “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” was a behind-the-scenes story of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their children, the stars of the TLC hit television series “19 and Counting” and a number of spin-offs.
Read MoreFew pastors leave the pulpit each year, but those who do mostly say it was a personal decision. According to a Lifeway Research study of former senior pastors in four Protestant denominations who stepped down before retirement age, four in five (81%) felt sure during most of their ministry at their last church that they could stay there as long as they wanted.
Read MoreAs students head back to the classroom, they’re likely to see the impact of local churches in their schools this year. A Lifeway Research study found that four in five U.S. Protestant pastors identify at least one way their congregations have engaged with local public schools in the last year. Only 18% of churches say they weren’t involved with area schools.
Read MoreA Houston pastor released from prison has returned to lead the church he helped build. Kirbyjon Caldwell, pastor of 14,000-member Windsor Village Church, returned to the church’s stage to lead worship on Aug. 3. It marked his first time attending services since he was released from prison last year.
Read MoreLiberty Counsel has filed the opening brief to seek dismissal of a wrongful termination case brought by a former Liberty University employee who hid his steps to transition and identify as a female during the hiring process.
Read MoreOver the last 42 years, tens of thousands of Gospel conversations have taken place during the annual Brazil mission trip, thousands upon thousands of professions of faith have been heard, and as of last month, 75 churches have been built.
Read More(ANALYSIS) PCA folks, it’s your moment — few denominations punch above their weight online like you do. Here’s why.
Read MoreBrent Leatherwood has resigned as president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, ending nearly nine years of service that began in 2017 as director of strategic partnerships. The ERLC Board of Trustees accepted Leatherwood’s resignation in a called meeting Thursday in Nashville, gratefully noting his character and achievements in the role he began in 2021 in an acting capacity before becoming president in 2022.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Nearly five million travelers visit Yellowstone National Park each year, most in the summer months. They come for the geysers, wildlife, scenery and recreational activities such as hiking, fishing and photography. However, few realize that religion has been part of Yellowstone’s appeal throughout the park’s history.
Read MoreAs the U.S. prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary next year, another significant institution hits that milestone this week. The Army Chaplains Corps formed on July 29, 1775, at the behest of the Second Continental Congress and the request of General George Washington. The Navy Chaplains Corps would follow in November of that same year.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Unless a federal court challenge succeeds, American clergy are now free to endorse political candidates in sermons during worship. The Internal Revenue Service has just erased the pulpit prohibition that for 71 years was among conditions to obtain federal tax exemption on income and donor gifts. The impact is tough to predict.
Read MoreThis regular school day at the Professor Humberto González School Center would have been impossible four years ago. The neighborhood surrounding the campus used to be the grounds of a turf war between the MS-13 and 18th Street gangs. The student body, which once numbered 1,200, dropped to about 50
Read MoreWhile there are likely numerous theological differences between evangelical, Catholic and Black Protestant pastors, they share core convictions that aren’t as common among mainline pastors.
Read MoreWorking nine to five doesn’t cut it for many pastors. Neither does working strictly at one church. The National Survey of Religious Leaders (NSRL) report revealed 35 percent of all clergy in the U.S. serve bivocationally, holding an additional job outside of their congregational ministry.
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