Category: Christian news

Amid all the moves and changes of the past two years, many congregations saw turnover accelerate. Houston Northwest Church suffered heavy damage from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. By the time its flooded facilities were finally rebuilt a couple years ago, the congregation was only back at full capacity for six weeks before services were shut down by the pandemic. As the church endured one setback after another, senior pastor Steve Bezner has seen the flock ebb and flow. “About a third of... Read More

Even with recent divides in congregations, survey finds high levels of satisfaction among churchgoers. At a time when pastors feel particularly under pressure, here’s some good news from the pews: Evangelical churchgoers are pretty happy with how things are going at their churches. Most don’t think the sermons are too long; if anything, they’d like to see more in-depth teaching from leaders. They aren’t bothered by too many messages about giving. They don’t... Read More

Why Christians should support our government staying out of religious affairs. This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsletter. Subscribe here. Last week an old video resurfaced on Twitter in which John MacArthur, pastor of Los Angeles’s Grace Community Church, announced he did not support religious freedom. In the clip, MacArthur argued that supporting religious freedom promotes idolatry and enables the kingdom of darkness—that “religious freedom is what sends... Read More

Amid ongoing turmoil in national health system, orthopedic surgeon practices “practical Christianity.” Tongai Chitsamatanga just finished treating an 8-year-old with dislocated hips, two children with bone infections, and another two with clubfoot. It’s hard work, requiring great patience and greater skill. The 41-year-old doctor could be earning a lot more for his expertise at his old hospitals in Oxford and Derby, United Kingdom. But instead he is here, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in... Read More

Gallup survey found involvement in religious service dropped again in 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing many churches and ministries to rethink how they recruit, train, and maintain the fleet of volunteers they need. Volunteering for religious organizations dropped during the first year of the pandemic, when in-person services were canceled and outreach events were put on hold, and has continued to decline. According to Gallup, 35 percent of Americans reported volunteering for a... Read More

As general superintendent, he brought women and minorities into leadership, added “compassion” to the denomination’s constitution, and set ambitious goals for church planting. Assemblies of God leader George O. Wood, who encouraged expansive growth in the Pentecostal denomination through a commitment to diversity, conservative doctrine, and church planting, has died at the age of 80. Wood served as general superintendent of the General Council of Assemblies of God from 2007 to 2017. In... Read More

The trend toward secular memorials reverses for the first time in a decade. Death abounded in America in 2020 and 2021. According to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 570,000 more people died in 2020 than in 2019, with about 350,000 of those attributable to COVID-19. Another 350,000 people died from the coronavirus by the fall of 2021, bringing the death total to 700,000—and counting. When roughly that number died over the four years of the... Read More

Apathy ranked as the single biggest pastoral concern in 2022. Pastors face unique difficulties inherent in their career, but what are their greatest needs? Pastors themselves say they’re most concerned about seeing their churchgoers grow spiritually and making connections with those outside of their churches. After speaking directly with pastors to gather their perspectives on their ministry and personal challenges, Lifeway Research surveyed 1,000 US pastors for the 2022 Greatest... Read More

Proprietary gifs may seem silly, but Christians have reasons to think about digital ownership. “Why would I buy a jpeg I can copy and paste for free?” That is how most conversations about NFTs (non-fungible tokens) begin. And it makes perfect sense. People are purchasing NBA clips for thousands of dollars—which can be streamed without cost on YouTube. “Crypto degens” are changing their Twitter profile pictures to pixelated cryptopunks to signal their membership... Read More

Q&A with Acts 29 president Matt Chandler on assessing narcissists, the challenge of COVID-19, and new opportunities for vibrant churches. Acts 29 announced a new funding initiative today to encourage more church planting in 2022. The network, which includes more than 700 churches in 44 countries, will give newly affiliated planters two gifts of $25,000 to help them get started. Currently, there are more than 500 men going through the Acts 29 assessment and affiliation process. CT talked... Read More