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church growth movement

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January 2014

January 23, 2014

The church’s “Kodak moment”?

We've been pretty hard on the Church Growth Movement lately, so let's allow an advocate...

January 20, 2014

A watershed in American evangelicalism?

The New Life Church in Colorado Springs was one of the nation's leading megachurches. But...

December 2013

December 03, 2013

Do church growth tactics attract the unchurched?

The best argument for adopting the techniques of the Church Growth movement--contemporary worship, non-traditional styles,...

October 2013

October 04, 2013

“Missional” churches vs. the church’s mission

One of my former pastors, Rev. Lucas Woodford, has published a book entitled Great Commission,...

September 2013

September 26, 2013

Mega-Ashrams & Tele-Gurus

An article about the arrest in India of the guru Asaram Bapu--worshipped as the "godman"--for...

September 19, 2013

Baptists embracing the liturgy

A growing number of Baptists are turning to liturgical worship. So says the Associated Baptist...

August 2013

August 13, 2013

And now, the worship DJ

Trying to be "contemporary," as in contemporary worship, requires hitting a moving target, since, by...

August 02, 2013

How church growth strategies keep missing the point

Rachel Held Evans tells about how churches that want to reach young people keep missing...

June 2013

June 24, 2013

Liturgical Baptists

A principle of the evangelical church growth movement is that worship should change to reflect...

January 2013

January 16, 2013

Stranger in a Strange Church

Philip Jenkins cites the prescience of science fiction writer Robert Heinlein, whose novel Stranger in...

December 2012

December 05, 2012

Ten myths about church growth

Have you noticed how quickly "the latest ideas" become the old-fashioned ideas? Brian Orme is...

July 2012

July 09, 2012

The latest mission strategy: “Insider Movements”

We've blogged about those translations of the Bible for Muslims that avoid little terms like...

June 2012

June 07, 2012

The Juvenilization of American Christianity

The latest issue of Christianity Today has a brilliant cover story that accounts for much...

March 2012

March 09, 2012

Islamic-friendly Bibles

Many missionary groups in Islamic countries are using Bible translations that avoid offending Muslim sensibilities,...

November 2011

November 28, 2011

The megachurch bubble?

There was the dot.com bubble and, more recently, the real estate bubble, markets that grew...

October 2011

October 07, 2011

The genius of Steve Jobs

I was asked to write up something about the death of Steve Jobs for the...

August 2011

August 05, 2011

Marketing & consumer tastes

Economics columnist Steven Pearlstein goes off on how super-thick clam chowder has replaced the thinner,...

August 03, 2011

9.5 Theses on the Emergent Church

In the tradition of someone else, Wheaton professor David Milliner has posted 9.5 Theses against...

June 2011

June 30, 2011

An evangelical critique of contemporary worship

D. H. Williams, a theology professor at Baylor, offers a searching critique of contemporary worship...

May 2011

May 09, 2011

Closing a campus ministry because it works?

University Lutheran Chapel in Minneapolis is the LCMS campus ministry to the University of Minnesota. ...

April 2011

April 25, 2011

A dying church

A pejorative term directed against some congregations is that they are "a dying church." Either...

April 08, 2011

The fastest-growing denomination

That would be the Seventh-Day Adventists: Rest on the Sabbath. Heed Old Testament dietary codes....

January 2011

January 13, 2011

Theological bankruptcy

Christianity Today has a thoughtful editorial on the bankruptcy of the Crystal Cathedral and what...

August 2010

August 16, 2010

Trying to make Christianity cool

Twenty-something Brett McCracken is put off by what churches are doing to attract him: Increasingly,...

May 2010

May 13, 2010

Satellite churches with onscreen pastors

The latest in megachurch trends: Doing without a pastor, except on streaming big screen video:...

March 2010

March 25, 2010

Church growth for Christian Scientists

The Church of Christ, Scientist, founded by Mary Baker Eddy, teaches the gnostic and Buddhist

February 2010

February 26, 2010

New church growth ideas

A Roman Catholic church in Ireland is attracting large crowds by offering a mass that...

February 10, 2010

Introverts in church

Contemporary American churches, for all of their church-growth methodology, are leaving out--indeed, alienating--a whole class...

December 2009

December 10, 2009

Tattoo sermons

Another way to make your church relevant! Preach a whole sermon series about tattoos. And...