The young adult generation is not hopeless and would welcome us moving into their space and engaging them.
HT: Ed Stetzer.
Some new survey results from Gallup on global interfaith relations. They found that Americans and Canadians are more “Tolerant” or “Integrated” (in total) than Europeans.
Read the full report here.
Some very sad results from a recent Pew Research Center survey on American attitudes towards torture. They found that 62% of white evangelical protestants can often or sometimes justify the use of torture. Here are the results:
My opinion? Torture is NEVER justified, period.
An article by Nancy Haught, The Oregonian, appeared in the Saturday addition about how Oregon has lost its footing as one of the most unchurched states in the nation. The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey revealed that some New England states have surged ahead of us in that category.
According to the article, “Vermont leads the nation with 34 percent of its population replying ‘none’ when asked about their religious identification.
“Oregon’s none’s account for 24 percent of the population in 2008. Nationally, none’s are 15 percent of the population.”
The author interviewed Mark Shibley, a sociology professor at Southern Oregon University, to help “lend perspective to the survey.” Here are a couple of the Q&As:
Q: What do you make of New England bumping the Pacific Northwest when it comes to none’s?
A: In terms of subregions — Vermont, New Hampshire (where none’s are 29 percent of the population) — the northern section has always been more frontierlike: the population less diffused, the country more rugged, less urban. I’ve got a book on my shelf published 20 years ago that argues the culture of Oregon is similar to that of Maine.
But in the southern region — Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island — that’s a little bit different. “None” numbers are going up.
Q: But Oregon’s none numbers are up, too, from 18 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 2001 and 24 percent in 2008.
A: But historically — and here I’m stealing from the work of Patricia (O’Connell) Killen at Pacific Lutheran University (in Tacoma) — in the late 19th and into the 20th century, the trend in the Northwest was a growing connection to the church. Most of the changes happened before the 1990s. There’s been little change since then.
Q: How do you describe spirituality in Oregon?
A: Established churches have been in decline, and evangelical Protestantism has been growing. Over time and generations, the mainline and Catholic churches are failing to hang on to young people, and some are being scooped up by mega-churches designed to appeal to the younger generation.
New religious movements and spiritualities, neo-paganism, New Age folks have all experimented, explored and are proliferating here in the Northwest. At the same time, the hip California style of evangelicalism has flourished here. Some of those movements have spread up the coast, planted churches and taken hold. Our landscape has gotten a little bit more religious, but in particular ways.
Full article here: Sorry, Oregon, you’re no longer the most ‘unchurched’.
I blogged back in 2007 about the “none-zone” in Suggesting a Few Changes in Form. Wondering what the implications are of the trend identified in this survey? What is your perspective?
Technorati Tags: American Religious Identification Survey, Unchurched, Oregon, Church, None-Zone
In this 56 minute Praxis Podcast, Alan Hirsch reviews the basis for the book he coauthored with Michael Frost — ReJesus. The big question they ask is, “Do we [the church] fairly represent what Jesus represents?”
They talk about other subjects also. Good listen.
Click here for the podcast.
Technorati Tags: Missional, Alan Hirsh, ReJesus, Praxis Podcast
Jesus said whatever you do to the least of these my brothers you’ve done it to me. And this is what I’ve come to think. That if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ, who I claim to be my savior and Lord, the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong. They’re not bad, they’re just wrong. Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in a beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken. —Rich Mullins
Technorati Tags: Rich Mullins, Poor, Broken, Missional, Homeless
(This is a cross-post from Missional Tribe.)
Jesus follower Tim Jorgens got a burden for those currently unemployed in both our faith community and the community at large. And the great thing is that he acted on this burden and put together a free “Resume and Interview Clinic.â€
We did the first one today and had 15-20 people participate.
This is something that could easily be replicated anywhere and can be a great way to become involved in a meeting a real community need. Here was our schedule. Glad to send alone our handouts to anyone wanting them and discuss what we did.
Schedule
8:45: Ready for people to arrive. Be available and greet people.
9:00: Welcome:
* Overview of the morning and logistical issues.
* Quick discussion on agencies and services where you can look for job opportunities.
* Quick discussion on additional resources available in the community.
* Discuss the importance of networking.
9:30: Interview Session:
* Introduction including types of interviews and the objective of the interview.
* Review the “Ten Rules About the Interview.â€
* Review sample interview questions.
* Conduct a mock team interview with a volunteer.
* Critique of interview and observations.
10:15: Break
10:30: Resume Building Session:
* Introduction.
* How to do a skills assessment using PAR.
* How to document work experience.
* Description of the two types of resumes and where to use them.
* How to construct the two types of resumes.
* How to write a cover letter.
11:15: Break-out sessions
Two break-out sessions (one for interviewing and one for resumes) where participants can have further discussion and get one-on-one help.
12:00: Close
Technorati Tags: Resume, Interview, Missional Church, Orthopraxy
Sagemont Church in the southern part of Houston, Texas, has a new church growth model, “let annoy them into the kingdom.” This is so not missional!
Not to be outdone, Grace Community church just down the road is planning on a more elaborate 150 foot cross.
Talk about the attractional model gone nuts, not to say anything about the obscene waste of resources. They aren’t saying how much it cost, but 90 tons of steel can’t be cheap.
For some reason Ray Steven’s song, “Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?” popped into my head. Holy Spirit maybe?
Lyrics of “Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?”:
Woke up this mornin’, turned on the t.v. set.
there in livin’ color, was somethin’ I can’t forget.
This man was preachin’ at me, yeah, layin’ on the charm
askin’ me for twenty, with ten-thousand on his arm.
He wore designer clothes, and a big smile on his face
tellin’ me salvation while they sang Amazin’ Grace.
Askin’ me for money, when he had all the signs of wealth.
I almost wrote a check out, yeah, then I asked myself
Would He wear a pinky ring, would He drive a brand new car?
Would His wife wear furs and diamonds, would His dressin’ room have a star?
If He came back tomorrow, well there’s somethin’ I’d like to know
Could ya tell me, Would Jesus wear a Rolex on His television show.
Would Jesus be political if He came back to earth?
Have His second home in Palm Springs, yeah, a try to hide His worth?
Take money, from those poor folks, when He comes back again,
and admit He’s talked to all them preachers who say they been a talkin’ to Him?
Just ask ya’ self, Would He wear a pinky ring,
Would He drive a brand new car?
Would His wife wear furs and diamonds, would His dressing room have a star?
If He came back tomorrow, well there’s somethin’ I’d like to know:
Could ya tell me, would Jesus wear a Rolex?
Technorati Tags: Houston, Cross, Sagemont Church, Grace Community
Reggie McNeal looks the attractional model and how it differs from the missional paradigm.
I’ve have been tweeting other quotes via twitter.
The attractional model of church creates a ‘member culture,’ in which people join a particular church and support that organization with their attendance, their money, their prayers, and their talent. The flow is toward the church, which is always at the center of the action, where the big game is being played.
The missional church is made up of missionaries, who are playing the big game every day. They live their lives with the idea that they are on a mission trip. On mission trips, people focus on the work of God around them, alert to the Spirit’s prompting, usually serving people in very tangible ways, often in way that involve some sacrifice or even discomfort. Life on mission is more intentional and more integrated. While the concerns of life (family, work, leisure) are pursued, they are part of a larger story being played out for the missionary.
The member culture views society as a series of silos: politics, business, education, arts, media, technology, health care, social sector, and so forth. All of them are separate. The church culture has developed its own silo—a parallel culture in many respects—complete with schools, businesses, educational institutions, health care facilities, sports clubs, travel associations, and social agencies. Positioned as one silo among others, the church works to recruit people and resources from the other domains, vying for attention and money….. Its activities serve effectively to take a lamp and put it under a bushel….
The missional church views the church’s position in society very differently. It understands that God has his people—his missionaries—deployed across all domains of culture. After all, since the mission is redemptive and the world is God’s target, doesn’t it make sense that he would take this approach? Otherwise, how would salt be distributed or light puncture the darkness?
Quotes from Reggie McNeal’s “Missional Renaissance” (Jossey-Bass, February 2009), page 54 & 55.
Technorati Tags: Reggie McNeal, Missional Renaissance, Missional Church, Attractional, Missional
Fellow Portland blogger Pam Hogeweide posted today about living from the perspective of common life as the great life. Good stuff.
He bought into the Big Lie, didn’t he? The lie that he was born for greatness and that God had a grand plan for his life that was meant to be thrilling. He totally missed out on the point of the everyday, unspectacular grandness of life happening right in front of his nose. The lust for personal accolades becomes spiritualized into a quest for some kind of greatness that will shatter the common life out of it’s coma. But what if the common life is the great life? What if the ordinary story is the epic narrative of each one of us?
Andrew Jones responses to the question, “Is the Virtual Church a REAL Church?”