Leadingchurch.com

The Atlantic

Link

A Way Forward is their statement advocating local choice.

Converge blog

“Ah!” he said. “I know what your problem is!” The way he said it made me want to storm out of the diner without finishing my hash browns. I didn’t have time for know-it-alls. However, I was curious to hear his diagnosis.

“You’re church-damaged,” he said.

I wanted to say he was wrong, that I was strong. I had endured my parents’ divorce and the years of legal fall-out that kept my family returning to court. But rather than protest, I just scraped up the rest of my hash browns and mumbled that he may have a point.

In the years leading up to that meeting and the years that followed, I had a hard time visiting any church. There may have been deeply flawed aspects of these churches, and they may not have been the right churches for me. However, the bigger issue during seven years of church avoidance was the toxic baggage I brought with me.

Lovely post. I’m fascinated how the wounds from the parent’s divorce were mentioned seemlessly with the church wounds.

In this conversation pastoral transparency becomes a function of the therapeutic need of the wounded. The pastor becomes a sort of medium by which the wounded can have courage to draw near to God for healing.

Others wish the pastor to be perfect as a medium for the possibility of their perfection.

Biola

The Atlantic

Some beautiful writing, haunting, painful, heart-felt. 

Jesus Creed originally from Leadership Network

1. Nearly two-thirds of attenders have been at these churches 5 years or less.
2. Many attenders come from other churches, but nearly a quarter haven’t been in any church for a long time before coming to a megachurch.
3. New people almost always come to the megachurch because family, friends or coworkers invited them.
4. Fifty-five percent of megachurch attenders volunteer at the church in some way (a higher percentage than in smaller churches).
5. What first attracted attenders were the worship style, the senior pastor and the church’s reputation, in that order.
6. These same factors also influenced long-term attendance, as did the music/arts, social and community outreach, and adult-oriented programs.
7. Attenders report a considerable increase in their involvement in church, in their spiritual growth, and in their needs being met.
8. Attenders can craft unique, customized spiritual experiences through the multitude of ministry choices and diverse avenues for involvement that megachurches offer.
9. In many ways, large churches today are making good progress in reaching people and moving them from spectators to active participants to growing disciples of Jesus Christ.

Nearly a third of megachurch attenders are single,
unmarried people. In a typical church, however, singles
account for just 10% of the congregation

Used for the presence of the shekinah among the people from Leonard Nimoy