Confessions of a Church Shopper
Eight months ago, my wife and I sold our house and moved 650 miles to a new town. I hope to never see the inside of a moving truck again.…
Church Trends
About Church Trends
This is your wake-up call
beep…Beep…BEEP! Your alarm clock goes off. Do you… __groan and go back to sleep? __press the snooze button? __get up ready for action? How does your answer mirror your reaction…
To the Polished, Predictable Church: Surprise Me
Surprise! It’s one of the missing ingredients in today’s church. Most church worship services and programs have become so predictable, so varnished, so rehearsed, and so scripted that any awe…
Social Outrage & The Church
By Thom Schultz Our society is deeply divided–cast into political, racial and economic schisms. But what about the church? Is the church today an agent of harmony–or division? Some Christians…
Church Planting: Just to Get Big?
By Thom Schultz What makes a successful church? Today it’s all about the numbers. Attendance, or rate of attendance growth–that’s the measurement of success. Or so you’d assume. But is…
The Startling Response from Young People Who Left the Church
By Thom Schultz Young people are staying away from the church in growing numbers. But why? When you pose that question to those inside the church, it seems everybody has…
The Church & Race Relations: Help or Hurt?
By Thom Schultz Most Americans believe the country’s race relations are generally bad. And some are wondering about the connection between race and religion. Are churches generally helping–or hurting–race relations?…
What Mr. Rogers Taught Us
By Joani Schultz A few years ago, our team watched the documentary film, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? We set out on a community-building afternoon to see the story of…
iTech Rising: What a 3-D Generation Means to 21st Century Church
By Rick Chromey You probably know them by a different name. Gen Z. iGen. Plurals. ReGen. Or Centennials. I call them the iTech Generation. Born since 1999, this cohort of…
The Loss Decades: How America Has Changed and What it Means to The Church
By Rick Chromey Every living thing has a life span. As we age—whether as humans or organizations or even culture—we feel the “losses” that reveal slippage, deterioration, and aging. American…
