I’m noticing that many churches gender segregate their adult small groups. I wonder if this is because the average adult church goer is assumed to be married (and, because marriage seems to be a prerequisite for ministry, this is also the perspective from which the organizing pastor is making decisions). I suppose church members are
Category: Ecclesiology / Church
Religious Trauma Syndrome
I expect this topic to be controversial. I have observed that at times people confuse a criticism of something done in the name of Christ with a criticism of God himself. But this fails to recognize that we are imperfect, and that we can make mistakes and do the wrong thing even when we are
Reflections on Reviewing Church Websites
It is possible you have noticed that I have not posted any new content in a while. There is a reason for this—I have just relocated to Nashville, TN. As you might imagine, I’ve been quite busy both preparing for the move and in working on settling into my new residence. This leads me to
Are “Dones” a Major Warning Sign for the Church?
Not long ago Thom Schultz published an article called “The Rise of the Dones“. This article, which has received a lot of attention, is brief and doesn’t contain a lot of meat. Yet I believe Schultz is getting at something important. Unfortunately, I’m not sure he does a great job of communicating why the “dones”
Jesus is for the People — Aaron Pelsue Band at The Vogue
Back in December I went to see the Aaron Pelsue Band (often a worship band) play at the Vogue (a local bar and music venue) along with several other hard rock bands. It would probably be difficult for me to describe the atmosphere there. The first band on the bill was a bit rougher in
A Brief History of Christianity in America
(Note: this is an abbreviated and therefore very simplified version of the history of the western church as I understand it. While I believe my general understanding to be correct, I am not an expert and may have inaccuracy in certain details.) To begin our understanding of Christianity in America, we must go all the
Questions: Worship
How important are worship services? Is it important to have the best music possible? Is it important and/or effective to have a lot of people attend just because they like the music? What’s the difference between worship music and a concert? Is there always a difference? Is it a problem to have mediocre music? What
Being the Church
Keith Giles recently hosted a roundtable discussion on his podcast. His guests included John Zens, Neil Cole, Herb Montgomery, and Kent Williamson. This discussion was so good that I’ve listened to it a handful of times already. I highly recommend you take time to listen to it as well. Here are some of the key
I’m With Don – Thoughts on Worship Services Part 5
I spent some time talking about how worship services don’t equal church and about worship/praise music in previous posts (see part 4). I will now take a brief look at sermons/preaching and wrap this series up. Sermons There tend to be a couple of different types of sermons. The primary types I’ve observed I’d categorize
I’m With Don – Thoughts on Worship Services Part 4
Music in Worship Services: Divisiveness of Worship Music? In part 3, as I was considering the genres of music used in worship services, I an idea occurred to me. This may be a bit tangential to our discussion, but it’s certainly related. It’s been said that Sunday morning (when people go to church) is the