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The Post-Pandemic Small Groups Boom Is on the Way!

By
Allen White
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communicating with the unchurched

COVID separated the church. The church did not “close,” because the church is a body of believers — not a building, not a service, not an institution. The church couldn’t gather for in-person meetings: worship, small groups, or anything else, but the church never closed. Many small groups went to Zoom or other online platforms — synchronous or asynchronous. While many groups tolerated meeting online, some have discovered the opportunity of online groups to connect to others who are far from them and far from God. But Zoom fatigue set in quickly. I predict there’s a coming small groups boom, because online groups are just not the same as in-person groups. Right now you are in an unprecedented moment.

Small Groups Are About to Boom!

People have been separated and in their houses for a long time. Of course, restrictions and attitudes vary across North America. While some churches still haven’t regathered for groups or worship, I know of one church that never stopped their in-person services. I’m not judging right or wrong. I’m just saying “different” restrictions and attitudes. While this is also my first global pandemic, this is where I see things going in 2021 with small groups.

People Will Warm Up to In-Person Gatherings Gradually

While Coronavirus numbers are declining, they haven’t disappeared. In most places the rate of infection is still higher than it was a year ago. While vaccine shots in arms are accelerating quickly, there is still some uncertainty, reluctance, or resistance to vaccines. Lastly, people have spent 12 months immersed in the stress and fear of a global pandemic. It will take them a while to turn things around. But there are hopeful signs.

When the President of the United States announced in his speech on March 10, 2021: “If we do this together, by July the 4th, there’s a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your back yard or your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day. That doesn’t mean large events with lots of people together but it does mean small groups will be able to get together…But to get there we can’t let our guard down. This fight is far from over.”

Politics aside, words from the leader of the free world are powerful. These words will do much to help people overcome their fear. The President of the United States is advocating for small groups.

In the meantime, what do you do? Do you just write off the spring semester? I don’t think so. This is the time to experiment. What are your people open to? How are they willing to participate in small groups? Pilot something. Gather groups of vaccinated folks. Be patient with those who are unsure. Try a new approach to online groups. If you’re not sure what your people might be open to, our church-wide assessment can help you find the right direction to go.

People Will Be Gone All Summer

Once people are confident to get out, they will be almost completely gone. They will be on vacation and will enjoy weekends away. Don’t be disappointed if the return to in-person worship is slow. It’s slow for every church right now.

Summer isn’t a great time to launch small groups anyway. You could try more social gatherings or service projects, but even then your people will be gone for the most part. That doesn’t mean to avoid trying something. It just means not to expect dramatic numbers over the summer.

I’m not suggesting that you raise the white flag for summer, but your people taking a much needed break will create an even bigger fall launch. Use your summer to prepare for fall. Recruit coaches for new group leaders. Create your own video-based curriculum.

Small Groups Boom Will Be in the Fall

Your people have been apart for a long time. Their need for community is higher than ever. By fall, they will be ready for in-person small groups at a level you’ve probably never experienced. Barring a fourth wave of the virus, vaccine-resistant variants, or continued restrictions, people will be ready in reconnect in small groups like never before.

Are you ready? How will you make the most of this opportunity growing out of the small groups boom? This is not the time for business as usual. This is not the time to roll out the same tired small group strategies you’ve used year after year that produce the same results. What are people willing to say “yes” to this fall?

Final Thoughts

We’ve had a year, haven’t we? I hope we never have another year like this past one again. But the pain of the last 12 months is producing an unprecedented opportunity. Are you ready to make the most of that opportunity?

This article about the small groups boom originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

TN Church Sees Over 1,000 Baptisms in Four Months–‘Prayer Births Revival’

By
Jesse T. Jackson
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communicating with the unchurched

Over 1,000 baptisms have happened in four months at Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee.  The church’s senior pastor, Robby Gallaty, said in an interview with Faithwire.com that he has “never seen anything like this before in my life” after seeing 1,051 people baptized over the last 16 weeks.

Out of that number, 201 of those baptisms happened on Easter weekend alone. Many of the baptisms were spontaneous rather than planned. Pastor Gallaty said, “They heard the gospel and responded.”

There has been a steady increase in baptisms at Long Hollow over the last couple of years; 2018 saw approximately 125 baptized and in 2019 about 250. The pastor said, “This is nothing I’ve coordinated or a sermon series has brought about.”

“I’m convinced prayer births revival and revival births prayer.”

Becoming a “Praying Church”

Years ago, Gallaty read a quote from Leonard Ravenhill: “The problem with the American church today is that pastors don’t pray.” Gallaty said he took offense to that and asked, “What do you mean I don’t pray?” That is when the Lord began to convict Gallaty of his personal prayer life. He was convicted that he wasn’t pressing into God for hours at a time.

On top of this call to prayer, Gallaty’s friends Jared Wilson and Darrin Patrick both committed suicide less than a year apart. Gallaty shared that both of them had sat at his dining room table six months prior to their passing. “None of these guys set out to end the ministry that way…both of these guys I would say like some of you right now who are watching you would say, ‘I’m not burnt out..stressed…I’m fine.’ Those are the famous last words before the wheels fall off…and I realized that was me.”

It was then that the Lord told him to press into “silence and solitude.” Twenty minutes turned into forty minutes that turned into two hours a night in prayer before the Lord.

“I want to move from a church that prays to a praying church,” Gallaty said and explained how big the difference is between those types of churches. A church that prays just prays for events, but a praying church couches everything in the church from start to finish in prayer. For example, there is prayer before the sermon, during the sermon, after the sermon, and during the invitation.

Long Hollow set up a 24/7 prayer movement that God used to prepare the church for what He was about to do, Gallaty said.

Gallaty Shares How God Spoke to Him Directly

Gallaty shared the key part for every minister and every Christian. “I went to the porch every night to sit with the Lord thinking that He was going to fix the problems in my church,” he said and was really frustrated. “If this is what Christianity is: running a church, keeping people happy, keeping people from leaving, keeping people not mad, keeping deacons happy, keeping staff happy. I just said there’s got to be more to the Christian ministry than this.”

He wasn’t going to move from his porch. He told ChurchLeaders.com, “Every great movement of God begins without moving. I said God I am not going to move from this porch until You are willing to move.”

“Lord, You fix the problems in my staff…I need You to fix the problems in my church…I need You to fix the deacons…I need You to fix the country,” Gallaty shared. Revealing that two months into his front porch prayer time, he said the Lord told him, “The problem is not with your church…it’s not with your staff…the problem is you.”

Francis Chan: Unity in the Church Is Far More Than Just ‘a Cute Idea’

By
Jessica Lea
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communicating with the unchurched

Unity in the church is not an option for followers of Jesus, says Francis Chan. And if we are failing in this endeavor, one question we should ask is if we really know God—or if we just know a lot about him. 

“I am not at all pushing unity at the expense of truth, nor am I pushing unity at the expense of morality,” Chan told author and pastor Skye Jethani on a recent episode of the Holy Post podcast. “God loves truth and hates lies. He loves holiness, and he hates sin.” However, people who are adamant about standing for truth and fighting sin have a tendency to downplay unity as “a cute idea, rather than an absolute command from a holy God and the desire of his heart.”

Said Chan, “There has to be a way that we fight for truth, we fight for holiness, as we are eager to maintain the unity of the faith.”

Unity in the Church Means Being Friends with THOSE People

Chan said that when he was in seminary, he was warned not to fellowship with people in certain Christian circles whom he was told were false teachers. “During my seminary years, there was a lot of warning about the charismatics,” he said, “We really just had to warn people about anyone who believed in the gifts of the Spirit and make sure that people do not speak in tongues or prophesy…everything was just logic and reasoning.” 

Chan’s teachers also warned him against Roman Catholics, who were supposedly idol worshippers. The result was that Chan became a person who was “really afraid of other groups and afraid of how they might be destroying the body of Christ.” 

But his perspective shifted when he actually got to know people who were Catholic and  charismatic. For example, Mike Bickle, director of the International House of Prayer, was “public enemy one” when Chan studied him in seminary. But, said Chan, “the more I saw the humility of his life, his knowledge of the Word of God…his frustration with the excesses in some of the people in his circle,” the more Chan wanted to learn from him.

Another person who surprised Chan was Matt Maher, the author of the worship song, “Your Grace Is Enough.” Chan was shocked when he learned that Maher was Catholic. “I start to realize that I generalize people, put them in these groups,” said Chan. He would think, “Oh, because you’re charismatic, because you’re in this Roman Catholic group, then these things are true of you.’” The problem with that mindset is that by generalizing groups, he was making false assumptions about individual people. Chan said that he has experienced similar unfair judgments from others, such as when people assume he is arrogant because he hangs out with Reformed conservatives.

While we must take the pursuit of unity in the church seriously, Chan stressed that we should not try to come up with a “master plan” for this pursuit. Rather, we need to begin from a place of being absolutely humbled before God. “Let’s just start with humility,” said Chan, “Let’s start with understanding what we’ve been invited into.” When we recognize what God has actually done for us, “this should absolutely change everything” because we will have a profound love for our brothers and sisters who have also been loved and welcomed by a holy God. 

Jethani pointed out that many people would not really disagree with that point, but yet we still see a significant lack of the unity in the church God is calling us to pursue. Chan agreed most people would not overtly disagree with his call to humility before God. But, he countered, the real question is whether or not people live out what they say they believe.

In John 17:20-23, Jesus prays to God for unity in the church:

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

When Chan was a new believer, he memorized John 14-17 down to the exact wording. But the fact he memorized those words did not mean he really knew what they meant. “I’ve known in an intellectual sense this passage,” he said. “But I have not known this passage.” 

Biden’s Reversal of Fetal-Tissue Research Ban Is ‘Sickening,’ Say Pro-Lifers

By
Stephanie Martin
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communicating with the unchurched

On April 16, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) eliminated the requirement that applicants for federal research funding submit to a fetal-tissue ethics review. Since December 2019, proposals involving tissue from aborted babies had to receive a green light from an Ethics Advisory Board. At that board’s only meeting during the Trump presidency, it rejected 13 of 14 applications.

By disbanding the ethics board, says HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Biden administration is permitting scientists “to do the research it takes to make sure that we are incorporating innovation and getting all of those types of treatments and therapies out there to the American people.”

Fetal Tissue Research: Proponents Call Move a Shift Toward Science

The scientific community praised Friday’s announcement, which came from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Christine Mummery, president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, says researchers appreciate “that the Biden administration is lifting the arbitrary restrictions on promising biomedical research using human fetal tissue.” She calls the decision a “return to evidence-based policy-making,” saying the NIH needs to be “insulated from political interference.”

Researcher Lawrence Goldstein, the only ethics-board member who had worked with fetal tissue, calls the ban reversal “an unqualified win.” He says he hopes projects that the board had “killed…will come back” and that we won’t “enter an era of policy yo-yo as we change administrations.”

A group of Congressional Democrats also praised the new administration’s decision to remove “arbitrary barriers” to research. The NIH says applicants for federal grants or contracts still must “obtain informed consent from the donor” of human fetal tissue, may not pay for the tissue, and must follow all other federal, state and university guidelines.

Opponents: ‘A Gross Violation of Human Dignity’

Pro-life groups spoke out against the reversal, with the National Right to Life Committee labeling it a “sickening decision.” Carol Tobias, the group’s president, says, “Tiny human babies are aborted by abortionists and then exploited to be farmed for their organs and tissue for use in experiments.”

The reversal will lead to “a gross violation of human dignity,” says Tom McClusky, president of March for Life Action. “The government has no business creating a marketplace for aborted baby body parts.”

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, also condemns the change, calling Secretary Becerra “a fanatical advocate for abortion.” The new administration is forcing “American taxpayers to pay for barbaric experiments using the body parts of aborted babies,” says Perkins. “Instead of using ethical and effective alternatives, Biden is choosing to reinstate a policy that traffics in the grizzly remains of what would have been our next generation.” Fetal remains, Perkins notes, “have not been used to create the cure of a single disease.”

David Prentice, research director of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, says this reversal is “a sad turn of events” marked by “poor ethics and poor science.” The result, he says, is that American researchers now will be “trafficking in aborted fetal tissue for antiquated experiments.”

Prentice, who had served on the Ethics Advisory Board, adds that adult stem cells are much more effective for research than are fetal tissues. His pro-life institute is “reviewing all possible avenues” regarding a legal challenge, he says.

How a Church Directory Connects Members During Tough Times

By
Stephanie Martin
-
communicating with the unchurched

As the pandemic and its many disruptions head into a second year, many people are understandably exhausted, lonely and frustrated. Yet there’s also a growing sense of hope and opportunity, especially among people of faith and church leaders. 

Covid-related lockdowns have forced congregations to flex their creativity and experiment with new outreach methods. Church members and leaders continue finding solidarity in their mission, however, determined not to let a global health crisis stop worship, education and outreach activities. 

Time spent in quarantine also has served to increase worshipers’ awareness of what they most miss and appreciate about in-person gatherings. In fact, a recent Lifeway Research study reveals that 91 percent of U.S. churchgoers plan to eventually attend in-person worship at least as often as they did pre-pandemic. Of those respondents, almost a quarter (23 percent) say they plan to attend church even more than they did before!

On the other hand, some church members likely won’t feel safe returning to in-person worship for a while, even with social distancing measures firmly in place. Some people have even come to prefer online worship and Bible study opportunities, whether through their own congregation or through other churches, both near and far. Pastors even report receiving financial contributions during the pandemic from out-of-state worshipers who’ve never stepped foot inside their facilities.

At this point, no one’s quite sure what church and authentic community will look like post-pandemic. But it’s pretty certain they won’t—and can’t—look the same as before. Though some naysayers predict that churches will face prolonged hardships or even close for good, optimists are confident that the shared challenge of the pandemic can spark a new reformation. 

With the help of the Holy Spirit, Christian congregations throughout the country will find new ways to move into a fuller, more inclusive sense of what it means to be an authentic community of believers.

For churches, returning to “business as usual” isn’t an option; their mission statements won’t allow that, because it would mean leaving some people behind. Churches must now think about creating a new community that includes people who can’t be with us physically. 

Livestreaming and in-person gatherings need to be merged in whatever ways possible. For example, some churches now incorporate videoconferencing tools such as Zoom into all their activities. As a result, every small group, educational offering and committee meeting is open and accessible to online participants.

What might all these changes and opportunities mean for your congregation? What kinds of new “community” can you build among church members and visitors, and how can you keep everyone connected in the process?

 

A church photo directory facilitates connections.

In order to meet people’s needs, first you must know them: the people as well as the needs. Relationships require connections and interactions, which church photo directories foster at all times but especially during difficulties. 

Whether you’re currently meeting together in person or not, all individuals need encouragement, contact and accessibility with others. That’s why directories are essential for keeping track of church members’ identities, contact information, special days and worship preferences.

Throughout the pandemic, directories and the important information they contain have kept church members linked, strengthened their bonds and helped to ensure that everyone feels loved and valued. Moving forward, directories will continue to play a vital post-pandemic role for church leaders who need to stay aware of who is attending — and how. 

Here’s just a few of the ways that a church photo directory contributes to all those important goals:

  • Listings and photos help members put faces (and Zoom profiles) to names.
  • Contact information allows members to send one another greeting cards, text messages and other notes of support. 
  • Birthday and anniversary lists help congregants remember one another’s special days, which, as we’ve seen throughout the pandemic, can be acknowledged and celebrated in creative yet socially distanced ways. 
  • New staff members, volunteers and new church members can quickly get “up to speed” with the help of a current, comprehensive church directory.
  • With a photo directory, everyone’s details are located in one handy spot, making prayer chains and phone or email “trees” a breeze.
  • Using a safe, secure online service such as Instant Church Directory keeps you in control of members’ photos and data. Plus, members can easily submit and update their own material.
  • In tough financial times, Instant Church Directory keeps your congregation connected without the pressure to buy the professional portraits that accompany traditional directories.

As your church transitions into its post-pandemic ministry, be sure to follow these tips for maximum impact from your photo directory:

  • Create customized listings. Depending on your congregation’s size and circumstances, you might want to consider creating groups to track which people attend in-person worship and which ones take part virtually. Subgroups can include out-of-state participants and contributors, frequent guests, people who are homebound and so on.
  • Use the directory listings to consider who might need different types of assistance, including prayer, visits, meals, errands, cards and more.
  • Decide how your church will handle sacraments for both in-person and online worshipers. If your church baptizes babies or children, a directory can help you stay in touch with expectant or new parents about their needs for those services. 
  • Communion provides another challenge, and rethinking some theological points and practices might be required. How will your church allow online worshipers to partake fully in the gift of God’s sacramental grace? 
  • Focus on providing a variety of fellowship opportunities, both in-person and online, for people of all ages and interests. For example, young adults moving back and forth to college (and back and forth between digital and in-person classes) may especially crave fellowship and Bible study opportunities with their peers.
  • With the assistance of a church photo directory, you can ensure that no one misses out on important educational programs, including Sunday school, vacation Bible school, adult education and new-member classes. For people who continue to remain at home, volunteers can deliver materials to their doorsteps, possibly in kits, baskets or gift bags. Another option is to send a card or email that lists links for downloading curriculum, handouts, crafts and so on.
  • Think ahead to milestone occasions and special events, from confirmations and graduations to weddings and funerals. Many of these had to be postponed or altered substantially throughout 2020, so people are more eager than ever to gather for them as a community. How will you connect with people for all these important occasions, and how can your congregation celebrate or observe each one sufficiently and safely? What steps can you take now — and in the future — to embrace church members at all stages of life, nurturing community along the way?

Throughout the many trials of Covid-19, we’ve seen the truth in this saying: “The church is a body of people, not a building” (nor, we might add, a website, nor a teleconferencing link). Even when people are worshiping or meeting digitally, we’re still being the body of Christ and praising a real, authentic God who always remains present and faithful.

Amid all the hardships and impacts of this historic pandemic, our eternal God is calling churches and pastors to stretch and grow. He’s calling us out of our comfort zones in new and unexpected ways for the good of our faith communities as well as our broader communities. 

The good news is that the resilience of the church body — God’s people — can move beyond its walls and even its screens, bringing light and hope to all. 

This information is provided courtesy of Instant Church Directory, a small team of dedicated folks working hard from home to build a simple yet effective tool for connecting church members. Visit their website at www.InstantChurchDirectory.com to learn more about their online church directory solution.

Lecrae, Bieber Appear at Prison Events as Ministries Return to Correctional Facilities

By
Religion News Service
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Lecrae
Lecrae performs at a Hope Event at a correctional facility outside of Columbia, South Carolina. Photo courtesy of Prison Fellowship

(RNS) — In early April, Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae visited a South Carolina prison, performed six songs and testified about his faith.

Fifteen months ago, the event would have been almost unremarkable, but since then, COVID-19 restrictions have prevented Lecrae from “hanging out” with prisoners, as he had previously done with less social distance after a performance hosted by Prison Fellowship.

“We sometimes do it outside the security fence line and maintain that separation with the men or women on the inside,” said Prison Fellowship President James Ackerman, describing a “Hope Event” the ministry held at a correctional facility in Alabama in September.

Lecrae’s visit this month was a sign that some prisons have begun permitting more in-person religious activities.

“As conditions have improved state by state, some correctional facilities and prisons are opening back up for visitors and ministry purposes,“ Jim Forbes, communications director of Prison Fellowship, said in a statement to Religion News Service.

That comes as Prison Fellowship — the largest U.S. nonprofit serving incarcerated people, formerly incarcerated people and their families — celebrates Second Chance Month, aimed at raising awareness of the difficulties faced by people with a criminal record.

The virus has spread through correctional facilities, where social distancing is often not an option, infecting prisoners at a rate three times that of Americans outside prison walls, according to a recent report by The New York Times.

Over the past year, nearly all state-run facilities temporarily have halted outside visitors to help slow that spread, according to Prison Fellowship’s website.

But as vaccines become more widely available and states begin to loosen those restrictions, high-profile Christians like Lecrae, Justin Bieber and Churchome pastor Judah Smith have been among the first to resume their visits.

Second Chance Month was first recognized by President Donald Trump in 2017. President Joe Biden issued a similar declaration this year, recognizing April as Second Chance Month.

“By focusing on prevention, reentry, and social support, rather than incarceration, we can ensure that America is a land of second chances and opportunity for all people,” Biden’s declaration reads.

Prison Fellowship is celebrating with a number of virtual events, including a prayer service on Saturday (April 17) and a rebroadcast the following day of its Second Chance Sunday worship service featuring music by musicians from the New York megachurch Hillsong East Coast and a sermon by Pastor Jon Kelly of Chicago West Bible Church. It has also created resources to help churches across the country host their own Second Chance services.

Lecrae is joining the organization for a number of events. Among them is a virtual gala on April 29, where Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of “Just Mercy,” also is scheduled to speak.

Lecrae, whose father, he has said, was in and out of jail, first got involved with Prison Fellowship in 2019 and has performed at several prisons since then, including the April 2 event in South Carolina.

In a recent interview with Religion News Service, Lecrae said, “Knowing that they’re still human, knowing that they have dignity, worth, that God made them, fearlessly and wonderfully made them” drew him to prison ministry.

Bieber, whose latest album is titled “Justice,” reportedly stopped by a California prison in late March at the invitation of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, in the company of his wife, Hailey Baldwin, and Smith. While there, they reportedly spoke with members of the Urban Ministry Institute, a prison seminary program, and Bieber announced that he plans to charter buses so inmates’ family members who have been kept away by COVID-19 could come to visit them.

“It was a life-changing experience that I will never forget,” the pop star said in a statement to ABC News Radio. “It was such an honor listening to their stories and seeing how strong their faith is.”

Evangelical Christians took up prison reform as a cause in the past few decades under the influence of Charles Colson, a former aide to President Nixon, who came to faith while serving seven months in Alabama’s Maxwell Prison for Watergate-related crimes.

Colson founded Prison Fellowship in 1976, and the organization has worked with every administration since President Jimmy Carter. It played an instrumental role in crafting the First Step Act, legislation passed in 2018 that focused on reducing recidivism, the number of people who leave prison only to land back in confinement.

More recently Prison Fellowship has supported the proposed Equal Act, which would reduce disparities in cocaine sentences that punish Black Americans more harshly than white Americans.

This article originally appeared here.

Former Employee Sues Ramsey Solutions –‘Cult-Like’ Atmosphere

By
Bob Smietana
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communicating with the unchurched

NASHVILLE (RNS) — The company owned by Christian personal finance adviser and radio host Dave Ramsey is being sued for alleged religious discrimination and misrepresentation.

A complaint filed Thursday (April 15) in a county court alleges the Lampo Group, which does business as Ramsey Solutions, was run as a “religious cult” and required employees to give “complete and total submission to Dave Ramsey and his views of the world to maintain employment.”

Ramsey, whose Financial Peace University materials on personal finances are used by churches nationwide, is also named as a defendant.

The complaint also alleges Ramsey’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic put employees and their families at risk.

Lawyers for Brad Amos, a former Ramsey Solutions video editor, alleged their client was fired by the company because he objected to Ramsey’s views on the COVID-19 pandemic. Ramsey has consistently downplayed the risk of COVID-19, has referred to those who wear masks as “wusses” and barred employees from working at home for much of the pandemic.

The company also held a mostly maskless, in-person Christmas party and has sued a Florida hotel for breach of contract after the hotel said it would require attendees at a Ramsey conference to wear masks.

The complaint alleges that Ramsey’s views on the pandemic are largely shaped by religion and that Amos was fired for disagreeing with those religious views.

“Plaintiff was terminated for failing to follow Defendant’s particular view that taking precautions other than prayer against COVID infection would make a person fall out of God’s favor,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit was filed in the Chancery Court for Williamson County, Tennessee, where Ramsey Solutions is headquartered.

According to the complaint, Amos was editing movie trailers in California when he was approached in 2019 by a recruiter for Ramsey Solutions. During what the complaint described as a six-month interview process, Amos became concerned after hearing of a “cult-like culture” at Ramsey. He was also concerned that despite its claims, Ramsey was not a “family-friendly” place to work.

Jonathan Street, one of Amos’ attorneys, told Religion News Service his client had raised concerns to Ramsey leaders and was assured the rumors were not true and that the company had a “strong commitment to family time for employees.” The lawsuit claims Amos was misled in the hiring process.

Street said his client’s most pressing concern was his family’s well-being.

Amos’ wife and son are at high risk for complications of COVID-19, Street said, and his requests to work at home were denied. The lawsuit alleges any concerns about COVID-19 were dismissed as “weakness of spirit,” and the spouses of company employees were required to support Ramsey’s views on COVID.

In response to the lawsuit, Ramsey Solutions told RNS via email that the suit is “full of blatantly false allegations that have no merit.” The organization accused Amos of “inflammatory and false statements” and said they are prepared to take action, citing slander and defamation. “It appears the goal of this lawsuit is to smear Ramsey Solutions’ reputation and extort a large settlement, and we are fully prepared to defend this lawsuit and prevail.”

The lawsuit also cites a May 2020 meeting, when Ramsey threatened to fire an employee who had filed an OSHA complaint about the company’s handling of COVID-19. During an all-staff meeting, Ramsey told staff the OSHA complaint would not affect the company.

“So whoever you are, you moron, you did absolutely no good, except piss me off,” he told staff during that meeting, as RNS has previously reported. “You are not welcome here if you are willing to do stuff like that. If you are really scared and you really think that leadership is trying to kill you … please, we love you. Just leave. We really don’t want you here.”

The complaint filed by Amos’ attorney cites RNS coverage of Ramsey Solutions.

Ramsey Solutions is also being sued by a former employee named Caitlin O’Connor, who claims she was fired for being pregnant and unmarried. The company had defended her firing, saying she was fired for having premarital sex, which company policy bans. In defending its policies, Ramsey Solutions has also claimed to have fired a total of eight employees since 2016 for premarital sex.

News of the O’Connor lawsuit led Inc. magazine to drop the company from its 2020 “Best Workplaces” list.

Ramsey personality and author Chris Hogan recently resigned from the company for violating undisclosed Ramsey Solutions’ policies. Leaders at Ramsey had long backed Hogan, despite concerns about his conduct.

Ramsey has boasted of his company’s code of conduct, which includes a “righteous living” core value, and his ability to control the personal lives of employees.

“I’ve got a right to tell my employees whatever I want to tell them,” he said in a Q&A segment about the company code posted on the company website. “They freaking work for me.”

This story has been updated with a statement from Ramsey Solutions.

This article originally appeared here.

Faith Leaders Across U.S. Join in Decrying Voting Restrictions

By
AP News
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voting restrictions
FILE - In this Monday, March 29, 2021 file photo, Georgia State Rep. Park Cannon, D-Atlanta,, center, walks beside Martin Luther King, III, as she returns to the State Capitol in Atlanta. Georgia, faith leaders are asking corporate executives to condemn laws restricting voting access — or face a boycott. In Arizona and Texas, clergy have assembled outside the state capitols to decry what they view as voter-suppression measures targeting Black and Hispanic people. (AP Photo/Ben Gray, File)

AP News In Georgia, faith leaders are asking corporate executives to condemn laws restricting voting access — or face a boycott. In Arizona and Texas, clergy have assembled outside the state capitols to decry what they view as voter-suppression measures targeting Black and Hispanic people.

Similar initiatives have been undertaken in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and elsewhere as many faith leaders perceive a threat to voting rights that warrants their intervention in a volatile political issue.

“It is very much in a part of our tradition, as Christians, to be engaged in the public square,” said the Rev. Dr. Eric Ledermann, pastor at University Presbyterian Church in Tempe, Arizona, after the event outside the Statehouse.

“When people say, ‘Let’s not get political in the church’ — Jesus was very political,” Ledermann said. “He was engaged in how his culture, his community was being shaped, and who was being left out of the decision-making process.”

Georgia already has enacted legislation with various restrictive voting provisions. More than 350 voting bills are now under consideration in dozens of other states, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy think tank. Among the proposals: tightening requirements for voter IDs, reducing the number of ballot drop boxes and curtailing early voting.

African Methodist Episcopal Bishop Reginald Jackson, who oversees AME churches in Georgia, has been urging corporate leaders to do more to fight voting restrictions. So far, he’s dissatisfied with the response, and says he may call for boycotts of some companies.

In numerous states, voting rights activism is being led by multifaith coalitions that include Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups. Here is what some of the faith leaders are saying:

___

The Rev. Dr. Cassandra Gould, executive director of Missouri Faith Voices, for whom the issue is “very personal”:

“I’m from Alabama, a little town called Demopolis. It’s 47 miles west of Selma, where my mother fought for rights, went to jail on Bloody Sunday (in 1965). … So those are the stories that I grew up with. I never imagined that I would still be fighting the same fight.”

“There is a playbook to suppress votes, to shrink the electorate. And we believe fundamentally, as a tenet of faith, that it should be expanded so that people are included, not excluded.”

___

The Rev. Dr. Warren H. Stewart, Sr., senior pastor at First Institutional Baptist Church in Phoenix and chairman of Arizona’s African American Christian Clergy Coalition:

“If you read the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, it talks about justice, talks about being on the side of the oppressed, the downtrodden, the orphan, the poor. And this whole voter-suppression issue is about fighting against those who would oppress people of color, the poor, people who are struggling to make it in life. So it is a faith issue as much as a justice issue. They’re not disconnected.”

“The reaction of the Republican Party, to the most people ever voting in the history of the United States, is that ‘we’re gonna lose in the future.’ So it’s very obvious that this is not about accountability or about ethics, it’s about politics. And that’s unjust, and so that’s why we’re out here.”

___

The Rev. Frederick Haynes III, pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas:

“We have those in leadership — in Texas government — who have in their ideological DNA the same mindset of those slave masters who denied the humanity of Black people. The same mindset of those individuals who upheld Jim and Jane Crow segregation. … Gov. (Greg) Abbot and his Republican cronies have decided to dress up Jim and Jane Crow in a tuxedo of what they call voter integrity, but it’s still Jim and Jane Crow. … You are simply trying to create a problem for voters you don’t want to vote.”

___

The Rev. Edwin Robinson, organizer of Dallas Black Clergy:

“No matter what side of the political aisle you find yourself, any attempt to hinder voting is an attempt to take away our greatest freedom and liberty. … We should be doing everything to protect our greatest freedoms — and make ways for our citizens to enthusiastically vote and do so free from fear and intimidation.”

___

The Rev. Anne Ellsworth, priest at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Parish in Tempe:

“I am a pastor in a white congregation. I am a priest in a church, the Episcopal Church, that is famous for our white, Christian, moderate stance. … My interest is in awakening knowledge in other white, moderate, Christian women who have remained silent or who have felt powerless or think that it doesn’t matter to them. My guiding light is a quote from Martin Luther King: ‘There are not enough white people who value or who cherish democratic principles more than white privilege.’”

“White Christian women know what it is to have our voices silenced. And we cannot stand by while other people’s voices are also being silenced. We need to recognize our privilege and use it as leverage to fight voter suppression aimed at Black Americans.”

___

Rabbi Lydia Medwin of The Temple in Atlanta:

“The Jewish community has responded to the call of our African American brothers and sisters since the since the Civil Rights era began. When our partners and people that we care deeply about say to us, ‘We’re hurting, we’re being treated unfairly,’ we have no other response but to step up.”

___

Rabbi David Segal, Texas organizer for the Religious Action Center for Judaism Reform:

“The backlash against Georgia passing legislation is actually helping us in Texas, because we’re able to point to that and organize the anger around those laws to try and stop it here. … People of faith stand for inclusion and stand for respect and stand for acceptance and a different kind of justice.”

___

Associated Press writer Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared here.

Why a Successful VBS Has to Be a Church-Wide Event

By
Sam Luce
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communicating with the unchurched

In an earlier blog post, one of the points that I got the most questions about was why a successful Vacation Bible School has to be a church-wide event. My reasoning behind this statement was because I have done VBS as a departmental event and a church-wide event. VBS is such a large event that it either adds to the life of the church or it drains life from the children’s ministry department within the church. Here are a few of the differences I have found between a departmental VBS and a church-wide VBS.

Why a Successful VBS Has to be a Church Wide Event

A department VBS is lost in the sea of summer promotions. A church-wide VBS every department feels the pressure so they each push its importance. We canceled our worship team practice because we needed the space but it said to worship team that we are in this together. It served as a reminder that they should register their kids and invite others to come. We canceled our regular programming for youth ministry the week of VBS because of space and because so many of our youth are involved in making VBS a reality.

A department VBS is done on a limited budget. When you have church-wide expectations and the reputation of the church is resting on the VBS not the reputation of the department. The budget matches the expectations from the church on the department.

A department VBS is staff driven and you run into competing departmental needs for space and time. A church-wide VBS is driven by the Lead Pastor in terms of departmental unity as well as expectations for the event.

A department VBS is pushing up the need for training and disciplining the next generation. A church-wide VBS pushes out to the church the idea that we as a community of faith are responsible to train the next generation.

One of the other things that change and why we started doing VBS wasn’t to primarily attract people to our church even though that is one of the reasons we do VBS. The primary reason we do VBS is to partner with parents and disciple kids. I stopped doing a departmental VBS years ago because it wasn’t accomplishing our goals. We restarted VBS last year as a church run VBS and it’s amazing.

This article originally appeared here.

14 Ideas for High-Impact Youth Missionary Trips

By
Stephanie Martin
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communicating with the unchurched

For many Christian teens, a highlight of their time in youth ministry is venturing out on youth missionary trips with their friends. And while traveling to another country, state or city is always exciting, the definition of “missions” has expanded greatly in recent years.

No matter your group’s size, budget or ability levels, options are available for youth missionary trips that meet your specific needs. Some creative ideas involve little travel and little-to-no money or planning.

Start smaller with these 9 service ideas—and read on when you’re ready for bigger youth missionary trips:

1. Reach out to people experiencing homelessness.

Homelessness is a huge problem in America, especially in urban areas. Students can meet people’s tangible, day-to-day needs by distributing baggies, backpacks or even water bottles filled with hygiene items and nutritious snacks.

2. Place Scripture-filled sticky notes inside library books.

For an in-town adventure that offers glimpses of hope and cheer, simply write encouraging Bible verses on a bunch of sticky notes. Then visit a local library as a youth group and put the notes on the inside covers of books.

3. Hold a pay-it-forward service day.

Dedicate a day to performing acts of kindness throughout your community. As students serve people, have them hand out cards with a Pay-It-Forward Challenge, encouraging recipients to perform a kind deed for someone else.

4. Bless healthcare workers.

Gather small gifts and homemade goodies, and then deliver them to a nearby hospital or clinic. Buy plain white paper gift bags in bulk and have kids cut out and glue a red paper cross on each bag. Medical workers will be uplifted by this act of care and support.

5. Clean up a local cemetery.

Tending to graves is an unusual but very useful (and touching) act of service. While you and your kids are pulling weeds and picking up trash, you can have interesting Bible-based discussions about life, death, heaven, ancestors and the faith legacies that people pass on to others.

6. Sow seeds of God’s love.

As a youth group, visit a park or public garden and hand out packets of seeds. Beforehand, stick positive messages on the packets, such as “Grow in God’s love” and “Stay rooted in God.”

7. Host a special event.

Have students organize an event for the church or community. Ideas include a carnival, a craft fair, a game night and a sports clinic. Or kids can hold a fundraiser and donate all the proceeds toward a special charity project.

8. Volunteer for VBS.

If your kids aren’t already involved with vacation Bible school, encourage them to volunteer as pairs, teams or large groups. Take this one step further by volunteering to help at other VBS programs in your community, especially at smaller churches. Students with creative skills can take the lead on sets, stages, signs and decorations.

9. Brighten the day for shoppers.

Get permission from a local dollar-store to hide some dollar bills on shelves. With just a little cash, you can produce some big smiles among random shoppers.

When you’re ready for more travel, here are 5 resources for taking Christian youth missionary trips:

1. Group Mission Trips

Students work together to complete service projects that have a lasting impact on residents and communities. Jesus-centered programs and devotions spark deep conversations that help participants grow in their faith.

2. LeaderTreks

This organization turns typical youth missionary trip activities into leadership laboratories. Youth group members gain real-life leadership experience through service projects, relational ministry activities and age-appropriate responsibilities.

3. Mission Discovery

For youth missionary trips focused on servanthood and discipleship, this group offers one- to two-week options. The work sites are often “desperate communities” where students can meet tangible needs and, just as importantly, provide love and hope to people.

4. Team

Teenage disciples of Jesus can travel throughout the world and make more disciples in the process. This group arranges for students to assist with everything from creation care to church planting and community development.

5. City Service Mission

This organization specializes in urban youth missionary trips, immersing teens in cities so they can meet real needs. Young people also learn what city dwellers face and how to overcome challenging circumstances.

What other ideas and resources do you recommend for youth missionary trips? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Liberty Sues Jerry Falwell Jr., Seeking Millions in Damages

By
Sarah Rankin
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jerry falwell jr
FILE - In this, Nov. 13 2019, file photo, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. talks to Donald Trump Jr. about his new book "Triggered" during convocation at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Liberty University has filed a civil lawsuit against its former leader, Jerry Falwell Jr., seeking millions in damages after the two parted ways acrimoniously last year. The Associated Press obtained the complaint, which was filed Thursday, April 15, 2021 in Lynchburg Circuit Court. (Emily Elconin/The News & Advance via AP, File)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Liberty University has filed a civil lawsuit against its former leader, Jerry Falwell Jr., seeking millions in damages after the two parted ways acrimoniously last year.

The complaint, filed Thursday in Lynchburg Circuit Court, alleges Falwell crafted a “well-resourced exit strategy” from his role as president and chancellor in the form of a 2019 employment agreement while withholding from the school key details about a personal scandal that exploded into public view last year.

“Despite his clear duties as an executive and officer at Liberty, Falwell Jr. chose personal protection,” the lawsuit says.

It also alleges that Falwell failed to disclose and address “the issue of his personal impairment by alcohol” and has refused to fully return Liberty’s confidential information and other personal property.

Falwell responded to a phone call from The Associated Press on Friday with a text saying he was not available to talk.

It wasn’t immediately clear if he has an attorney representing him in the matter. The AP left a message seeking comment with an attorney who has represented him previously.

Falwell’s departure from the Virginia university in August 2020 came soon after Giancarlo Granda, a younger business partner of the Falwell family, said he had a yearslong sexual relationship with Falwell’s wife, Becki Falwell, and that Jerry Falwell participated in some of the liaisons as a voyeur.

Although the Falwells acknowledged that Granda and Becki Falwell had an affair, Jerry Falwell denied any participation. The couple alleged that Granda sought to extort them by threatening to reveal the relationship.

The lawsuit says that Falwell had a “fiduciary duty to disclose Granda’s extortive actions, and to disclose the potential for serious harm to Liberty.”

Instead, Falwell “furthered the conspiracy of silence and negotiated a 2019 Employment Agreement that contained a higher salary from Liberty,” the suit said.

A Liberty spokesman didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about whether the school had additional comment.

Before the Granda scandal exploded, Falwell had already been on leave after he posted a photo on social media that sparked an uproar. It showed Falwell on a yacht with a drink in his hand and his arm around a young woman who was not his wife, their pants unzipped and his underwear exposed.

The lawsuit, which alleges three counts – breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and statutory conspiracy – is seeking more than $10 million in damages.

Falwell, an attorney and real estate developer, had led the evangelical school since the 2007 death of his father, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who also founded the Moral Majority, the political organization that made evangelical Christians a key force in the Republican party.

In early 2016, Falwell become one of the first conservative Christians to endorse Donald Trump for the presidency, and defended him after Trump’s lewd remarks about women and sexual assault, captured in a 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording, became public late in the campaign.

Falwell went on to court controversy and stay in the news, vigorously criticizing Democrats online.

This story originally appeared on APNews.com.

Study: Multiracial Methodist Churches Draw AND Keep More People Than Their White Counterparts

By
Yonat Shimron
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good shepherd church
Musicians perform during a service at Good Shepherd Church in Charlotte, SC. Image courtesy of Good Shepherd Church

(RNS) — Pastor Talbot Davis routinely knocks on doors in the neighborhoods around his Good Shepherd Church, offering to pray a blessing over a new home or a new homeowner.

Over time, he realized his congregation did not reflect the growing diversity of the neighborhood. So about 20 years ago, he set about transforming his church, located on the southern tip of Charlotte, North Carolina, near the border with Fort Mill, South Carolina, into a multiracial congregation.

He succeeded.

Pre-pandemic, Good Shepherd had a Sunday attendance of 2,000, and has grown to become not only the largest United Methodist church in the Charlotte area, but also its most diverse. About 65% of worshippers are white; the rest, Black and Latino.

Now, a new study published in the academic journal Social Forces suggests Davis’ strategy is not an anomaly. The study, which examined data from over 20,000 United Methodist congregations between 1990 and 2010, found that racial diversity inside a church is associated with higher average attendance, especially when the church is in a white neighborhood.

RELATED: Study: Multiracial churches growing, but racial unity may be elusive

As the study points out, the 6.6 million-member United Methodist Church is predominantly white. But its racially diverse congregations are faring better than white churches at a time when the denomination as a whole is experiencing declining attendance. The study found that the average attendance at United Methodist churches dropped to 64 people in 2010, down from 81 people in 1990.

“If the Methodist pattern is true of other denominations, pursuing racial diversity is a strategy for growth,” said Kevin Dougherty, associate professor of sociology at Baylor University and the lead author of the study.

That’s a startling result coming on the heels of other longitudinal studies showing that attracting and retaining a mix of different races within a congregation can be challenging. It may also seem counterintuitive to many Americans emerging from a season of racial strife.

At least since 1970, conventional wisdom held that successful churches were racially, ethnically and culturally homogeneous. That year, a book called “Understanding Church Growth” by a Fuller Theological Seminary professor and church growth expert suggested the more people had in common — such as race, education, income and geography — the fewer the barriers would be to Christian conversion and subsequently church growth.

Donald McGavran’s “homogeneous unit principle” proved hugely influential among church planters who set out to form niche congregations suited to particular racial/ethnic groups.

Good Shepherd, started in the early 1990s, was one; it identified suburban, middle-class whites as its target group. But by 2000, the congregation came to the conclusion the homogeneous unit principle was “heresy.”

Graham’s Prayer Request for Pence on the Gab App Sparks ‘Traitor’ Comments

By
Stephanie Martin
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gab app
Source: Cornstalker, CC BY-SA 4.0

When former Vice President Mike Pence underwent routine surgery this week to install a pacemaker, evangelist Franklin Graham used social media, including the Gab app, to request prayers for recovery. Some internet users took that opportunity to voice their opinions about Pence, specifically regarding his action—or inaction—on January 6, during violent protests at the U.S. Capitol.

Although President Trump and his supporters had encouraged Pence to block the certification of Electoral College votes that day, the VP concluded he didn’t have “unilateral authority” to do so. Chants of “Hang Mike Pence!” could be heard among the crowd on January 6.

Franklin Graham on the Gab App: Pence ‘Is on the Mend’

On April 15, Graham posted this message on his social media accounts, including the Gab app, which touts its support for “free speech”:

Former Vice President Mike Pence is recovering from his surgery to have a pacemaker implanted yesterday. They said he should be back to full activity in just a few days, but I know that he, Karen, and their family would appreciate your prayers. He told me this evening that he is on the mend and God is good!

Negative comments soon appeared, with many people on Gab calling Pence a traitor who needs to repent. The theme of a stolen or fraudulent election also runs through many responses.

“True, God is good,” one person writes. “He’s given the Americans a second chance to see Traitor Pence prosecuted and hung.” Another writes, “Pence is a traitor. But I’ve been told we should pray for our enemies.” One notes that with a longer life, the former VP “will have more time and opportunity to do penance and make amends for the terrible damage he did to the USA by shirking his responsibility.”

Some Gab comments question Pence’s faith: “No one close to God would have such an untroubled conscience,” reads one. Another person writes, “Judas’s health is failing, let this be a lesson to all… He chose accolades from satanists instead of praise from martyrs.”

Other comments include, “He’s a spineless sellout” and “A spine implant would have been useful,” with that person adding, “Another RINO [Republican In Name Only]. I don’t wish bad on him, but he is useless.”

Comments on Twitter Trend in the Opposite Direction

In response to Graham’s identical prayer request on Twitter, people posted comments such as “I didn’t even know he had a heart,” “Prayers but I won’t support him if he runs,” “Your orange god tried to have Pence murdered by an angry crowd” and “Who wouldn’t need a pacemaker after all the stress of knowing Trump wants to off you!”

The former VP, a pro-life Christian who served as governor of Indiana, recently launched a political advocacy group called Advancing American Freedom. His name is being raised as a possible Republican candidate for the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Pence is expected to make a full recovery and “return to normal activity in the coming days,” according to his office. He had experienced heart-rate abnormalities before receiving the pacemaker at a Virginia hospital this week. “My family has been truly blessed by the work of these dedicated health care professionals,” Pence said in a statement.

Christians Confined to Home by Police, Tribal Threats in India

By
Morning Star News
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korwa
Source: CC-by-sa PlaneMad/Wikimedia

HYDERABAD, India (Morning Star News) – A Christian family in eastern India has been confined to their home for months amid police threats to jail them for “breach of peace” after tribal mob assaults for leaving their native religion, sources said.

The mob of tribal followers of native religion gathered police and news media to accompany them when they beat Christians in Jharkhand state’s Khala village, Garhwa District, earlier this year, said one of the attacked Christians, Asha Korwa, a mother of two young children.

“The mob brought with them the village president, media and police officers,” said Korwa, whose children, ages three and six, were beaten on Jan. 31 along with her and her husband. “As the media clicked our pictures and videotaped the attack, the police watched as mere spectators. They did not stop the assailants or the media.”

After the midnight attack by a large mob of tribal animists, Garhwa police ordered the Christian family not to leave the village, she said.

“Police officers at Garhwa police station summoned my husband to the police station and told him that he has been held responsible for the breach of peace and public tranquillity under Section 107 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” Korwa told Morning Star News. “They told him that nobody from my family will step out of the village and that, if necessary, they would take our entire family into custody.”

Police harassed them the following days, she added.

“The first 10 days of February, we could not breathe in our own home,” Korwa said. “The police officers were stopping by to enquire if we have committed a breach of peace. They would go to our neighbors to take their report as to whether we behaved well.”

The tribal animists first attacked on Jan. 22, holding her husband, Sukender Korwa, by his shirt and striking his back as they ordered them to stop Christian worship in their home, she said.

“Our house is very close to the main road, and they get annoyed by even the slightest of the noises that can be heard when we praise and worship,” she said. “On the day of the first attack on Jan. 22, a batch of strongmen from the community stormed into our home and started badgering us, ‘Why are you shouting hallelujah? How dare you worship a foreign god!’”

After beating Sukender Korwa, the assailants left after threatening that they would chase down and kill the family if they ever heard Christian worship from their home again, she said.

When a larger mob arrived the following week and began beating all family members, Asha Korwa asked them why they had returned.

“I asked them that they have warned us and gone away just few days ago, so why did they return to attack us again?” she said. “What mistake have we done that they were beating my small children?”

The next morning, local newspapers and news channels carried stories that some members of the community had accepted a new faith, she said.

LGBTQ and the Church Podcast Series: A Conversation We Need to Have

By
Jason Daye
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communicating with the unchurched

Our latest podcast series, “LGBTQ and the Church,” engages what has been an important conversation for some time. We believe it is only growing more urgent that believers and church leaders engage in this discussion with love and with wisdom.

There are many questions Christians are wrestling with, including, what does it mean to love someone in the LGBTQ community while not compromising what the Bible says? Can someone be gay and a Christian? Should we use someone’s preferred pronouns? How can pastors address these topics with care from the pulpit? 

We will explore questions like these from multiple angles: theological, academic, cultural and social. We will also hear the local pastor’s perspective. Our guests are more than experts—for some of them this conversation is extremely personal. We hope this series will be informative and help you navigate this challenging area of life and ministry with wisdom, grace, and love.

Dr. Juli Slattery: This Is How the Church Can Begin the LGBTQ Conversation

Dr. Juli Slattery is a clinical psychologist, author, and speaker, as well as the president and co-founder of Authentic Intimacy, a ministry devoted to reclaiming God’s design for sexuality. Juli is the author of 10 books and hosts the weekly podcast, Java with Juli. She also provides many helpful resources for ministry leaders at SexualDiscipleship.com. Juli and her husband, Mike, are the parents of three sons; they live in Akron, Ohio.

Listen to Dr. Juli Slattery’s podcast on the ChurchLeaders Podcast today.

Other Ways to Listen to This Podcast With Dr. Juli Slattery

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Dr. Gregory Coles: It’s Possible to Be Same-Sex Attracted and Fully Surrendered to Jesus

gregory colesDr. Gregory Coles is writer, speaker, and academic researcher who has done important work in the field of rhetorics of marginality, focusing on the impact of language on marginalized groups. He is part of the collaborative leadership team at the The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender and the author of several books, including Single, Gay, Christian: A Personal Journey of Faith and Sexual Identity and his latest, No Longer Strangers: Finding Belonging in a World of Alienation. When he isn’t writing or speaking, Greg can usually be found playing piano at a local church, dabbling in songwriting, jogging, or baking homemade granola.

Listen to Dr. Gregory Coles’ podcast on the ChurchLeaders Podcast today.

Other Ways to Listen to This Podcast With Dr. Gregory Coles

► Listen on Apple
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Jackie Hill Perry: Why Does a Good God Allow Suffering and Evil?

By
Jessica Lea
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communicating with the unchurched

Many Christians—and people in general—are uncomfortable with tension when it comes to life’s most difficult questions. Yet Christianity is full of paradoxes. And perhaps the most challenging Christian paradox of all is the problem of evil.

“I think one of the paradoxes that exists in the people around me, or one they struggle with the most, is this concept of God being good, yet suffering being present,” said author and speaker Jackie Hill Perry in a recent episode of The Gospel Coalition Q&A. “How does that work? How can God be a good God, yet at the same time there are so many bad things among us?”

While there are helpful truths we can recognize as we tackle the problem of evil, there are no easy answers—something Perry and fellow author and speaker Jen Pollack Michel made clear as they discussed how believers should approach one of the most difficult challenges many of us will face. 

Christians and the Problem of Evil

How can a perfectly good, all-powerful God co-exist with the evil that is present in this world? If God cares about justice, why is injustice rampant?

Christians have their own version of this problem because it seems strange that God would allow his own children to go through pain and suffering. “How can God be good, yet there is suffering in my life as a Christian?” asked Perry. “Ain’t I his? I’m a beloved, but you said I should expect trials and that they’re good for me and they’re making me golden?”

Perry pointed out that God’s character is the root of why we struggle with the problem of evil in the first place. We desire justice because God loves justice, and we are made in his image. “I think it’s the impatient parts of us that don’t recognize that justice is on the way,” she said, “but that justice also was done in the past on Christ Jesus.” 

Perry also suggested that one good question to ask is, “What do we expect out of goodness?” The implication is that if we expect an immediate resolution to what we are going through, we are likely to be disappointed. She said, “I’ve tried to anchor myself in the fact that God is so much more committed to my sanctification than he is my comfort. And so that being the case, then he is good to me because he is showing me him in these difficulties.” 

Michel brought up the Book of Job, the classic biblical text that grapples with the problem of evil, and pointed out that, like many of us, Job’s friends did not know how to make sense of suffering. The friends incorrectly believed that Job, who was a righteous man, must have done something to deserve all of the pain he was going through. For him to be blameless before God but suffer terrible trials “didn’t make sense in their worldview,” said Michel.

Perry and Michel agreed that when it comes to the problem of evil, we need to accept suffering as being “mysterious.” Michel said that when she has experienced personal suffering, some people have wanted to offer her quick answers in order to explain what happened. And it is true that the Bible does “make sense” of our suffering. Romans 5:3-5 says, “We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 8:28 says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”

“But that does not really reduce the tension of it,” said Michel, “especially when you’re in the middle of it.” So instead of trying to escape the tension as quickly as we can, we need to accept the mysteriousness of our situation. She believes that when we refuse to do so, it is out of a “desire for control.” We want a God who “acts as we expect, a theology that is going to deliver outcomes that we can anticipate.” The problem is, said Michel, “that kind of desire for control is not faith. Faith is taking God at his word whether it looks like it makes sense or not.” 

Analog Vs. Digital Mixer – The Great Debate

By
Duke Taber
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digital mixer
Adobe Stock #370667829

Analog Vs. Digital Mixer? Both an analog mixer and a digital mixer can deliver fantastic sound, but they represent different ways of thinking about the process and the finished result. There are some musicians who are die-hard analog enthusiasts who swear that they will never go digital. They believe the analog components sound superior to digital, i.e., that they give a warmer and richer sound. Yet others prefer digital mixers.

Analog Mixers

Analog mixers are still the mainstay on most audio systems.

They have quite a range in price and in features. Some additional signal processors will shape the sound of each instrument if you are mixing a live band. It is a fact that most analog mixing consoles have a built-in four-band parametric EQ that helps to balance the tonal sound and makes space for each individual instrument in the mix.

You rarely find analog consoles with built-in dynamics available on every channel. That means an all-analog set up will require several racks of gear. You will need gear to accommodate the additional signal processing that includes compression and gates for each channel.

With your analog system, you will need to have wedge monitors or some sort of stage monitors. These are most usually on the floor and angled up towards the musicians and singers. They offer a dedicated mix which allows the musicians and singers to hear themselves while they are performing.

You have to be aware that feedback can be a problem. Therefore, you will need graphic EQs to remove the frequencies that are feeding back. You will need to add in signal processors such as multi-effects, delays, and reverb. The analog set-up may sound better as the die-hards say, but it will cost more money with all of this signal processing.

See page two for a discussion of a digital mixer.

Cardinal: We Should Excommunicate Catholic Politicians Who Support Abortion

By
Jesse T. Jackson
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communicating with the unchurched

Cardinal Raymond Burke, who holds a position that is directly beneath the Pope in the order of the Catholic church, released a statement earlier this month answering a question that came from non-Catholics and Catholics pertaining to abortion and politicians.

Cardinal Burke said he had been asked “how it is possible for Catholics to receive Holy Communion, while at the same time they publicly and obstinately promote programs, policies and legislation in direct violation of the moral law.” People particularly wanted to know his views on politicians who promote abortion, that is, “how Catholic politicians and civil officials who publicly and obstinately defend and promote the practice of abortion on demand can approach to receive Holy Communion.”

Burke said, “It is my hope that the following points of the Church’s teaching will be helpful to those who are rightly confused and indeed frequently scandalized by the all too common public betrayal of the Church’s teaching on faith and morals by those who profess to be Catholic.”

Burke concluded that anyone who defends and promotes the practice of abortion should not receive communion, and he laid out 12 points as to why he believed so.

Cardinal Raymond Burke Explains His Reasoning

Cardinal Raymond Burke pointed out that “the reception of Holy Communion by those who publicly and obstinately violate the moral law in its most fundamental precepts is a particularly grave form of sacrilege.”

The definition of sacrilege according to “Catechism of the Catholic Church” is a “grave sin especially when committed against the Eucharist, for in this sacrament the true Body of Christ is made substantially present for us.”

Cardinal Burke shared Pope John Paul II’s teaching and definition of abortion when the latter said, “I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being.”

The cardinal also posted Pope John Paul II’s response in 1964 where he said, “No circumstance, no purpose, no law whatsoever can ever make licit an act which is intrinsically illicit, since it is contrary to the Law of God which is written in every human heart, knowable by reason itself, and proclaimed by the Church.”

Burke stated it is the duty of the church to “safeguard the holiness of the Holy Eucharist,” by not allowing the people to commit sacrilege.

People who believe in and promote abortion are in a state of apostasy, the cardinal said, and have “abandoned the faith by the obstinate refusal, in practice, to live in accord with fundamental truths of faith and morals.” And because of this apostasy, they should be excommunicated from the church.

Denying or doubting the truth about what the Catholic church teaches “about the intrinsic evil of abortion” puts people in jeopardy of heresy, which would also result in excommunication.

The answer “is clear,” said Burke. “A Catholic who publicly and obstinately opposes the truth regarding faith and morals may not present himself or herself to receive Holy Communion and neither may the minister of Holy Communion give him or her the Sacrament.”

Cardinal Raymond Burke refrained from mentioning any politicians or civil officials by name, but the most notable would be President Joe Biden. If the cardinal did have the president in mind while giving his answer, it would not be the first time that President Biden was called out for his stance on abortion.

Tim Keller: No, Sexual Abstinence Is Not the Same As Purity Culture

By
Jessica Lea
-
communicating with the unchurched

Committing not to have sex before marriage is not the same as purity culture, says author and pastor Dr. Timothy Keller. While abstinence campaigns were a significant part of the purity movement, the requirement not to have sex outside of marriage has long been a part of the historic Christian faith.

“Some say that ‘sexual abstinence outside of marriage’ is identical to ‘purity culture,’” wrote Keller in a Facebook post Thursday. “This is simply not the case. The early church’s revolutionary sex ethic was that sex was only for within a mutual, whole-self-giving, super-consensual life-long covenant.” He continued:

This ethic replaced the (wrong) Greco-Roman model of sexuality—that men of higher status, even if married, were allowed to demand sex with anyone of lower social status. The first laws vs rape & sex without consent grew from this Christian ethic…Since then, every branch of the Christian church-orthodox, Catholic, & Protestant—in every culture and in every century has taught the ethic of sexual abstinence outside of marriage. 

Abstinence Is Part of Historic Christianity

“Purity culture” generally refers to an evangelical movement that took place in the 1990s and which, among other ideas, emphasized not having sex before marriage and promoted courtship over dating. Said Keller, “The teaching went far beyond the Christian sex ethic to argue that you should not ‘date’ or even kiss someone unless you were sure you were going to marry them. Sexual thoughts, most physical contact, and sex outside marriage were elevated to ‘unforgivable sins.’”

Joshua Harris’s book, “I Kissed Dating Goodbye,” is one of the most well-known books from that time period. Prior to announcing that he no longer believes in Christianity in July 2019, Harris decided to stop publication of his book, and he created a documentary exploring the flaws people saw in it. Among the critiques people leveled at “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” (as well as the broader purity movement) is that it leaned toward a fear-based approach to sex and romance and promoted the idea that marriage is better than singleness. It also encouraged the belief that if people wait until marriage to have sex, then once they are married, they will have great sex and a wonderful marriage—which is a version of the prosperity gospel.

Purity culture was a reaction to the sexual promiscuity of the previous decades, and it is not that the movement’s ideas were all bad, as this author points out. Groups like True Love Waits, which encouraged young people to sign abstinence pledges, wanted to help people see sex as something precious. Part of the problem was that the purity movement reduced purity, which begins in the heart, to mere virginity. “Those who are angry at the abuses of purity culture are right to be so,” said Keller, “It has done harm and it should be called out and lamented.”

Because abstinence campaigns were a part of the purity movement, it is not hard to see how some, in rejecting purity culture, could come to see all abstinence as negative. This, Keller stressed, is a mistake. He said,

Sex is not for people who only give only a part of themselves (the physical, or maybe the emotional), but the whole self to the other—legally, economically, socially, emotionally, spiritually. The Greek word porneia (‘sexual immorality’) was infused with new meaning by New Testament writers. It meant any sex outside of marriage. It was based on a radical egalitarian principle that the husband’s body belonged to the wife, and the wife’s to the husband (1 Cor 7:4). That meant that anyone who within marriage exploited or abused was violating the Christian sex ethic just as much or more as those who had sex outside of marriage. 

Keller also pointed out that the purity movement happened quite recently in comparison to what the church has taught throughout its history. He concluded, “to say sexual abstinence outside of marriage is automatically ‘purity culture’ is at best historically naïve and uninformed and at worst deliberately dishonest. They are not the same.”

James Dobson Calls NCAA’s Transgender Stance ‘Complete Surrender’

By
Stephanie Martin
-
communicating with the unchurched

After the NCAA Board of Governors released a statement supporting transgender athletes, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson criticized it as “utterly insane” and as “brutality,” not equality.

Monday’s policy statement from the NCAA, which oversees collegiate athletics, allows transgender women to compete in women’s sports as long as they undergo testosterone suppression treatment. This “more inclusive” stance, says the NCAA, permits “inclusion and fairness [to] coexist for all student-athletes, including transgender athletes, at all levels of sports.”

NCAA Decision May Affect Host Sites

Though the NCAA didn’t mention the current debate in some states to ban transgender athletes, it indicated it’s keeping an eye on the situation. “When determining where championships are held, NCAA policy directs that only locations where hosts can commit to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination should be selected,” said the statement. “We will continue to closely monitor these situations to determine whether NCAA championships can be conducted in ways that are welcoming and respectful of all participants.”

Bans on transgender athletes have been enacted by four states so far, and South Dakota’s governor recently signed executive orders. The ACLU says almost 30 states are considering similar legislation, which seeks to avoid giving transgender athletes unfair advantages against other competitors.

Transgender advocates applauded the NCAA’s move. “The harm [of transgender bans] is real and is felt very personally by transgender kids just trying to live their lives as who they really are,” says Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen of the National Center for Transgender Equality. “The NCAA…board should hold those states passing these harmful laws accountable.”

After Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson recently vetoed a transgender-athlete ban, Walmart heir Tom Walton expressed support, calling the ban a “discriminatory policy…that limits basic freedoms and does not promote inclusiveness in our communities.”

James Dobson: ‘Biological Men’ Will Push Women off the Field

Dobson refutes the notion that the NCAA policy is nondiscriminatory and fair. “The NCAA’s stance was one of complete surrender,” he says. “Rather than standing up for women and girls, who fought for decades to obtain equal opportunities in athletics and education, the NCAA is falling for the lie that ‘inclusion’ and ‘fairness’ require allowing men to compete against women. This defies our God-given basics of biology and is utterly insane!”

The policy, says Dobson, will allow “biological men…to take the field in women’s sports, even if that means pushing women off the field.” He adds, “The NCAA and its leftist backers would call this progress and equality. I call it what it is: brutality!”

Dobson condemns the NCAA for “using its bully pulpit to further this dangerous and unethical ideology.” The psychologist and commentator urges Christians and “rational-minding Americans, who support women and girls, [and] are unwilling to fund, consume or otherwise approve of this nonsense,” to contact the NCAA board of governors, local colleges, and elected officials.

While covering the transgender-ban trend last year, Gospel Coalition editor Joe Carter wrote, “Many Americans are finally beginning to realize—perhaps too late—that transgender ideology primarily benefits men at the expense of women.” Soon, he added, “We’ll know who has won the race for public opinion. And then we’ll know if women athletes—and reality—have lost out once again.”

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