A recipe for thriving rural congregations despite shifting demographics
Faced with declining attendance and aging membership, rural pastors can invite reflection on congregational history and community needs to adapt for new opportunities.
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A congregation renovates the old and builds something new to serve its members and community
Facing years of deferred maintenance and repair costs, a church in Lexington, Kentucky, looked outward as well as inward to make the best use of its historic space while expanding to meet a pressing local need.
Link to author Kory Wilcoxson
By
Kory Wilcoxson
Pastor and journalist
Why religious leaders need to understand agentic AI
To ignore or remain silent about the agentic revolution is to forfeit the ability to shape and speak into the moral framework of a world already being reshaped by agentic intelligence, writes a scholar.
Link to author Heidi A. Campbell
By
Heidi A. Campbell
Professor, Texas A&M University
Why are Christian congregations important today?
The Forum for Congregational Life will work to facilitate learning among all types of congregations in ways that strengthen and support them.
Alaina Kleinbeck
David L. Odom
Is your organization’s base strong enough to answer God’s call?
A painting must be created on canvas sturdy enough to support it. Likewise, congregations and organizations need a solid foundation if their ministries are to flourish.
Link to author Mycal X. Brickhouse
By
Mycal X. Brickhouse
Director, Fuller FORWARD, Fuller Seminary
Entertaining angels can be harder than it sounds, but it’s also worthwhile and important
While the Bible encourages us to be hospitable to strangers, the possibilities can be frightening. Some churches provide models for bringing people together beyond weekly services or liturgical ties.
Link to author Sarah E. Forsyth
By
Sarah E. Forsyth
Associate Director, Thriving Congregations Coordination Program
The hard and surprisingly hopeful lessons for churches five years after COVID
Pastors share what they’ve learned about their congregations, about the work of the church and about themselves five years after the pandemic forced most to close their doors.
Link to author Edie Gross
By
Edie Gross
Journalist
When songs become sermons — a different way of preaching
No longer able to sustain a choral program and facing clergy overload, members of a Maryland congregation now tell the old, old story by leaning into music, their pastor writes.
Link to author McKenna Wallen
By
McKenna Wallen
Pastor, Maryland Presbyterian Church
Don’t miss the significance of congregational toads in your church’s ecosystem
If we pay attention, the presence or absence of certain indicators can help us assess the vitality of our faith communities.
Link to author Victoria Atkinson White
By
Victoria Atkinson White
Vice President for Grants and Programs, Church Benefits Association
What happens when the church is turned upside down?
Encountering a sculpture in a public square prompts a church innovator to reflect on the changes in our institutions — and how to react to them.
Link to author Shannon Hopkins
By
Shannon Hopkins
Co-founder & lead cultivator, RootedGood
A Chicago church where discipleship begins with one person and emanates throughout the community
Lawndale Christian Community Church invests in its neighborhood with an “ecosystem” of programs, services and discipleship opportunities intended to help everyone who lives there thrive.
Link to author Alison Bowen
By
Alison Bowen
Journalist
