Church & Ministry

“Our information at this point is both early and anecdotal, but we are hearing from numerous pastors that many church members who were frequent in their church attendance are now once-a-monthers. This observation lends itself to many questions. Is this trend temporary, one that will improve as COVID concerns wane?” - Thom Rainer

“Southern Baptists saw an uptick in church planting and kept relatively steady levels of giving despite COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. But overall, the denomination experienced another year of decline, with the pandemic accelerating historically steep drops in membership and baptism.” - C.Today

“This is why secular authorities must intervene. The Southern Baptist Convention has repeatedly demonstrated it will not take meaningful action to expose clergy predators, to rectify harm to survivors or even to assess the scope of the problem.” - RNS

“Have a normal conversation. …a normal conversation about life, sports, family, who has the best French fries, whatever. Somewhere along the way, a problem with a child, a health concern with a family member, or an issue at work will pop up. Just offer this: Would it be OK if, when I pray, I include that in my prayers?” - Lifeway

“There are an amazing number of social media sites and blogs that seem to be created for the express purpose of criticizing Christianity – something the writer’s have supposedly rejected – and they continue for years and years.” - C.Leaders

“…I’m pro-life. I believe in saving the life of the unborn as much as those that are born…and medicine is pro-life.” - C.Leaders

“The pastor acknowledged the injunction, but chose to move forward with today’s service, ignoring requirements for social distancing, mask wearing and reduced capacity limits for attendees” - C.Post

“Increasingly they ask questions that aren’t trying to ‘evangelize’ me to atheism or to get cheers from the other skeptics but just to ask how someone could believe something like what I believe.” - Russell Moore

“ ‘Given the intense conversation over the past few days,’ said Greear, ‘I thought it would be helpful to share how The Summit Church approaches and applies this issue.’ He linked to The Summit Church’s position paper on the role of women in ministry.” - C. Leaders

“There are no tracking studies to show whether the number of pastors leaving the pastorate has changed significantly in 2020-21. Because of the long-term nature of the pandemic, it is likely there has been an increase in pastors leaving the ministry, but it is also likely the number is still small.” - LifeWay