Church Life

“The prosperity gospel is heresy…. there is something of a similar nature lurking in my own circles….the scarcity gospel. It is the belief that we should expect God to do very little through our churches or in our lifetime.” - By Faith

“I often get asked, ‘How important are announcements in the worship services?’ A corollary question is, ‘Aren’t the announcements a distraction from worship?’” - Thom Rainer

“Gen Z and Millennials are looking for a community that is welcoming and where they don’t feel like they need to leave any part of themselves out to be present.” - C.Leaders

“Is there biblical justification, given basic complementarian convictions, for the practice of women preaching sermons in a Sunday worship service?” - DeYoung

“The ‘association between attending in-person worship during lockdown and later testing positive for COVID-19 was limited primarily to those who were not previously frequent worship attendees,’ according to a study published in the American Sociological Association journal Socius.” - C.Today

“The size of the church determines the urgency of the revitalization, not necessarily the need…. Churches usually feel urgency before recognizing what is needed to fix the problem.” - Sam Rainer

“Love is a great ideal, until we have to work it out with other people, then we begin to wonder if love is worth all the grief. It’s time-consuming, expensive and, worst of all, it’s not all-about-me.” - C.Leaders

“…’Welcome times’ when members stand and guests remain seated. ‘Introduction times’ when guests stand and members remain seated. Ushers handing out name tags or info cards to seated guests as a part of the service (while all eyes are on them).” - Church Answers

“Despite my belief that many churches today are far too programmatic and pragmatic, I would still go back to having an old-fashioned ‘High Attendance Day’ (though I would not call it by that name)” - Chuck Lawless

“Often announcements are bemoaned as a distraction from worship—and they can be. But if everything a church does together is part of our worship, announcing them on Sunday should be also. In these announcements, we get to hear concretely how Scripture is moving this congregation to act together.” - 9 Marks