0
I am a weary Christian and I enter this Lenten season with a weary heart. I am struggling with a religion that I can barely recognize, a faith that has been so twisted and stretched, that it scarcely resembles the teachings of Jesus.
On yesterday the Rev. Alvin J. Gwynn Sr., president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance and pastor of Friendship Baptist Church continued this pattern by making a formal announcement endorsing Senator Cardin.
I had the privilege of preaching at the Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore Maryland on Sunday, February 5, 2012. I took this moment to learn from a “difference maker” in their pastor, Rev. Heber M. Brown III. I asked him the question we are wrestling with in our new book, “What makes a church alive?” His answer pushes us to reverse the question and move outside at this moment of resurrection. What does his response evoke in you?
Is the religion of our God that impotent? Doesn’t the Christian God demand that followers speak up on behalf of the oppressed? Does it make us “less Christian” if we speak up on behalf of a people who have nobody to speak for them?
My motivation for writing this book is plentiful. But one reason stands out the most; the commercialization of Hip-hop. I believe that radio stations, music video channels and those individual Hip-hop artists that are making a lot of money from the business side of Hip-hop has created a monopoly in the music and in the culture. As a result, the “other” side of Hip-hop lacks exposure and what we get is a one-sided view of Hip-hop that has many critics. But what I try to do in this book is expose the positive side of Hip-hop by introducing its spiritual and social justice characteristics; which are most notably seen through its various ministries in (and outside) of the church.
By Michelle Boorstein and Avis Thomas-Lester WashingtonPost.com A multimillion-dollar ministry that includes everything from a 19,000-member congregation to offering paid parking for Washington Redskins games is legally controlled by a board of directors, not the son of the ministry’s co-founder, a Prince George’s County Circuit Court judge ruled Monday. Judge Dwight Jackson’s ruling was a blow to...
By Allison Summers | Christian Post Contributor In a press conference last Wednesday for People Acting in Community Together, pastor of the Most Holy Trinity Church in San Jose, Calif., Eduardo Samaniego, joined other congregations, organizations and community members in announcing that the church will be cutting its ties with Bank of America in a move to say...
As more and more people access social networking sites, more and more churches are seeing it as the best new way to interact with their members-old and middle age, as well as with potentially younger or unchurched audiences. In many respects, social networking sites provide a free opportunity to interact with church members more easily and readily.
After decades of no growth in the ranks of female senior pastors serving in Protestant churches, a new Barna study that has tracked the ratio of male-to-female pastors indicates that women have made substantial gains in the past ten years. From the early 1990s through 1999 just 5% of the Senior Pastors of Protestant churches...
Although public skepticism of religion has become increasingly commonplace, a new Barna Group study shows that most Americans remain relatively upbeat about the role that local churches play in their communities. The nationwide study shows that three-quarters of U.S. adults believe the presence of a church is “very” (53%) or “somewhat” positive (25%) for their...
