I was raised in a Jewish home without a lot of theology. Okay, to be honest, without any theology really. My father never read or discussed the Bible at home, and he was downright hostile to those who were foolish enough to knock on our door spreading their religious views. There was simply no excuse […]
After a decade of college and young adult ministry, I am currently in the throes of planting Trinity Presbyterian Church in Annapolis. This is a word and sacrament church and will avoid "age and stage" ministries and programs, opting instead to keep the body of Christ together in worship and study. It would be a […]
The stage is set. The sound check is done. Leaders huddle for one last prayer. Cue the music. Dim the lights. Open the doors. A swarm of excited students pour into the venue. Many eagerly race to the front for the best seats. The emcee takes the stage and welcomes the crowd to what is […]
What did I do wrong? What did my spouse do wrong? How could it happen, when we have so many memories of shared Christian experience together? Did I catechize them enough? Love them enough? Was I too strict’or not strict enough? Too inconsistent in the way I lived what I professed? Could I have seen […]
It can sometimes appear as though Christians are threatened by questioning. Those who question must somehow be doubters or even unbelievers. The faithful need only believe and be silent. Enter Matthew Anderson and his new book, The End of Our Exploring: A Book About Questioning and the Confidence of Faith. Anderson argues persuasively that questioning […]
To borrow a phrase from faux fashion icon Mugatu in Ben Stiller's film Zoolander, liturgy is so hot right now. A minister at an evangelical Congregational church in Massachusetts uses the Book of Common Prayer at every baptism. In Texas, at an Emergent congregation with Baptist roots, the praise music ends and they celebrate the […]
Deciding which religious books are going to rule your life is no small issue. In a word, it is called "canon" (kanon), the "measure" by which a religious community seeks to comply in its religious thought, ethics, life, and even discipline. Therefore, when a church discourses on such matters, it cuts to the very heart […]
Collected in five volumes and edited by Chad Van Dixhoorn (published by Oxford University Press, 2012), this is a monumental academic and theological contribution. These volumes will probably form the basis for scholarship that seeks to interact with the Westminster Assembly for the remainder of this century, at least. It is, after all, a full […]
Dropout is a key word in today's evangelical churches concerning teenagers and young adults. The quote often sounds like this: "86% of evangelical youth drop out of church after graduation, never to return." The problem with that statement (and others around that number) is that it's not true. But that doesn't mean there is no […]
Sixty percent. That's the casualty rate in terms of teens and young adults abandoning church. The analogy that comes to mind is the First World War, where most of the casualties didn't happen suddenly. Trench warfare at places such as the Somme, the Marne, or Verdun introduced a new kind of "war of attrition." The […]
For over a decade I have taught an introductory course on Media Ecology at Grove City College, and I have written two little books about worship that are profoundly informed by Media Ecology. To write on this topic interests me in a number of ways, not the least of which is the interesting lexical issue: […]
