daddy4ms

Hesston MB, the church where I am a pastor, allows its pastoral staff a sabbatical after 5 years of ministry.  I am thankful to the church leadership for this opportunity to relax and be refreshed. I am excited about this time of sabbatical from May-July 2015.  Sabbatical is defined as                               a period of time during which someone does not work at his or her regular job and is able to rest, travel, do research, etc. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) a leave of absence, often with pay, usually granted every seventh year, as to a college professor, for travel, research, or rest. (American Heritage Dictionary)  Tomorrow I plan to share what my tentative plans are for my sabbatical.  But today I...

Bad news motivates people to act. The stats make good ad copy, but simply are not true. Stats for Young Americans: 32% are religious; 32% are spiritual, 3 in 10 are Nones Study from USC (followed 358 Californian families 1970-2005) to be released soon: Jews, Evangelicals, Mormons, and Nones are best at passing on their religion to their children. 74% of married couples who were both Evangelicals also had kids who were Evangelicals 57% of Evangelicals in interfaith marriage had kids who were Evangelicals USC Researchers found that a close relationship with a parent, especially a dad, was biggest predictor of passing on faith.  Nones-14% in 1970 and 57% in 2005 had parents who had been a None. Secularism is growing. From the book from Lost and Found Beliefs, view of church, spirituality, view of outreach of Age 20-29 compared with those 30 are older Younger age group were more favorable in all these areas. Lifeway research of Church dropouts When combined, the f...

Bad Stats:       Christians and non-Christians divorce at same rate       Christians and tippers       Christians and Disenfranchised Youth       The church is dying Why do we love bad stats?       Our brains are wired to be on the lookout for danger       Bad news motivates people to act       Sell books Bad stats don't solve problems. Bad stats lead to panic. What are some real stats?       General growth--Mainlines are decreasing; Evangelicals are increasing       Age 18-29--Mainlines went from 25 to 5%; Evangelicals are stable at 25% About half of Americans (44%) will change faiths before they are 22.        Most from mainlines-decline in 30% in 30 years The "Nones" are growing.  The behavior has not changed, but their identification has.       32% are religious       32% are spiritual (not using...