Author, journalist, and pastor Jason Byassee says it was the natural move at his rather large, well-established Boone United Methodist Church in North Carolina: that his first hire would be someone charged to coordinate care of those who were not already members. Jason, an author who writes for the Christian Century and is a popular [...]

Which is rubbing off more: the Church on the Marketplace, or the Marketplace on the Church? Journalist, author, and UCC minister G. Jeffrey MacDonald is convinced that North America’s consumer mentality is shaping the Church in some worrisome ways – that we’re becoming more interested in value, convenience, and comfort vs more biblical values of [...]

Ten years ago evangelical Tom Harper joined with Thom Rainer to offer a resource to churches and pastors that would help them build healthy congregations. The result? ChurchCentral.com. Billed as a mega-blog, it consolidates essays, including a very helpful ‘White Papers’ area – and features articles and videos aimed at inspiring church leaders. Tom’s also [...]

Creating safe space for the ‘religiously-disconnected-but-still-interested’ young adult is a passion for David Zahl, whose media initiative, Mockingbird, is finding a steadily growing audience. Mockingbird (found at mbird.com) seeks to connect Christianity with everyday life. It’s a publishing venture that majors in blog posts, short books, and live conferences. In this interview David tells us [...]

Why reinvent the wheel? With so many churches doing exciting and inspiring work, Nancy Davidge’s role with the Episcopal Church Foundation’s Vital Practices initiative, has her on the prowl for new and innovative success stories in local congregations. Nancy says the big theme is reaching out – and in this interview tells us about how [...]

Building healthy churches begins with building healthy church members. That’s the thinking behind Forward Movement, a 1930′s initiative of The Episcopal Church, which is best known for its ‘Day by Day’ daily devotional pamphlet, but also includes tract, and book publishing. Scott Gunn is the gifted, energetic, and new face behind Forward. He’s a popular [...]

The North American Church is too easily enculturated, says author Rodney Clapp – and is at its best when it’s set apart as a peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9). Rodney, whose written several books and has a column in The Christian Century, says we need to get back to formation as a central organizing principle [...]

The well-known voice of the mainline radio program Day 1 revels in the breadth of preachers that are featured on this 67-year old program (formerly known as The Protestant Hour), but hints that the way into the future may not be promoting a particular brand of Christianity – but the One behind it all. Peter [...]

Founded as ‘the Voice of Evangelicalism,’ Christianity Today is recasting itself as a media ministry, ‘for the church’ says senior managing editor Mark Galli. This comes at a time when denominations are more willing to cooperate – and the Church is in serious need of that. I first heard about Mark from his thoughtful blog [...]

In a world consumed with consumption, interviewer and commentator Ken Myers says today’s Christian leaders do well to put on the brakes, and take the road less traveled. Ken, founder and host of the Mars Hill Audio Journal, has used his award-winning enterprise to help alert Christians not simply to what’s going on in front [...]