A Crunch in Collections
from The Sun News
Strapped residents - who have already cut eating out and skipping trips because of the slumping economy - are reluctantly dropping fewer dollars in church collection plates as the rising cost of necessities and swings in the stock market pinch their wallets. Simeon May, CEO of the National Association of Church Business Administration, said it's too soon to tell how hard churches will be hit by the economic crisis, which started coming to a head in the past few months. More

Recession Echoes in Nation's Churches
from The Associated Press via The Charleston Gazette
On a recent Sunday, the Rev. Richard Mahan scrapped a sermon on forgiveness. He felt compelled instead to address the economic turmoil battering the nation. "Everybody's facing hard times," he told worshippers at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Charleston, W. Va. "If you're not, you're going to." Include churches in that dismal forecast. More

How to Respond to Success in Ministry
from Pastors.com
Success can ruin a ministry. I’ve seen it happen too many times. It sounds strange. We plan for success, we dream about success, and – most importantly – we pray for success. Yet when it comes, we often self-destruct. More

Innovation of Ideas
from Ministry Today
When I think of innovation, my mind immediately jumps to products or services—the telephone, the assembly line, solar panels, airplanes, wireless Internet, etc. Tangible innovations that change the way we live. Yet another kind of innovation—an intangible type—is ideas. I believe that in this realm of innovation—of ideas and not products—the church is best positioned to be a catalyst for culture. More

Using Media for Contextualizing and Contending with the Gospel in Your Community
from Ministry Marketing Coach
As a marketing coach, I would like to be a part of helping churches do what Ed Stetzer calls "contextualizing and contending." That is, I don’t want to help a church contextualize without contending for God’s word and the Gospel, nor do I want to help them contend without contextualizing to culture.I believe only when you truly understand the people you want to reach, when you really comprehend their needs, can you develop ministry that is more than just contextualizing in style as so many are doing nowadays. More

Keeping Churches Safe Online
from Church Solutions
The Internet is a double-edged sword for churches. It has certainly opened new communication channels, providing easy access to worship schedules, activities and sermons as well as the ability to spread the Word far beyond an individual congregation’s four walls. But online connections in church facilities also carry risks, from user exposure to inappropriate content to sabotage by outsiders. As a result, churches must protect their staff and members from temptation as well as legal liability More

Finding Your Own Strength Zone
from Preaching.com
British poet and lexicographer Samuel Johnson said, "Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display qualities which he does not possess." If you have an image in your mind of what talents people are supposed to have, yet you do not possess them, then you will have a difficult time finding your true strengths. You need to discover and develop who you are. Here are a few suggestions to help you. More

Steps for Starting Multiple Worship Services
from LifeWay
We live in the age of multiple choices. One way for growing churches to reach people is to create options. Such options might include different worship styles under one roof; time options for busy people; and options addressing a particular need. A new worship service creates space for the existing worship service to grow. What steps can pastors and leaders take to start multiple worship services? More

Churches Push Fair-trade Chocolates for Halloween
from the Religion News Service via USA Today
Halloween's a time for pumpkins, costumes, and — if some faith-based groups have their way this year — global market awareness. Faith organizations and congregations around the country are promoting fair-trade chocolate for trick-or-treaters to raise consciousness about conditions and prices for cocoa farmers around the world. "This is an example of how everybody has the ability to make some change," said Susan Burton, who works for the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society in Washington. More

Paranormal Beliefs Aren’t Always Treated Equally
from Religion News Service
No one will be surprised to see ghosts and goblins on the loose today. But for some Americans, ghosts -- along with extraterrestrials, Bigfoot and UFOs -- aren't the stuff of seasonal sightings or tabloid teasers. They're real -- as real as a resurrected Jesus and a devious Satan are to millions. In the United States, though, not all supernatural beliefs are accepted equally. How people seem to parse the paranormal depends in part on religious belief and practice, a survey from Baylor University shows. More

Hospice Chaplains Take Up Bedside Counseling
from the New York Times
Some of the hospice patients talk about their impending deaths, or about God. Most just talk about what people always talk about — unfinished business and unanswered questions: regrets over firing an employee 50 years ago; the pet no one has yet promised to adopt; feeling sick to death of being sick yet not ready to die. Listening to final inquiries like these has long been the domain of a family priest or rabbi. But for a growing number of Americans who do not know a member of the clergy, that bedside auditor is increasingly likely to belong to an emerging professional class known in the hospice world as a pastoral counselor or chaplain, who may or may not be a clergy member. More