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Behind the Decline: Unraveling the Forgotten Reasons of Fading Neighborhood Churches

Behind the Decline: Unraveling the Forgotten Reasons of Fading Neighborhood Churches

No doubt you’ve heard the phrase, “There goes the neighborhood.” Historically, it has been associated with ethnic minorities moving into white neighborhoods. I don’t believe most people use the phrase today in such a way. However, during the civil rights movement and the following decades, many white neighborhood churches changed locations, often moving to the…

The post Behind the Decline: Unraveling the Forgotten Reasons of Fading Neighborhood Churches appeared first on Church Answers.

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4 Key Characteristics of Missional Congregations

4 Key Characteristics of Missional Congregations

Congregations that want to move forward and live more missionally need to understand and embody four key characteristics, says F. Douglas Powe, director of the Lewis Center and the James C. Logan Chair in Evangelism (an E. Stanley Jones Professorship) at Wesley Theological Seminary. Missional congregations must be connected to their context, bound as a […]

The post 4 Key Characteristics of Missional Congregations first appeared on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

The post 4 Key Characteristics of Missional Congregations appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

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The 5 P’s of Sustainability for Small Churches

The 5 P’s of Sustainability for Small Churches

Rebekah Simon-Peter says small churches cannot succeed by emulating the megachurch model of programming for every stage of life. She believes that five P’s — people, prayer, provision, partnership, and presence — are key to the sustainability of smaller churches. To celebrate the Lewis Center’s anniversary, we are highlighting Leading Articles — some of our […]

The post The 5 P’s of Sustainability for Small Churches first appeared on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

The post The 5 P’s of Sustainability for Small Churches appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

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Four Reasons Why Church Giving Is Up While Attendance Is Down

Four Reasons Why Church Giving Is Up While Attendance Is Down

The median attendance of a church in 2023 is 60, down from 65 in 2020. That’s the bad news.  But giving is up. That is the good news. Giving in congregation jumped significantly, from a median of about $120,000 in 2020 to $170,000 in 2023. That is an increase of 42% over the past three…

The post Four Reasons Why Church Giving Is Up While Attendance Is Down appeared first on Church Answers.

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Why does Jesus’ wording of the Shema include the addition of ‘and with all your mind?’

Why does Jesus’ wording of the Shema include the addition of ‘and with all your mind?’

The vast majority of translations of Deuteronomy 6:4-5 read something like this:

“Hear, O Israel, YHWH is our god; YHWH is one. And thou shalt love YHWH thy god with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

Assu…

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In 1 Corinthians 1:1, is Paul a “called-apostle” or “called to be an apostle”?

In 1 Corinthians 1:1, is Paul a “called-apostle” or “called to be an apostle”?

(1 Corinthians 1:1) Παῦλος κλητὸς ἀπόστολος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ καὶ Σωσθένης ὁ ἀδελφὸς
(KJV) Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

Note that “to be” is added in …

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