Tag «Mainline Challenges»

Twenty-Five Percent of Churches Disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church

The Lewis Center has issued a final report on disaffiliating churches in the United Methodist Church covering 7,631 churches approved by annual conferences for disaffiliation by December 31, 2023. There continue to be more similarities than differences between the cohort of disaffiliating churches and the total pool of United Methodist churches. Disaffiliating churches are disproportionately […]

The post Twenty-Five Percent of Churches Disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church first appeared on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

The post Twenty-Five Percent of Churches Disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

Twenty-Five Percent of Churches Disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church

The post Twenty-Five Percent of Churches Disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church first appeared on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

The post Twenty-Five Percent of Churches Disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

Some Questions for Further Research from the Disaffiliation Process

The recent disaffiliation process in the United Methodist Church leaves in its wake grief, hope, and many unanswered questions regarding the impact of prior unifications, the impact of clergy and judicatory leaders in the process, and the various motivations for disaffiliation. Lovett H. Weems of the Lewis Center staff raises some of these significant questions […]

The post Some Questions for Further Research from the Disaffiliation Process first appeared on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

The post Some Questions for Further Research from the Disaffiliation Process appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

Some Questions for Further Research from the Disaffiliation Process

The post Some Questions for Further Research from the Disaffiliation Process first appeared on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

The post Some Questions for Further Research from the Disaffiliation Process appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

Embracing Mutual Ministry: An In-Depth Interview with Lydia Bucklin

How can your congregation function as a community of ministers rather than a community gathered around a single minister? Lydia Bucklin of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan explains the Mutual Ministry Initiative and how this approach to shared ministry is flourishing among smaller churches in the Upper Pennisula of Michigan. Listen to this interview, watch […]

The post Embracing Mutual Ministry: An In-Depth Interview with Lydia Bucklin first appeared on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

The post Embracing Mutual Ministry: An In-Depth Interview with Lydia Bucklin appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

Embracing Mutual Ministry: An In-Depth Interview with Lydia Bucklin

The post Embracing Mutual Ministry: An In-Depth Interview with Lydia Bucklin first appeared on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

The post Embracing Mutual Ministry: An In-Depth Interview with Lydia Bucklin appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

Number of Young Elders in the United Methodist Church Reaches a Record Low Number in 2023

Lovett H. Weems Jr. highlights the decline in numbers of young clergy in the Lewis Center’s annual Clergy Age Trends Report. A dramatic decline in young elders, deacons, and licensed local pastors continues in the United Methodist Church. Download the complete 2023 Clergy Age Trends Report. For eighteen years, the Lewis Center for Church Leadership […]

The post Number of Young Elders in the United Methodist Church Reaches a Record Low Number in 2023 first appeared on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

The post Number of Young Elders in the United Methodist Church Reaches a Record Low Number in 2023 appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

The Stone Soup Recipe for Vital Small Church Worship

Teresa Stewart says that small congregations have a powerful worship planning option that expands participation, emphasizes lay leadership, ends the burnout of meetings, invites local gifts, and heightens anticipation. It’s called Stone Soup worship planning. Maybe you’ve heard it said that for lavish worship, congregations must have a “Worship Design Team” — experts gathered to […]

The post The Stone Soup Recipe for Vital Small Church Worship first appeared on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

The post The Stone Soup Recipe for Vital Small Church Worship appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

Leading Faithful Innovation: An In-depth Interview with Dwight Zscheile

What if congregational change didn’t focus on setting goals or planning new programs? Ann Michel of the Lewis Center Staff interviews Dwight Zscheile, coauthor of Leading Faithful Innovation. He shares a simple three-step process for experimenting with new practices that allow you to discover what God is already doing in the lives of your neighbors […]

The post Leading Faithful Innovation: An In-depth Interview with Dwight Zscheile first appeared on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

The post Leading Faithful Innovation: An In-depth Interview with Dwight Zscheile appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

Updated Report on United Methodist Disaffiliating Churches

The Lewis Center has issued an updated report on the characteristics of churches disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church that covers more than 6,100 churches approved for disaffiliation through June 2023. There continue to be more similarities than differences between the cohort of disaffiliating churches and the total pool of United Methodist churches. But disaffiliating […]

The post Updated Report on United Methodist Disaffiliating Churches first appeared on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

The post Updated Report on United Methodist Disaffiliating Churches appeared first on Lewis Center for Church Leadership.