Read the Full Article at The Christian Post RSS Feed | homepage
The largest multi-site church in Minnesota is paving the way for two new satellite churches that could eventually qualify themselves as megachurches.
Read the Full Article at Crosswalk.com - News
Rick Moore and his congregation are part of an emerging shift away from single-location megachurches toward multiple site church that offers more than a good sermon.
Read the Full Article at The Christian Post RSS Feed
The Rev. Charles E. Blair, the founder of one of Denver’s first megachurches, died last Thursday at the age of 88.
Read the Full Article at ideas.blogs.nytimes.com
Today’s idea: Successful megachurches reflect American corporate history and management theory. Their architecture and organization “are best compared to those of the modern white-collar workplace.”
Read the Full Article at WN.com - Religion News
(AP) – Despite their reputation as symbols of baby-boomer America, Protestant megachurches attract a younger crowd and more singles than the average Protestant church, according to large-scale study released Tuesday. The survey also found distressing news for a movement that took off in the 1980s and remains influential in evangelical Christianity: megachurch-goers volunteer less and give less money than other churchgoers. Conducted by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford Seminary and Leadership Network, the survey of nearly 25,000 people who attend 12 U.S. megachurches was conducted from January through August 2008. It is billed as the largest representative national…
Read the Full Article at The Christian Post RSS Feed
Evangelical megachurches across San Diego, Calif., are joining Catholics to make a public outcry against abortion in their first ever joint pro-life rally on Sunday, the same day President Obama will address University of Notre Dame graduates.
Read the Full Article at PewForum.org | All News Feeds
U.S. megachurches are faring slightly better in the recession than smaller churches, findings from a new study show.
Read the Full Article at christian OR religion OR pastor OR pope - Google News
|
More Americans say they have no religion
International Herald Tribune, France Respondents who called themselves "non-denominational Christian" grew from 0.1 percent in 1990 to 3.5 percent last year. Congregations that most often use the term are megachurches considered "seeker sensitive." They use rock style music and less … A trend away from religion Minneapolis Star Tribune all 4 news articles |
Read the Full Article at Christian Today
A pastor at one of the largest and most influential megachurches in the US has resigned from his leadership position after admitting to sexual impurity according to a statement Tuesday by church officials
Read the Full Article at christian OR religion OR pastor OR pope - Google News
 WNCT |
Pastor vows to take politics out of pulpit
MiamiHerald.com, FL - 7 hours ago He also may mix in some of the contemporary Christian music played at New City services with the traditional choir and organ-based hymns found at Coral … Billy Graham grandson new pastor at Fla. church Fort Mills Times Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church chooses pastor Sun-Sentinel.com Coral Ridge Taps Graham Grandson to Be Senior Pastor Christian Post WCTV all 30 news articles |
Read the Full Article at christian OR religion OR pastor OR pope - Google News
|
Saddleback Pastor: Domestic Abuse Not Reason for Divorce
Christian Post - 8 hours ago The Christian Post later confirmed that the unattributed audio clip was of Tom Holladay, teaching pastor at Saddleback Church. Warren's church says violence no excuse for divorce Associated Baptist Press all 10 news articles |
Read the Full Article at News2
Adeboye and Pope Benedict XVI are the only Christian leaders on the list, which features both revered and reviled influencers including President-elect Barack Obama, the Clintons, Oprah Winfrey, Chinese President Hu Jintao, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. –
Charisma reports RCCG, which Adeboye has led since 1981, has some 5 million members
in 14,000 congregations in Nigeria alone and hundreds more across 110
nations. In 2006, the Lagos-based church movement built a U.S.
headquarters in Texas, and has planted several hundred churches
nationwide.
“In the developing world we say we want churches to be within five minutes’ walk of every person,” Adeboye told Newsweek. “In the developed world, we say five minutes of driving.”
A former math instructor at the University of Lagos, Adeboye began
working at RCCG translating the pastor’s sermons from Yoruba to
English. He now travels the world preaching at services that can last
as long as 12 hours.
Read the Full Article at News2
Following the fatal fall of a young actress during a Christmas performance at a Cincinnati megachurch, four special services that will focus on helping to process the loss are being held this weekend. –
The Christian Post reports “Our prayers and heartfelt sympathies go out to her family during
this incredibly difficult time,” Crossroads Community Church said in a
statement. “We are shocked and deeply grieved by this tragic accident.”
Keri Shryock, 23, fell about 25 feet to a concrete floor during
the opening night performance of “Awaited” on Wednesday. She died a few
hours later.
The 10,000-member church has canceled the remaining 10
performances of “Awaited” out of respect for all of those involved and
to facilitate the grieving and recovery process, the church said.
Read the Full Article at News2
Ousted from the “Hour of Power” TV show a month earlier, the Rev. Robert A. Schuller leaves his father’s Garden Grove church and plans to open his own ministry. –
The LA Times reports The Rev. Robert A. Schuller, ousted in October
as the preacher of the long-running Christian television program “Hour
of Power,” has resigned as senior pastor at the Crystal Cathedral and
plans to open his own ministry.
Church founder Robert H. Schuller removed his son as the sole
preacher on the 39-year-old television show after the younger Schuller,
three years into the job, refused to rotate his role with other pastors, the church said.
The younger Schuller was given the chance to remain as a Crystal Cathedral pastor — a role his father said he expected him to keep — but left the Garden Grove church in late November.
AP reports “It is expected that Robert will make an announcement soon regarding
plans for his new ministry,” the Crystal Cathedral said in the press
release. “The leadership and congregation wishes him all the best as
his plans unfold.”
The Crystal Cathedral is a part of the Reformed Church of America, of which the younger Schuller remains in good standing.
Read the Full Article at News2
Like evangelical churches around the country, the three churches have enjoyed steady growth over the last decade. But since September, pastors nationwide say they have seen such a burst of new interest that they find themselves contending with powerful conflicting emotions — deep empathy and quiet excitement — as they re-encounter an old piece of religious lore: Bad times are good for evangelical churches. –
The NY Times reports A recent spot check of some large Roman Catholic parishes and
mainline Protestant churches around the nation indicated attendance
increases there, too. But they were nowhere near as striking as those
reported by congregations describing themselves as evangelical, a term
generally applied to churches that stress the literal authority of
Scripture and the importance of personal conversion, or being “born
again.”
Part of the evangelicals’ new excitement is rooted in
a communal belief that the big Christian revivals of the 19th century,
known as the second and third Great Awakenings, were touched off by
economic panics. Historians of religion do not buy it, but the notion
“has always lived in the lore of evangelism,” said Tony Carnes, a
sociologist who studies religion.
Read the Full Article at News2
The pastor of Trinity Chapel Church of God, Jim Bolin, has been sanctioned by the Church of God for inappropriate behavior and will step down from the leadership of the 7,000-member west Cobb County congregation he founded. –
ajc.com reports Bolin’s son, Jason Bolin, assistant pastor at the Powder Springs
church, spoke to a gathering of the congregation Thursday night to
address the “inappropriate behavior” charge. Neither Jason Bolin nor
members of the congregation would elaborate on what the inappropriate
behavior entailed.
Jason Bolin did say his father had confessed before the Church of God acted on the charge of inappropriate behavior.
The one-hour meeting was devoted to talk of healing for Jim Bolin,
for his wife, Robin Bolin, their family and the church. Jim and Robin
Bolin together lead the congregation.
Read the Full Article at News2
Megachurches are a uniquely American phenomenon. Sprinkled across our urban sprawl, they promise a supersized religious experience, a Starlight Express-style sensory assault that enables you to see, hear and touch God. –
The Yale Daily News reports Megachurches are perfectly designed to manipulate the cognitive
states of their congregations. Music in the World Harvest megachurch
throbbed in the pews: intense, sweeping and repetitive. This
synchronizes the somatic states of the congregation and, like the
cooing of mother and child or a Radiohead concert, forms intense, even
ecstatic, emotional bonds. The rhythmic rocking and dance of the World
Harvest worshippers also disjoints the eye and the inner ear. By
ritualizing this disynchronization, you can induce a state of
slow-motion or suspension.
The megachurch movement in the United States promotes the most
primal form of religious practice. Many of these churches, like World
Harvest, are non-denominational and racially diverse. They often don’t
preach a specific Christian theology, but fulfill a fundamental human
desire for existential comfort and community.
Read the Full Article at News2
The 80,000-square-foot behemoth is Wave Church’s new worship center, an $18 million complex with a 2,500-seat, high-tech auditorium and a bookstore, cafe and coffee bar. –
The Virginian-Pilot reports (with video) What it intentionally doesn’t have, inside or out, are any of the
symbols – steeple, bell tower, stained glass, even a cross – that
traditionally say “church” to the public.
“I just don’t think that’s what people are looking for in the 21st
century,” said the Rev. Steve Kelly, senior pastor of the evangelical
church since 1999. “I was looking for something more corporate,
something more contemporary.”
Read the Full Article at News2
A U.S. district magistrate judge’s recommendation, issued Tuesday, sides with the Living Word Christian Center. The church had argued that it didn’t have to provide detailed financial information focusing on the compensation of its founder and senior pastor, James (Mac) Hammond, requested by the IRS. –
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports Earlier this year, the IRS petitioned the U.S. District Court to
force the church to answer its demand for information. The church
argued that the request wasn’t made by a “high-ranking official” as
required by law, and the magistrate judge agreed.
“We recognize that churches must abide by the tax laws of the United
States, and we have,” she said. “But Congress intended … that
government needs to tread very carefully when it’s going to enforce the
Internal Revenue Code with regard to churches because of the
sensitivity in the relationship between government and churches.”
Read the Full Article at News2
Bishop Thomas W. Weeks III, the leader of Global Destiny International Ministries, held services elsewhere Friday after his Duluth church was evicted from its campus Friday afternoon. –
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution [GA, USA] reports “He hasn’t made any payments at all since July of this year,” said
Stephanie Friese, attorney for Grimes-Square Executive, Inc. “The
landlord did try to work out something with him.”
Friese said the bishop owes more than $400,000 in rent and fees.