A new nationwide study shows that there’s a shift happening with how people view and engage with the Bible.

Young adults have an overarching skepticism regarding the Bible not present in older audiences surveyed.

So what does this mean for your church and ministry?

One way to look at it is that what you’re doing right now isn’t working.

It’s time to not just try different things. It’s time to BE different.

Are the sermons being crafted for the pulpit taking into consideration some of the issues important to the younger generation? Is your church’s discipleship curriculum trying to engage the younger Mosaics or are you just trying to force it upon them? Is your entire ministry embracing some the easiest ways to gain and keep the attention of our church’s future?

If you pay attention, you’ll see some of the things this report has found to be useful in evolving your ministry work:

• Young people want to participate in the process of learning
• They are turned off by too much formality in sermons and lectures on the Bible
• Instead of classrooms, they are craving experiences that appear unscripted and interactive
• One way dialogue is the old way. This group want a medium that allows open and honest questioning
• They want technologically stimulating, creative and visual content
• They want to grow in communion with their peers through authentic relationships

Does anything strike you as completely opposite of what you’re seeing now in the church?

Today’s guest post is from Kathy Leonard of Church Initiative. The ministry’s original purpose was to equip churches with resources to help people recover from the pain of separation and divorce, also to help couples remain together or reconcile whenever possible. Kathy shares a unique tactic one church has used to help get people in the door to its ministry programs.

A blip in the church bulletin. . .
An abbreviated pulpit announcement. . .
A spot on the church calendar. . .

How well is your church getting the word out about its programs?

And are people in your community even aware of the help available for them?

Lazybrook Baptist Church in Houston has gotten the attention of nearly every person driving by their church: “Do you relate to Jon and Kate?” reads their marquee. I can imagine the drivers doing a double take, then thinking “Yeah, I can relate to that.”

Although reality TV isn’t reality, it deals with real issues that people are facing. It’s one reason people tune in. That’s why it can be a great starting point for promotional efforts.

For example, Jon and Kate’s reality TV breakup hits close to home for people facing their own broken marriages. And Lazybrook’s new DivorceCare support group program aims to reach the separated and divorced in their community.

Using hot topics from reality TV as a church promo tool can relay a variety of messages:

• “God has something to say about the things you’re thinking about.”
• “What you hear on TV isn’t the final word about [relationships, parenting, sex, etc.].”
• “Church is a place where people can find answers to their questions and solutions to their problems.”

Pop culture is a vehicle your church can use to go straight to the heart of people’s problems. And you can be creative in expanding your ideas beyond marquees and reality shows!

Let’s draw people into our churches by:

* Connecting the spiritual with what they are already thinking about
* Making them aware that God has a something to say about “Hot Topics”
* Using messages that grab the attention of large numbers of people

What do you think about hooking into reality TV and other tabloid headlines in order to get people’s attention for the church?

As we announced recently, from now till the end of the year, we’ll release a new Christian Twitter background every Twitteratti Tuesday for free.

Stop on by each week and download a new Twitter-customized design to your computer, upload it to your Twitter account and you’re good to go!

Twitteratti Tuesday at Godvertiser.com will last at least till the end of this year, and we’ll have a new one waiting for you on Tuesdays.

Here’s this week’s Free Christian Twitter Design:

FREE CHRISTIAN TWITTER BACKGROUND

DOWNLOAD LINK

How to upload a custom background to your Twitter account:

1. Log in
2. In top navigation bar, click Settings (or go to http://twitter.com/account/settings)
3. Click the last settings tab, Design
4. Select a template, change your text and background colors, or upload your background image
5. Save your changes

We welcome your participation in helping to “fill the Twitterverse with the Bible and teaching of Christ!” If you are a designer and want to contribute a Christian-themed background for Twitter users, use the contact form and we’ll arrange to display + share your work with our brothers and sisters on the digital highway!

Right now, there’s approximately 40 online churches across the world wide web.

None of them have gotten it fully right yet.  Most online pastors will tell you they agree with that assessment too.

But all of them are also forging ahead without looking back.  It’s all about wrestling with technology, content and how to make the connections made in church online constitute authentic Christian community.

Check out this vid from Pastor Dave Adamson from LiquidChurch.com about the immediate future.

This is a glimpse of what’s ahead immediately in front of us.

It’s inevitable that church online will embraced by thousands of more people going forward.

Only time will tell about the real distant future — about what church online will look like then.  A bunch of stuff needs to happen with the church online model as it becomes fully acknowledged as another way of “doing church.”

What are your thoughts?

Church growth is such an important topic these days.

Some criticism has been that the mainline denominations haven’t been strategic enough about assimilation strategy and evangelistic intentionality.

But the Catholic Church apparently isn’t going to sit back and let church attendance decline on its own.

Instead, it seems that the Vatican has announced a decision to forgo organic growth in preference for a mergers and acquisition strategy — or rather a hostile takeover bid aimed squarely at the Anglican Church.

The Roman Catholic Church is taking advantage of recent political heat the Church of England is taking over female and gay clergy issues.  And the Pope felt it was the right time to reach out in hopes converting masses of disgruntled Anglicans to the Catholic faith.

At a press conference, the Vatican even announced a new canonical structure to accommodate existing Anglican traditions inside of the Catholic faith. In a way, it’s like acquiring a company and letting the current management to stay in tact. For example, married Anglican preists to stay married, alongside existing Catholic priests restricted from marriage (Hmm…will that sit well permanently without causing any friction????)

It’s a bold move.  Apparently it took a lot of people by surprise.  It also looks like the Anglican Church leadership didn’t have much choice either.

What do you think about this?  What is the Catholic Church really trying to do via this move?

John Piper recently explained why he engages in social media such as Twitter: He said that while there are  arguments against social media + church {i.e. narcissism}, he leans towards the argument that Christians should fill these media platforms with the Bible and the teaching of Christ.

Here’s one more way to help the cause.  Use a Christian-themed Twitter background for your account.

From now till the end of the year, we’ll release a new Christian Twitter background every Twitteratti Tuesday for free!

Just download to your computer and upload to your Twitter account and you’re set to go!

If you get tired of the background, no worries!  Just come back each Twitteratti Tuesday at Godvertiser.com and we’ll have a new one waiting for you.

Here’s this week’s Free Christian Twitter Design:

FREE CHRISTIAN TWITTER BACKGROUND

DOWNLOAD LINK

How to upload a custom background to your Twitter account:

1. Log in
2. In top navigation bar, click Settings (or go to http://twitter.com/account/settings)
3. Click the last settings tab, Design
4. Select a template, change your text and background colors, or upload your background image
5. Save your changes

We welcome your participation in helping to “fill the Twitterverse with the Bible and teaching of Christ!” If you are a designer and want to contribute a Christian-themed background for Twitter users, use the contact form and we’ll arrange to display + share your work with our brothers and sisters on the digital highway!

The Bible has been around for ages.  It’s worked just fine in print.

First, people tried to bring it alive with audio.

Then others said, hey, while we’re at it, why not dramatize it!

And now we’ve apparently arrived at the next iteration of experiencing God’s Word. . .

Finally, some one has brought the Bible into the present Web 2.0 world.  Or have they?

Here’s my wish list for a Bible 2.0 that would embrace all

• We live in an Internet world, put it online! A multi-media Bible should be available on-line, all the time, from anywhere.
• Instant Community - We should be able to interact live with other people that are reading the same portion of the Bible at any given time.  If it’s on the internet, it would be easy to know who’s invovled with which parts of the Bible in real-time.
• The Power of User-Generated Content - We grow by hearing each other’s testimonies.  By sharing our own.  By identifying with the common struggles we are all going through.  The next generation Bible will allow individuals to contribute their own stories, their own viewpoints, their own insights and joy.  Content shouldn’t be limited to ivory tower authors.  Wikipedia is more accurate than the Enclyopedia for a reason.
• Don’t Let Sermons Go To Waste - Preachers generate TONS of content weekly, easily tagged to a specific anchor verse.  Imagine being able to open the Bible and gain access to thousands and thousands of sermons of different flavors on the same portions of scripture.
• FAQ + SAQ - By aggregating the masses, you could assemble the most robust set of answers to FAQ’s as well as the Seldom Asked Questions.  Just imagine how many more questions would be sparked by a resource like that!
• Tour Guides - You could have live or multi-media guided tours of the Bible.  With virtual tours of Biblical landmarks, drama, art and other great content, real value can be created by taking people different journeys that bring new meaning to Bible Reading Plans.

Those are just some wish list ideas off the top of my head.

But I guess just like the Web 2.0 is waiting for the next big thing to bring us to Web 3.0, the Bible 2.0 is a step in the right direction.

What other features would you want in the Bible of the Future?

John Piper Uses Twitter, has a dynamic website and is obviously with us in the 21st century.

But when it comes to preaching, his views on technology are surprising. . .or not.

Take a look at this short interview video clip where he discusses his thoughts on when pastors use videos and movie clips and moving graphics during church services.

I love how he ends the response by addressing the age old new question:

Will the pastor go to hell for using movie clips during their sermon?

What are your own thoughts on this?

Do you have any examples of specific sermons or pastors that utilize video or movie clips in a way that completely elevates the herald’s message on Sunday morning?  Messages that could not be accomplished without the A/V and media team?

One way to look at this question is, is there a difference between required and preferred?  If you were in a media-heavy church and the pastor came out this coming sunday with NO monitors, no screens, no technology except a mic on a stand (not even the wireless behind the ear or lapel mic!).    Would if still fly?  Would everyone be in just utter shock?

Please share a comment (and links to any sermons on the web) below.   While we all know the default techno-embracing answers, I’m quite curious to see what your reaction is!

Creation Festivals are annual events that have become the Nation’s Largest Christian Music Festivals.

The Creation Experience includes four jam-packed days of music, teaching, baptism, camping and fellowship.

Creation Festival is giving away 11 free songs from some of the top Christian Contemporary Music bands: (more…)

It’s almost here. . .Tim Keller’s next book — Counterfeit Gods.

If you’re like me, you’ve already been to Amazon.com’s pre-order page for the book which gives the best deal ($13.46, 33% off now $11.66!) if you’re comparing prices including S&H.  Especially if you have Amazon Prime free shipping like I do.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/djchuang/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

But waiting for October 20, just isn’t good enough for some.  Here’s something for you guys that are in this bucket — a free pdf download from the soon to be released book: (more…)