If you’d like to explore some of the sermon’s themes in greater depth, here are three links to help:
“The future of American Christianity.” This is an opinion/analysis piece focused on what current research foretells about the future of congregations. Written by Associated Baptist commentator David Gushee. Click here.
Mainline Protestant churches and Catholics do not make the organizational investment in supporting core church tasks that African American, conservative Protestant and liturgical Protestant churches do. This downloadable interview with Nancy Ammerman (a former instructor of mine at Hartford Seminary), covers several topics. Of particular interest for our purposes is her perspective on how mainline Protestant and Catholic churches differ in focus from evangelical and liturgical Christian churches. Click here.
Myths and realities about U.S. Congregations. There is a lot of information on this website. Scan through the various topics to find information on the American religious landscape, resources for revitalizing your church, and information on how to build on your congregation’s strengths. A good place to begin would be the links under the topic, “Church Growth Resources,” part-way down the landing page. But be sure to explore the information under the headings across the top of the page, too. Click here.
What’s Christian about Christian Leadership? In this 2-minute interview, Jewish Professor of Business Leadership at Harvard University, Ronald Heifetz, reveals what he sees as the “genius” in Christianity, with a suggestion on how Christians could help bridge the divide between religions. What do you think? Click here.
