Entries Tagged 'unchurched' ↓

I was a shepherd in the traditional/conventional church. I also served as a deacon, a preacher, and a missionary. Today I believe more in the church of Bob Evans every Sunday afternoon, the church at Starbucks on Friday evenings and then there is my new institutional church at a University Hospital. (FYI—degrees in Nuclear Medicine and Bible; chose to make my living from the medical side)

For employees who have excessive absenteeism or a history of tardiness there is a policy that places them in a process with the end result being dismissal (verbal warning, written warning, etc) I choose not to do that. Instead I invite them into my office and use the wisdom that comes with sixty years of life and the spiritual wisdom God has blessed me with nudging them closer to success and Jesus (this is my policy and the process I choose). I really believe if I died tomorrow the employees of this institution would carry signs to my funeral expressing their love for me.

And then there are the folks at New Wineskins who encourage me in my wacky writings and the conversations I have with the many I talk with in Christian circles.

I am blessed!

Studies on church attendance—statistics and percentages of unchurched peoples versus church people have become so commonplace through the years that it’s difficult to give much attention to their conclusions. But George Barna has just released a new model measuring church involvement/participation. What’s makes Barna’s study different is his approach. Unlike all those other church growth stats Barna addresses new behavioral patterns.  The mix includes new forms of faith communities and experiences, such as house churches, marketplace ministries and cyberchurches. The study correctly points out that counting the “unchurched” has grown more complicated.  [read the complete article]