By Jeff Brumley Whether electric, digital or pipe, experts who play, study and make organs say the majestic instrument is making a comeback. There are times, Shaun King says, when worship music should be energetic, light or joyful. That’s when instruments like pianos, drums and guitars do the trick. But then there are times when […]

By Jeff Brumley A survey about social media usage and faith groups has researchers baffled. A survey’s finding that few Americans use social media to connect with churches and other religious groups has those who conducted the research astonished. “We were a little bit surprised,” Robert P. Jones, CEO of the Public Religion Institute, told […]

Cathy Lynn Grossman / USA Today (RNS) Unbelief is on the uptick. People who check “None” for their religious affiliation are now nearly one in five Americans (19 percent), the highest ever documented, according to the Pew Center for the People and the Press. The rapid rise of Nones — including atheists, agnostics and those […]

Willow Creek Community Church, located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, was included on this year’s Best Christian Workplaces list compiled by the Best Christian Workplaces Institute, Mercer Island, WA. The study factors included employee job satisfaction, Christian witness, personal growth and effectiveness, customer satisfaction, and compensation/benefits. “I believe Willow Creek’s best days as a […]

Contrasts with Decrease in Donations to Religious Charities Overall WINCHESTER, Va. — Cash charitable giving to ECFA members with fiscal years ending in 2011 reflected a modest increase from 2010, the organization announced today. This contrasts with a decrease in giving to religious charities overall, as noted in a recent national report. Giving to ECFA-accredited […]

MORRISTOWN, N.J./Christian Newswire/ – This  week, Pastors Tim Lucas and Tom Kang from Liquid Church in New Jersey are taking a leap of faith into Oklahoma backwaters as unlikely stars of the Animal Planet reality TV show “Hillbilly Handfishin’.” The popular show about noodlin’ – the art of catching giant catfish with bare hands and […]

By Robert Dilday Some traditional churches are challenging the conventional wisdom that style is everything when it comes to vibrant worship. It’s a recurring scenario in America’s Christian congregations. As members grapple with their church’s future — eager to increase attendance or renew spiritual energy — one suggestion inevitably emerges. It’s time to start a […]

By Bruce Nolan (RNS) Americans’ confidence in organized religion, slowly but steadily declining since the 1970s, slipped to a new low in the latest survey, the Gallup Organization reported. Today only 44 percent of Americans have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in “the church or organized religion,” Gallup said. It was […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In 2008, LifeWay Research surveyed 7,000 churches to discover the principles involved with healthy congregations. Last year, LifeWay’s researchers went back into the field to focus not on the church, but on the individual believer, asking more than 4,000 people about their spiritual lives and level of maturity. The project has identified […]

By Chris Lisee (RNS) Most members of the clergy are taught to put the physical and spiritual needs of others first, but that self-denial may be harmful to their own health, according to a new Duke University study. Studies of United Methodist pastors in North Carolina found high rates of chronic disease and depression, and […]