Articles for tag: Church Shopping

November 23, 2018

How Changing Shopping Trends Affect the Church

By Kent Fillinger Eight of the 10 biggest shopping days of the year occur in December. The other two take place in November. Sales spike in December at retail stores, online stores, and even grocery stores. Based on my research, church attendance also spikes during December due to special events and Christmas Eve services that attract more people than any other time but Easter. Despite a strong economy and low unemployment, the retail industry is undergoing a major repositioning as legacy stores and brands that were once customer favorites fall victim to shifting consumer demands. Stores like Nine West, Toys

October 19, 2018

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Growth

How the Baby Boomers Introduced One of the Gravest Spiritual Dangers of Our Era

By Haydn Shaw The traditionalists (those born before 1945) were loyal to the churches they grew up in—or at least, if relocating, they were loyal to their denomination. Certainly some traditionalists left one church for another when they became upset, but they were the last generation to largely stay put within the same church. The boomers (born 1946–64) introduced church hopping and it has stunted spiritual growth as much as anything the past 50 years. I realize this is a bold claim, so let me back up and explain two things that have changed and how they led to church

September 15, 2014

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Growth

The Church of the Future

By Matt Smay One thing is certain as we contemplate all the changes the church is facing. Tomorrow”s church won”t look like the church we remember from days gone by. I try to keep things as simple as possible. When we overcomplicate things, we extend the time it takes to learn and become proficient at something new. It might explain why I”ve become enamored by one-room churches and schoolhouses that were established in small towns as people moved west across America, in a time when everything seemed so much simpler. (My ancestors helped establish one of those towns: Browns, Illinois.)

May 30, 2013

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

Moving Beyond Average

By Phil Scott Of the more than 350,000 churches in America, 85 percent are stagnant or declining in membership. This means that “average” churches are actually unhealthy. Healthy growth comes to churches that rise above being typically average. The need of the day is unaverage churches. Average congregations are led by a small number of key older men and some women, paid and volunteer, who replaced previous older leaders. The strong influence of the charter members, founding fathers and mothers, or the founding pastor may be unknown or gone. The first generation is made up of the founding mothers

February 2, 2011

Christian Standard

Church Life

So Long to Good-Byes

By Cal Jernigan Perhaps you heard the story of the man who was stranded alone on a deserted island for a number of years. One day a ship appeared on the horizon, noticed him, and sent some men ashore to rescue him. While helping him gather his scant belongings, the rescuers noticed three huts clustered together and asked the man about them. The man pointed to one of the huts and explained that it served as his house, and then he pointed to another and explained that it was where he went to church. The man stopped without mentioning the

June 22, 2005

Mark A. Taylor

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

We Need Both

Mark A. Taylor warns against “style over substance” in church life and points to The Jesus Proposal’s call for relationship with Jesus—grounded in scriptural truth—to avoid hollow legalism.