Let us give thanks…
5 Essential Free Tools for Ministry on the Internet
1. Blogging: You make about 100 educated comments during the week. You have afterthoughts and comments after the Sunday sermon. You encounter life stories and personal testimonies. Blog them. It is the easiest way to:
- Give a global voice to your ministry
- Network with other ministers
- Popularize your church website and affirm presence on the internet
- Connect with people on their own level
Use WordPress, BlogSpot or even Posterous. There are many more out there to fit your taste and best of all they are free!
2. Live broadcast your church service: You’d be surprised how many people would like to see it. And different than a few years back when you needed expensive equipment set up, all you need is a laptop with a camera or even a mid-level smart phone and you can broadcast in a matter of minutes.
a. Make your church service accessible for the ones who cannot attend
b. Your message will reach people in your community and around the world
c. Receive feedback from friends, colleagues and even people you never knew
uStream and LiveStream are just two of the many options out there. And for the basic user, they are all free.
3. Social networking: The world is moving away from common trends of communication. Get involved! Social networking is the way to do it.
a. Provides a constant stream of communication toward your followers
b. Establishes your church equally in the local and internet community
c. Makes you accessible to the people who need you
Sign up for Facebook and Twitter. They are popular and free. A Facebook page is a must for any branding or marketing strategy today.
4. Mail lists are outdated, time consuming and quite costly. Except if you use the internet to do them.
a. Create a mail list of subscribers with your followers and the visitors of your website
b. Use RSS feed to combine all your publications from church announcements, blog posts, tweets and Facebook statuses
c. Send it automatically to RSS pools which can multiply your reach
Use FeedBurner. It is very fast and effective and also free to use.
5. Monetize your web presence creating a steady stream of profit for your ministry beside traditional tithes and offerings.
a. Bring your fundraisers online and promote online giving
b. Sell books, music, sermon videos and other products online
c. Use direct advertising sales and advertising networks
Use Google AdSense, eBay partners, Amazon Associates or any other affiliate program that fits your marketing approach. Not only they are free, but using them can support your ministry!
Need assistance? Learn how we can help you with your church branding on the internet.
Patriarch Maxim, Eastern Orthodox Church Leader of Bulgaria, Dies at 98
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Patriarch Maxim of Bulgaria, who weathered a revolt over his Communist-era ties to lead his country’s Orthodox Christians for more than 40 years, died here on Tuesday. He was 98. Patriarch Maxim’s tenure as the church’s leader bridged Bulgaria’s transition from Communism.
Orthodox Christianity is Bulgaria’s dominant religion, followed by more than 80 percent of the country’s 7.4 million people. Patriarch Maxim’s tenure as the church’s leader bridged the country’s transition from Communism, and he withstood efforts to oust him by the new democratic government and by rebel priests who saw him as a Communist ally. Born Marin Naidenov Minkov on Oct. 29, 1914, he graduated from the Sofia Seminary in 1935 and entered Sofia University’s theology department in 1938, before rising through the church ranks to be named patriarch on July 4, 1971.
After the collapse of Communism in 1989, Bulgaria’s new democratic government sought to replace Communist-appointed figureheads, including the patriarch. The church split between supporters of Patriarch Maxim and breakaway clergymen, who tried to oust him and then formed their own synod. The division plunged the church into turmoil, with church buildings being occupied, priests breaking into fistfights on church steps, and water cannons and tear gas being turned on rebel bishops to clear the main St. Alexander Nevsky cathedral in Sofia. For more than a decade the two synods existed side by side. The schism ended in 2010, when the head of the alternative synod called for healing and the synod was dissolved.
Patriarch Maxim was hailed for meeting with Pope John Paul II during the pontiff’s visit to Sofia in 2002, a trip seen as warming the frosty relationship between the Orthodox Church and the Vatican. The Holy Synod of 13 senior clergy members will choose an interim patriarch until a larger Church Council is held within four months to pick Patriarch Maxim’s successor, church officials said.
Will You Vote Christian
95 Thesis of the Reformation
Out of love and zeal for truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following theses will be publicly discussed at Wittenberg under the chairmanship of the reverend father Martin Lutther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology and regularly appointed Lecturer on these subjects at that place. He requests that those who cannot be present to debate orally with us will do so by letter.
In the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.[5]
01. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent,” he willed the entire life of believers to be one of penitence.[10]
02. This word cannot be understood as referring to penance as a sacrament (that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the ministry of priests).
03. This word also does not refer solely to inner penitence; indeed there is no penitence unless it produces various outward mortifications of the flesh.
04. Therefore punishment of sin remains as long as the hatred of self, that is, true inner repentance, namely until entering the kingdom of heaven.
05. The pope neither wishes nor can remit any penalties except that which he imposes by his or by canonical authority.
06. The Pope cannot remit any guilt, except by stating and confirming that it has been remitted by God; or, by remitting [guilt] in cases reserved to his judgment. If his power were disregarded, the guilt would certainly remain [unforgiven].
07. God remits guilt to no one without at once submitting him humbly in all things to the priest as his vicar.
08. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to the canons themselves, nothing should be imposed on the dying.
09. Therefore the Holy Spirit through the pope is kind to us insofar as the pope in his decrees always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.
10. Those priests act ignorantly and wickedly who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penalties for purgatory. [The truth on purgatory].
11. Those tares of changing the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory were evidently sown while the bishops slept.
12. In former times canonical penalties were imposed, not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.
13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties, are already dead as far as the canon laws are concerned, and have a right to be released from them.
14. Imperfect piety or love on the part of the dying person necessarily brings with it great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater the fear.
15. His fear or horror is sufficient in itself, to say nothing of other things, to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near the horror of despair.
16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ the same as despair, fear, and assurance of salvation.
17. It seems as though for the souls in purgatory fear should necessarily decrease and love increase.
18. Furthermore, it does not seem proved, either by reason or Scripture, that souls in purgatory are outside the state of merit, that is unable to grow in love.
19. Nor does it seem proved that souls in purgatory, at least not all of them, are certain and assured of their own salvation, even if we ourselves may be entirely certain of it.
20. By full remission of all puishment, the Pope therefore does not actually mean `all [punishment]’ but only that which he imposed [himself].
21. Thus those indulgence preachers are in error who say that a man is absolved from every penalty and saved by papal indulgences.[30]
22. As a matter of fact, the pope remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to canon law, they should have paid in this life.
23. If remission of all penalties whatsoever could be granted to anyone at all, certainly it would be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to very few. But see here and here!
24. For this reason most people are necessarily deceived by that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise of release from penalty.
25. That power which the pope has in general over purgatory corresponds to the power which any bishop or curate has in a particular way in his own diocese or parish.[40]
26. The pope does very well when he grants remission to souls in purgatory, not by the power of the keys, which he does not have, but by way of intercession for them.[50]
27. They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory.
28. It is certain that when money clinks in the money chest, greed and avarice can be increased; but when the church intercedes, the result is in the hands of God alone.
29. Who knows whether all souls in purgatory wish to be redeemed, since we have exceptions in St. Severinus and St. Paschal, as related in a legend.
30. No one is sure of the integrity of his own contrition, much less of having received plenary remission.
31. The man who actually buys indulgences is as rare as he who is really penitent; indeed, he is exceedingly rare.
32. Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.
33. Men must especially be on their guard against those who say that the pope’s pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to him.
34. For the graces of indulgences are concerned only with the penalties of sacramental satisfaction established by man. [100]
35. They who teach that contrition is not necessary on the part of those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessional [200] privileges preach unchristian doctrine.
36. Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters.
37. Any true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the church; and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters.
38. Nevertheless, papal remission and blessing are by no means to be disregarded, for they are, as I have said, the proclamation of the divine remission.
39. It is very difficult, even for the most learned theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the bounty of indulgences and the need of true contrition.
40. A Christian who is truly contrite seeks and loves to pay penalties for his sins; the bounty of indulgences, however, relaxes penalties and causes men to hate them – at least it furnishes occasion for hating them.
41. Papal indulgences must be preached with caution, lest people erroneously think that they are preferable to other good works of love.
42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend that the buying of indulgences should in any way be compared with works of mercy.
43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences.
44. Because love grows by works of love, man thereby becomes better. Man does not, however, become better by means of indulgences but is merely freed from penalties.
45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy man and passes him by, yet gives his money for indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God’s wrath.
46. Christians are to be taught that, unless they have more than they need, they must reserve enough for their family needs and by no means squander it on indulgences.
47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of indulgences is a matter of free choice, not commanded.
48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting indulgences, needs and thus desires their devout prayer more than their money.
49. Christians are to be taught that the papal indulgences are useful only if they do not put their trust in them, but very harmful if they lose their fear of God because of them.
50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence preachers, he would rather that the basilica of St. Peter were burned to ashes than built up with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep.
51. Christians are to be taught that the pope would and should wish to give of his own money, even though he had to sell the basilica of St. Peter, to many of those from whom certain hawkers of indulgences cajole money.
52. It is vain to trust in salvation by indulgence letters, even though the indulgence commissary, or even the pope, were to offer his soul as security.
53. They are enemies of Christ and the pope who forbid altogether the preaching of the word of God in some churches in order that indulgences may be preached in others.
54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or larger amount of time is devoted to indulgences than to the Word.
55. It is certainly the pope’s sentiment that if indulgences which are a very insignificant thing, are celebrated with one bell, one procession, and one ceremony, then the gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.
56. The treasures of the church, out of which the pope distributes indulgences, are not sufficiently discussed or known among the people of Christ.
57. That indulgences are not temporal treasures is certainly clear, for many indulgence sellers do not distribute them freely but only gather them.
58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the saints, for, even without the pope, the latter always work grace for the inner man and the cross, death, and hell for the outer man.[300]
59. St. Laurence said that the poor of the church were the treasures of the church, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.
60. Without want of consideration we say that the keys of the church, given by the merits of Christ, are that treasure;[400]
61. For it is clear that the pope’s power is of itself sufficient for the remission of penalties and cases reserved by himself.
62. The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.
63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last.
64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.
65. Therefore the treasures of the gospel are nets with which one formerly fished for men of wealth.
66. The treasures of indulgences are nets with which one now fishes for the wealth of men.
67. The indulgences which the demagogues acclaim as the greatest graces are actually understood to be such only insofar as they promote gain.
68. They are nevertheless in truth the most insignificant graces when compared with the grace of God and the piety of the cross.
69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of papal indulgences with all reverence.
70. But they are much more bound to strain their eyes and ears lest these men preach their own dreams instead of what the pope has commissioned.
71. Let him who speaks against the truth concerning papal indulgences be anathema and accursed;
72. But let him who guards against the lust and license of the indulgence preachers be blessed;
73. Just as the pope justly thunders against those who by any means whatsoever contrive harm to the sale of indulgences.
74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use indulgences as a pretext to contrive harm to holy love and truth.
75. To consider papal indulgences so great that they could absolve a man even if he had done the impossible and had violated the mother of God, is madness.
76. We say on the contrary that papal indulgences cannot remove the very least of venial sins, as far as guilt is concerned.
77. To say that even St. Peter, if he were now pope, could not grant greater graces, is blasphemy against St. Peter and the pope.
78. We say on the contrary that even the present pope, or any pope whatsoever, has greater graces at his disposal, that is, the gospel, spiritual powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in 1. Corinthians 12.
79. To say that the cross emblazoned with, the papal coat of arms, and set up by the indulgence preachers, is equal in worth to the cross of Christ is blasphemy.
80. The bishops, curates, and theologians who permit such talk to be spread among the people will have to answer for this.
81. This unbridled preaching of indulgences makes it difficult even for learned men to rescue the reverence which is due the pope from slander or from the shrewd questions of the laity,
82. Such as “Why does not the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and the dire need of the souls that are there if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter most trivial.”
83. Again, Why are funeral and anniversary masses for the dead continued and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded for them, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?”
84. Again, “What is this new piety of God and the pope that for a consideration of money they permit a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God and do not rather, because of the need of that pious and beloved soul, free it for pure love’s sake?”
85. Again, “Why are the penitential canons, long since abrogated and dead in actual fact and through disuse, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences as though they were still alive and in force?”
86. Again, “why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?”
87. Again, “What does the pope remit or grant to those who by perfect contrition already have a right to full remission and blessings?”
88. Again, What greater blessing could come to the church than if the pope were to bestow these remissions and blessings on every believer a hundred times a day, as he now does but once?”
89. “Since the pope seeks the salvation of souls rather than money by his indulgences, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons previously granted when they have equal efficacy?”
90. To repress these very sharp arguments of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies and to make Christians unhappy.
91. If, therefore, indulgences were preached according to the spirit and intention of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved. Indeed, they would not exist.
92. Away then with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Peace, peace,” and there is not peace!
93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Cross, cross,” and there is not cross!
94. Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their head, through penalties, death, and hell;
95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace.
Azusa Lecture, Spirit of Azusa Award to be Presented
On Tuesday, October 30, 2012, the annual Azusa Lecture Series will take place and will include a lecture by John Christopher Thomas and presentation of the Spirit of Azusa Award to Dr. French Arrington. The event will take place at 7:00 P.M. at the North Cleveland Church of God Bryant Fellowship Hall and is free and open to the public.
On April 14, 1906, a group of African Americans under the leadership of William J. Seymour established a mission at 312 Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California. They had been holding services at a nearby home on Bonnie Brae Street, but when people began to speak in tongues and experience divine healings the crowds became too great for the residential neighborhood. Spiritual expectation, newspaper articles, and the San Francisco earthquake four days later increased attention to what God was doing in the small mission. Soon people began arriving from around the world to seek their personal “Pentecost.” Many were compelled to take the message to the nations, birthing the greatest missions movement in the history of Christianity. Individuals, congregations and denominations were swept into the new Pentecostal Movement. When mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic Christians also began to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the twentieth century came to be called “The Century of the Holy Spirit.”
Speaker John Christopher Thomas is the Abbott Professor of Biblical Studies at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary and serves as associate pastor of the Woodward Avenue Church of God in Athens, Tennessee. A founding editor of the Journal of Pentecostal Theology, Thomas edits the journal’s supplemental series of books and is general editor of the Pentecostal Commentary Series. An internationally recognized Bible scholar, Thomas directs the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies at Bangor University in Wales as well as the Centre for Pentecostal Theology in Cleveland, Tennessee. Among his seven books is the newly released commentary on the Book of Revelation, The Apocalypse.
Spirit of Azusa Award recipient French L. Arrington is Professor Emeritus of New Testament Greek and Exegesis at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary, having served for 21 years on that faculty as well as 17 years at Lee College. While at Lee, he was chairman of the Bible and Theology Department and honored with the Excellence in Teaching Award. A former pastor, Arrington has written extensively for ministerial and lay enrichment in the local church. His latest book is The Greatest Letter Ever Written: A Study of Romans.
Perry Stone: Nuclear War with Iran Prophecy (TBN January, 2012)
Perry Stone: Nuclear War with Iran Prophecy (TBN January, 2012) | The Vision (Re: attacks, Iran etc)
PERRY STONE’s website and email
On Tuesday night, January 24, I was host on the Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN). Our guests were Dr. Ron Phillips, Bishop Paul Zink and Damon Thompson.
Each one brought a very significant right now message for the Body of Christ, especially the church in North America. During the final portion of the program, I was asked to minister and used the last 21 minutes to share with the global audience a vision the Lord gave me many years ago. While this vision has not yet occurred, it may hold a clue to a future conflict with Iran. My partners and close friends have heard me share this on numerous occasions, and I will share a brief version now.
In the dream or vision I was standing on the porch of our home and in the distance to the left I saw a large nuclear cooling tower beginning to spin near a coast line. A second one was in the distance and it too began spinning like a tornado. In between the place where I was standing and where the two nuclear cooling towers were stood two tall trees – if you could call them trees. Both were the same height, very tall, and bleached white. There were no leaves and no branches on either tree. Years ago when I asked my father what was the meaning of the two trees, he referred back to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, when this king of Babylon dreamed of a large tree, providing food, shade and protection and could be seen around the earth. In the dream this tree was Nebuchadnezzar and was cut down by a guardian angel. In the narrative, there was a one year time frame from the king’s dream to the fulfillment (see Daniel chapter 4). Dad said the trees could be either two people (leaders) involved with the nuclear cooling tower that will be “stripped” of authority as a result, or may refer to radiation damaging trees, or a time frame of two years.
Dad also alluded to a dream that he had as a young man, in which he saw seven trees growing in a coal mind. A hand reached down and snapped each tree, one at a time. Exactly seven days later, a close relative passed away that had worked in the coal mines. Each tree was a time frame; in this case each tree was one day.
I then saw a large field, which in the New Testament, the “field is the world” (Matt. 13:38). In this field to the right, were a large set of bulls – whose horns looked like the horns on a Texas longhorn bull. Their skin was the same type of skin found on a Holstein cow, which is a milk cow. These bulls were running south, the moment the nuclear towers began spinning. I believed in the dream this represented the stock market, or the “bull market” that would be impacted by these events.
…in the distance to the left I saw a large nuclear cooling tower beginning to spin near a coast line.
When I saw this years ago, there was no indication of Iran’s nuclear program. However, the Iranian regime has announced they will not stop their nuclear development and have openly said if they had nuclear bombs they would use it on Israel, and even the United States. The fact is, Iran cannot be allowed to make a bomb, as this would be the greatest danger to the entire world. Late last year, I began receiving information that a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities is highly possible this year (2012). If so, then the greatest danger to the United States is a huge spike in oil prices that would impact everything from food cost, transportation costs, buses for schools and even postage and air travel. Literally everything will be impacted by the rise of the cost of oil.
During the TBN program I shared basic information that a person can follow that would help make such a crisis at least more bearable to endure than if a person was unprepared.
To the Church:
• Every church should begin organizing small home groups in the event people are unable to attend evening services.
• Every church should prepare the names and all information on the elderly members and especially the members who are widows indeed. The local church must care for those who are unable to care for themselves.
•Every church should have two feeding programs: one for the unchurched and one for those of the household of faith who are in serious need. Each member can provide cans of food when attending church, as this can become part of the feeding and care ministry.
•Every church, if possible, needs a special fund to assist any dedicated members who may hit a crisis and need small amounts of financial assistance. Again, this is for those who have been faithful to God and his kingdom in the past.
To the Individuals:
• Know your neighbors and form a community watch to watch the homes and property of others when needed
• Prepare in every way as though you are in a very long winter storm and unable to get out
• Have an additional supply of cash – in smaller bills – in a secure and safe place
• In certain cities and areas, have a plan of protection for your family
• If investing, know your investments and do not place money in anything that can be shaken in the event of a war in the Gulf, etc.
The National Level:
• Our leaders must understand that Israel has a covenant with God and standing with Israel is standing with God’s covenant.
• In the event of a war, open our strategic reserves only as a final resort, and DO NOT offer to sell this fuel to Europe. Make no secret agreements that if Europe boycotts Iranian oil or products that the U.S. will cover them with our reserves. This will become a fatal mistake.
• The trucks delivering goods are diesel fueled, and diesel is higher in cost. The leaders of the nation must ensure that the truck industry that delivers food and needed goods continues to deliver, by ensuring diesel fuel is provided and remains at a more affordable cost – even with a spike in prices.
• If you live in a city with a 1-3 day supply of food (many in New York eat out and not at home), then you should have at least a 3 week supply of food in your apartment.
• If a conflict deteroiates, then the rail roads must be used for delivery and the routes must be set up in advance. Leaders should not wait until a crisis escalates but be proactive rather than reactive.
• The Church must be prepared to minister in every way as never before.
As I said on TBN, based upon a vision I had in the late 1990’s, we will recover from whatever is coming after a period of time. This vision was from the Lord, but Perry Stone’s interpretation can be fallable. However, from all I have seen and what I am hearing, the possible war in the Persian Gulf could fulfill the vision. God knows and time will tell. Visions are given not to scare you but to prepare you. God bless you.
P.S. Because you have called and asked for more information, you can order the audio CD (CD084) Warnings in Visions and Dreams by my father and me – where I share details of warnings as well as how believers can prepare for the last days.
Obama, Marxism and Pentecostal Identity
Time and time again in the past several years, while ministering in churches across the United States, friends and partners ask us about our opinion on the political situation at home and around the world. Many of them ask the direct question of America becoming more and more socialist-like. Our response is that while people have the right to own a business, there cannot be communism, but this barely scratches the surface.
“Looking over the Wall” answers this and many other important questions about the current global reality from a very distinct Pentecostal and the same time post communist point of view. Yet, the text does it in a way, which can actually relate to popular American culture and current economic reality. The book provides Christian answers as of what defines our identity and makes us human – a right communism strips from the persona, the family and the church without much regard of the consequences that follow.
But this drastic dehumanization has an almost irreversible effect on the human psyche – a slavery mentality that penetrates the very heart of men and women and leaves forever its mark of fear, depression and insecurity. The book traces how Pentecostalism as faith and ideology has the power to deliver post communist communities from the grasp of oppressive governments and transform them into a socially relevant culture changing force. At the same time, it remains a warning to theologians who dare to flirt with Marxist idealism being fulfilled in the context of the New Testament ecclesia. And rightfully so!
The book is a must read for any and all who are ministering or planning to minister in a post communist culture or among post communist groups regardless of their geographical locale. For the principles it shows are valid for post community mentality everywhere. Preview and purchase your copy directly at Amazon.com
The Pew Forum: Protestants no longer majority in U.S.
A new study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that Protestants now make up 48% of Americans, compared with nearly two-thirds in the 1970s.
The decline, concentrated among white members of both mainline and evangelical denominations, is amplified by an absence of Protestants on the U.S. Supreme Court and the Republican presidential ticket for the first time. “It’s a slow decline but a noticeable one,” said Cary Funk, a Pew senior researcher. Funk said a major factor driving the decline is an increase in religiously unaffiliated Americans to 20%, up from 15% five years ago.
Two-thirds of the religiously unaffiliated still say they believe in God. But they overwhelmingly expressed disenchantment with religious organizations for being too concerned with money, power, rules and politics.The study did not give reasons fewer Americans now identify with any religion. But it presented theories that included political backlash against the religious right, delays in marriage, broad social disengagement and secularization related to economic development.
Some analysts said a softening of American religiosity could affect such areas as charitable giving and volunteerism, which traditionally have been driven by churches. Others, however, said that ideals originally identified as Protestant and Puritan have become firmly entrenched as secular American virtues. The idea of America as a “city set on a hill” — a biblical phrase — with a special destiny to lead the world to freedom and democracy remains a bedrock civic value, said Richard Land of the 16-million-member Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.
“America is a nation with the soul of a church, and that soul is Puritan-Protestant,” said Land, president of the convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “But in terms of defining the purpose of the nation, it’s been secularized long ago.” The study was based on a national survey of 2,973 adults conducted between June 28 and July 9 using land lines and cellphones. An additional 511 interviews were conducted with religiously unaffiliated adults.
In a counterweight to evangelical Christians who tend to back Republicans, the vast majority of religiously unaffiliated Americans — who number 46 million — vote Democratic and are politically liberal, the study found. Two-thirds support President Obama, compared with 27% for Republican nominee Mitt Romney. A majority of the unaffiliated support legal abortion and same-sex marriage.
The trend toward dropping away from organized religion was evident across gender, income and educational levels. But it was most apparent in the Northeast and West and among the young, the study showed. A third of adults under 30 have no religious affiliation, compared with just 9% among those 65 and older. Mark Chaves, a Duke University sociologist of religion, said some young people turn to churches when they marry and have children.
#BibleTech 2013
We’re already looking forward to BibleTech 2013, which will be held March 15 & 16 in Seattle, WA. This will be our fifth BibleTech conference, each one focused on the intersection of Bible study and technology. It’ll be of interest to anyone who wants to hear about the ways technology is affecting how we translate, interpret, communicate, and transmit the Scriptures.
At BibleTech, you won’t just listen to speakers address the tech issues most important to you—you’ll also interact and network with industry leaders and others who share your interests. Plenty of BibleTech attendees initiated long-lasting friendships and working relationships at past conferences.
Wanted: A Few Good Presenters
Once again, we’re putting out a call for programmers, publishers, tagging experts, information and library scientists, technologists, thought leaders, design gurus, information architects, webmasters, and anyone else working at the intersection of the Bible and technology. Come lead conference sessions and round-table discussions! To be considered, all you have to do is fill out our Call for Participation form!
We’re going to get a lot of entries, so we encourage you to be as descriptive as possible when sharing your topic ideas. If you have multiple ideas for sessions, feel free to fill out multiple entries.
We’ll close the call for participation Friday, November 30, to give ourselves time to choose the best session speakers for next year. Please submit your topic by then!
Keep Up with the Latest BibleTech News
We’ll be updating the BibleTech website as things develop. If you want up-to-the-minute information, like BibleTech on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
