As mainline seminaries close down, consolidate, or sell off property and evangelical schools struggle to remain sustainable, theological schools serving immigrants are seeing renewed vitality. Both Pentecostal and Asia-based schools are seeing increases in enrollment as their American counterparts continue to experience cuts.

Source: Inside Higher Education

Thom Rainer writes that many churches will seek to hire a pastor of community evangelism in the future. Rainer writes that evangelism continues to be a struggle for many churches, and one person to lead local evangelism efforts will be key. Most churches are not evangelistic and they struggle to coordinate events, ministries, and social media connections, leading to a need for a new position.

Source: Church Central

Thomas S. Kidd and Barry Hankins, professors of history at Baylor University, write that the SBC is in decline because its members have, for the most part, lost their commitment to evangelism. SBC parents have also struggled to retain their children, while allowing their doctrine to become diluted by a kind of American deism and political involvement in the Republican party.

Source: Washington Post

When pastors are exhausted, they are in danger of making bad decisions, eating bad meals, acting impulsively or negatively, and responding with anger to others. Rest is essential for ministering effectively, let alone for being present with family and friends. Pastors may need accountability from colleagues, church members, or family to ensure that they take time to rest.

Source: CrossWalk

While the Twible by Jana Reiss converted the Bible into a series of tweets, the new Emoji Bible adds a Millennial spin to tweeting the Bible by inserting emojis into the text, using over 200 symbols that are typically used for text messages and on social media. The book is 3,300 pages and is subtitled: Scripture 4 Millennials, selling for $2.99.

Source: The Guardian

From work emails to phone calls and social media, more employees are struggling to divide their personal and work lives, especially executives. One third of Americans never even turn off their cell phones, and the constant access to work communication can prove stressful, especially for the extroverts who fear missing out. More introverted employees can sometimes disconnect better from work communication while at home, but the most important factor of all was having a clear, intentional plan for using social media and communicating with work while at home. 

Source: Insead

Pastor Craig Groeschel shared at the recent Catalyst One Day in Birmingham, Alabama that churches should be careful about growing too fast. Warren Bird agrees with Groeschel's warning, noting that churches should maximize what they have before expanding and make sure any expansion is rooted in a strong leadership team and is financially responsible.

Source: The Christian Post

In the midst of the political chaos surrounding the rise of Donald Trump, pastors can use this opportunity to refocus their congregations on faithfulness and the Gospel message. In addition, there are political values that don't line up with God's values. God shows favor to the humble, God's means will bring about God's results, and the seeming pragmatic choice isn't always the right choice.

Source: CrossWalk

A married partner is no longer the most likely living option for young adults, ages 18 to 34. As of 2014, 32.1% of young adults live with a parent, while 31.6% live with a spouse or partner. In addition, 22% live in a dorm, prison, or other relative. This overall number is not as high as in country's such as Italy, but in some cases this arrangement could be a failure to "launch" into adulthood. 

Source: NYT

As women shift toward the religious "nones," the gap between men and women for church attendance is shrinking dramatically from 13% in the 1980's to just 6% in the early 2010's. The explanations for this include men who are more likely to attend church, the overall decline of younger women attending church, and the increase of women in the workforce.

Source: Pew Research

Richard Stearns of World Vision returned from a trip to Lebanon and Iraq where he was inspired by the Christians there to treat refugees as guests. Stearns shared, “Let’s try to see these refugees through the eyes of God” after his visit to the city of Erbil that has over 11,000 Christian refugees. overall, there are an estimated 11 million Syrian refugees and 4.4 million Iraqi refugees.

Source: RNS

Clergy from Episcopal and Methodist churches in Cleveland, OH visited an abortion clinic in order to show their support. One of the clergy members tweeted that God is the ultimate escort into the clinic. The clergy also held signs thanking God for abortion providers.

Source: BreitBart

Churches remain uncertain about how to handle a pastor who has been accused of a scandal. 47% believe the pastor should step aside while allegations are investigated, but 21% are uncertain. Among older pastors, 36% believe pastors should remain in their positions during investigations, but younger pastors are less likely to agree (27%). Pentecostals (43%) are the most likely to keep pastors in their positions during investigations, while 24% of Reformed or Presbyterian pastors take the same view.

Source: LifeWay

A recent survey found that 29% of pastors have no funds in savings. In addition, only 14% have received financial training in seminary and only 38% had financial training in college. Only 23% are completely confident in managing their finances, while 46% are confident in managing their church finances.

Source: Church Law and Tax

Former medical missionary Donn Ketcham served from 1961 to 1989 in Bangladesh with the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE). Ketcham was accused of having at least four affairs and sexually abusing at least 18 girls under the guise of medical care. Ketcham lived with a number of missionary families on a compound where the abuse continued unchecked for years. A 280-page report from Professional Investigators International (Pii) confirmed the abuse allegations and prompted ABWE to issue apologies and to begin the process of paying for counseling for the many victims. ABWE has also improved its reporting procedures and abuse training for staff.

Source: Christianity Today

“The Preachers” is a new talk show hosted on Fox that aims to resemble the format of The View. The show will feature four prominent megachurch pastors that includes: Dr. Jamal Bryant, pastor and founder of Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore, Maryland; John Gray, associate pastor at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas; Dr. E. Dewey Smith Jr., senior pastor at The House of Hope Atlanta, Georgia and The House of Hope of Macon, Georgia; and Orrick Quick, pastor of God Seekers Church in High Point, North Carolina.

Source: The Examiner

Male and female ministers are regularly critiqued over their appearance, how they dress, their hair styles, and how they carry themselves. Women are especially scrutinized for their weight and hair styles, some reporting that their hair is more important than their theology to some. This troubling trend reveals that churches feel a sense of ownership over their pastors that even extends to how they dress and style themselves. Church members hold pastors up to impossible ideals that are demoralizing and degrading for pastors.

Source: Sojourners

Just days before the 2016 United Methodist General Conference, 15 clergy and clergy candidates in New York state came out as lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer. The group did so with fear and trembling, but they shared that it has been spiritually suffocating to be in the closet for so long. Over 100 proposals related to LGBT issues in the UMC are up for vote at the conference.

Source: UMC.org

As churches move more of their transactions and accounts to

Source: Worship

By 2036, Millennials are projected to reach 81 million in the

Source: Pew Research

Karl Vaters notes that most adults attending church today have

Source: Christianity

Amid allegations that he helped cover up a series of child sex abuse scandals of his Sovereign Grace Ministries congregations, pastor C.J. Mahaney followed his address at Together for the Gospel with a sermon at his church that called on the congregation to protect their pastors. Mahaney said that Hebrews 13:17 tells congregations to stand by their pastors and to challenge allegations. Abuse survivor networks have protested Mahaney’s appearance at Together for the Gospel.

Source: Baptist New Global

Thom Rainer shares a list of different arrangements for tracking giving in your church. In one model, a pastor and a key volunteer keep track of the funds and giving trends together, but other churches prefer a committee, an appointed staff member, or a single volunteer. Still other churches hire someone outside the church to keep track of donations and to notify the staff of any important trends.

Source: The Christian Post

There was an average of 77 churches planted each week in 2014 according to the statistics from 34 denominations. That means there were 4,000 churches planted compared to the 3700 churches that closed. Church plants are one of the most effective ways to reach new people with the gospel since 42% of those worshipping in churches launched since 2008 are either new to church or returned after many years away.

Source: Facts and Trends

In his new statement "On Love In The Family" Pope Francis calls Catholics to be more merciful and understanding of abortion, homosexuality and divorce. When polled, 39% of Americans believe that the Vatican may change it's teaching on Homosexuality within the next 30 years while 50% thought the church would never reverse it's stance on abortion.

Source: CapX

Brookville Church in Long Island was built in 1732, it is home to a picturesque steeple, classic architecture and four, inter-faith congregations. The Muslim Reform Movement Organization, New Synagogue of Long Island and Interfaith Community of Long Island all share this tiny building. Not only do they rotate services through the space, they also blend services and support interfaith families. 

Source: The Washington Post

Odds are you've headed to Yelp to check out a restaurant or hair salon, but did you know some users are reviewing churches as well? From ridiculous to completely relevant, these comments are both hilarious and helpful. As much as it may hurt to read that your church is perceived as stuck up or unfriendly, wouldn't you rather know?
Source: Obsever.com

Christianity Pared Down in Theology Studies at Oxford
http://dailym.ai/1S1mjQF

Baptist Church Expels Governor
http://bit.ly/22hPX6D

Tony Evans thinks the church isn't helping
http://bit.ly/1RIJ7Wp