The Demographic Shift in Metropolitan America

June 1, 2009

It’s clear that many churches have experienced or will experience large changes in their communities and contexts in the near future. Studying these changes helps churches develop intentional outward strategies to reach people. The Brookings Institution recently uncovered shifts in American demographics and reveals future changes in metro areas. They pulled data from a variety of U.S. Census Bureau sources and examined several population trends currently reshaping Metropolitan America. Here’s Read more [...]

What You Are Reading

May 26, 2009

My father, Thom S. Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, wrote the following post after doing an unscientific Twitter survey. Feel free to chime in with your comments and some of your favorite books of the last two years. I returned to the Twitterverse to listen to what people are reading these days. Since I have 13,000 “followers,” it seemed likely that we could at least get an idea of the books that are really capturing the attention of folks. Once again, I must remind Read more [...]

Is Your Church Sticky and Magnetic?

May 20, 2009

After digging into Census data, the Pew Research Center has uncovered trends about each state and uniquely packaged them in a memorable format. They have created a typology that groups states as “sticky,” “magnetic,” both, or neither. They define each term: "Magnet" states are those in which a high share of the adults who live there now moved there from some other state. "Sticky" states are those in which a high share of the adults who were born there live there now. It’s a great way Read more [...]

The Next Generation and Changing Suburban Schools

May 13, 2009

One of the most dramatic demographic shifts in the past 15 years has occurred in our suburban public schools. The Pew Hispanic Center recently released a study from data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics. Here’s what they found: When it comes to increases in public school student enrollment, the suburbs are where most of the action has been over the past decade and a half. Since 1993-94, two-thirds of the 5.1 million increase in public school enrollment nationwide has Read more [...]

Stop-and-Go Ministry

May 7, 2009

Below is my column from the most recent issue of Outreach Magazine. With the newest issue, they’ve updated the format, and it looks great. If you’re not currently subscribing, the bi-monthly magazine is a great resource for reaching your community. I once thought my father had incredible power. My brothers and I savored the days when he would pick us up from school and take us back to his office at the church. On the way he would demonstrate his authority over stoplights. At each one, he would Read more [...]

Thom Rainer Online

May 4, 2009

My father has a new website. Check out ThomRainer.com for his insights about church health and other topics. Today’s post is about prayer - an appropriate and relevant first topic: I miss Frances Mason. Frances was a member of a church where I served as pastor. She died three years ago. I still miss her. She came by my office the first week I was on the field in the church. “Pastor,” she told me, “I want you to know that I will pray for you every day. As spiritual leader of this church, Read more [...]

The Process of Leaving Church

April 30, 2009

The Pew Forum recently released a follow-up survey to their 2008 US Religious Landscape study. Entitled “Faith in Flux,” this new survey reveals that 28% of American adults have switched from one major religion to another at some point in their lives. The number rises to a 44% switch rate if changes within religious traditions are included, such as from one Protestant denomination to another. They go further in their report: The results of the new survey offer a fuller picture of the churn Read more [...]

Degaje and Other Lessons from Haiti

April 23, 2009

I had the privilege of going to Haiti last week to serve many of the missionaries there. I also had the incredible honor of preaching in Haitian churches. Our group partnered with Agape Flights, an organization that delivers mail and supplies to the missionaries. We stayed with the good folks at International Missions Outreach. I’ve listed some of my more memorable lessons from the trip. The Degaje attitude. The language barrier is huge – it doesn’t take long to figure that out. Haitians Read more [...]

Welcome NOC Blog Tour

April 21, 2009

The National Outreach Convention will be making a stop at this blog on Wednesday. They'll post a couple of questions in the comments, and I'll reply to get the conversation going. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts. I'll be leading a workshop at the convention in November, so I hope to see some of you there! Read more [...]

When You Hear Southern Baptist, You Think . . .

April 13, 2009

My father, Thom S. Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, wrote the following post after doing an unscientific Twitter survey. I was fascinated by the results from the Twittersphere concerning my denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. The results are posted below. Feel free to add your own comments. My son, Sam, introduced me to Twitter about eight months ago. Twitter is one of the hottest entries into the world of social media in the past couple of years. The simple concept Read more [...]