By: Chad Warren on October 17, 2024
I recently met with 20 key leaders in our church, discussing our doctrinal statement and those beliefs that distinguish our church. I indicated that, most simply, we are a Christian, Evangelical, Baptist, and Congregational church. Immediately, a hand shot up, and one of our leaders asked, “What does it mean that we’re ‘Evangelical,’ and how…
By: Daren Jaime on October 17, 2024
Journeying through ministry I am mindful of some of my ministerial mentors and those who taught me polity and liturgy. One such professor was Dr. Odinga Maddox. Dr. Maddox was a respected pastor, leader, and critical thinker. During one of his lectures, he reminded this novice group of emerging leaders to form ecumenical bonds. When…
By: Christy Liner on October 17, 2024
Consumerism has taken the west by storm. In 2020, Relevant Magazine published that “Nearly half the world’s toys are in America. Despite making up just over 3 percent of the global population of children, American kids consume 40 percent of the world’s toys.”[1] Consumerist culture runs deep in the west with the temptation to shop…
By: Adam Harris on October 17, 2024
About a month ago, my family, which includes my wife and two boys, ages 8 and 14, were having a barbeque with two other families from our church who also have boys. That means seven boys in all. You can imagine the noise levels, chaos, and energy when they were all together. Ironically, my friend…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on October 17, 2024
Anxiety I had a conversation this week with a client that shared that they suffer from anxiety. They shared it in a conversation that the topic was not their mental health but as an explanation of how they responded or didn’t respond in a situation. The interesting thing about this situation is that I did…
By: Kari on October 17, 2024
Titles. Labels. Boxes. These categories help us organize thoughts, ideas, things, and even people. “Evangelical” is a name by which one can classify a type of Christianity. I have always considered myself an evangelical, but I have rarely used that word to label myself—that is, until I moved to France to study French. I enjoyed…
By: Elysse Burns on October 17, 2024
Evangelicalism has experienced many changes since its emergence in the 1730s, making it often hard to define.[1] D.W. Bebbington’s Evangelism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s outlines the basis of Evangelicalism and further analyzes and explains the movement’s changes. Bebbington writes concerning Evangelicalism’s quadrilateral of priorities, “There are four qualities…
By: Ryan Thorson on October 17, 2024
“You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner…you’re in one!” This famous line from one of my favorite movies, Pirates of the Caribbean, echoed in my ears as I read through the history of evangelicalism. Elizabeth Turner longed for adventure but when she was taken hostage by cursed pirates she didn’t believe what she’d…
By: Russell Chun on October 17, 2024
Príliš neskoro pre moje deti – Too Late for my children Part 1. Introduction Part 2. What others are saying Part 3. What I learned from Haidt Part 4. Epilogue: What is the way forward Part 1. Introduction Príliš neskoro pre moje deti, príliš skoro pre moje vnúčatá.” Too Late for my children, Too…
By: Adam Cheney on October 17, 2024
I have struggled with which direction I want to go with this blog on Bebbington’s book for a couple of reasons. First, the book was slow to read, written like a history book by a scholarly historian. Secondly, the book ended too soon. Since the book’s print date, Evangelicalism has continued to change distinctly. His…
By: Graham English on October 16, 2024
I grew up with a nominal Anglican faith. It was church at Christmas and Easter and perhaps a few Sundays sprinkled in. I decided that I would leave the church as a teenager because it held little relevance to my life. I was a theist and there was a moral component to my life but…
By: Shela Sullivan on October 16, 2024
“Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s” by David Bebbington is comprehensive historical study of the evangelical movement in Britain from the 18th century to late 20th century.[1] This book explores how evangelicalism has influenced and been shaped by British society over time. Furthermore, Bebbington examines key periods and events such as the impact of the evangelical movement in the 19th century its resurgence after…
By: Diane Tuttle on October 15, 2024
When I was growing up, my only exposure to, what I told was, evangelicalism, was seeing someone standing on a milk crate at the country fair with a mega-phone shouting to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ or face eternal damnation. As a young teen who wanted to ride rides or win a…
By: Todd E Henley on October 15, 2024
“You’re killin’ me, Smalls” is a playful way of telling someone they’re being annoying or frustrating. It’s often used in a lighthearted way among friends or family members. The phrase is taken from the movie Sandlot and is uttered by the character “Ham” Porter to Scotty Smalls. The scene occurs when Ham offers Smalls a…
By: Debbie Owen on October 15, 2024
“You know it when you see it.” This phrase is often used as a definition for “pornography” but it can have many other applications as well. In his classic book, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, D.W. Bebbington uses a similar quote for evangelicalism: “Who was an Evangelical? Sometimes adherents of the movement were in doubt themselves.…
By: Jennifer Eckert on October 15, 2024
An optimist’s view of evangelicalism and capitalism might resemble a dance that ebbs and flows together in rhythms that rise and fall in an exchange of faith and fortune. Conversely, a pessimist’s view of these two critical forces could look more like tossing yesterday’s forgotten leftovers into a jumbled cauldron of hash, destined to become…
By: Kim Sanford on October 15, 2024
A couple of weeks ago, I sat in a parents’ meeting listening to my son’s teacher talk about the upcoming school year. Toward the end of the meeting a father behind me raised his hand and asked the teacher if she had a guess as to how many students in the class had phones. She…
By: Glyn Barrett on October 15, 2024
Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s[1] by David W. Bebbington explores the development and transformation of Evangelical Christianity in Britain over a 250-year period. As a British-based Pastor, many of the names, locations and events are so ingrained in the storytelling narrative of the British church that it was…
By: Cathy Glei on October 14, 2024
“I have found that Gen Z has several great strengths that will help them drive positive change. The first is that they are not in denial. They want to get stronger and healthier, and most are open to new ways of interacting. The second strength is that they want to bring about systemic change to…
By: Scott Dickie on October 14, 2024
(Spoiler Alert: my blog doesn’t have anything to do with the title…I just like irony) So many thoughts, so few words. That is my first response as I sit down to write a blog on Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Anxious Generation, which asserts that, “overprotection in the real world and underprotection in the virtual world—are…
