RUMINATIONS OF A REVEREND

Values. You’ve heard the term. Maybe you’ve written some down. Maybe you’ve helped craft some for an organization. But do you own yours? It’s not an issue if you have values, we all do (good and bad), but do you know your values and own them?  One of the most helpful exercises I’ve found to help narrow down what’s truly important to me is found in Stephen Covey’s book “7 habits of highly effective people.” He instructs you to picture your own funeral and visualize what you would want people to say about you. You’ve heard tributes given at funerals about the deceased, “He was so optimistic,” “She was such a caring person,” “He could make anyone laugh,” etc. Now if you were the one lying in the coffin and your time on this earth was done, what would you want people to say? Perhaps the more probing question is “What would they say?” Pause and think about that for a moment.  The answers to those two questions will tell you whether your ideal values match your real values. And the ...

How rough has the last two years been on the church? Here are some headlines from 2021 for you to consider. U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time (Gallup, March 2021) A Gallup survey indicated that membership in houses of worship (churches, synagogues, and mosques) dipped below 50% for the first time in the 80 years of tracking. In 1999 it was 70% but in 2020 it dropped to 47%. Churches Changed During the Pandemic and Many Aren't going back (Wall Street Journal, November, 2021) Here is a quote from that article: “ In-person church attendance is roughly 30% to 50% lower than it was before the pandemic, estimates Barna Group, a research firm that studies faith in the U.S.” About Three-in-Ten US Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated (Pewforum, December 2021) Pew research indicates that Christians now make up 63% of Americans, but the religious “nones” (who claim no religious affiliation) comprise 29% of Americans—barely more than a 2 to 1 ratio. ...

Hold on! This isn’t exactly what you may be thinking. I’m not talking about the body mass index of believers in the American church and the need to get into physical shape. Though I will mention that January has more gym membership sign-ups than any other month. Maybe this New Year you even told yourself, “I’m going to get into shape this year.” That’s not a bad resolution. You might not be going for the look of a Greek god, but you at least want to lose a few extra pounds and increase your health. Those are great goals! And many join a gym to achieve those goals. Unfortunately, one study found that 80% of individuals who join a gym in January will quit within 5 months. 80%! I’ll mention a simple practice to overcome those odds later in this blog, but for now let’s shift to this matter of spiritual obesity. What is spiritual obesity? There is a parallel between spiritual obesity and physical obesity. Now let me pause and acknowledge the struggle many face trying to maintain a healthy...