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What practices can help church leaders learn from failures and address conflict in ways that lead to fruitful ministry? We speak with Tyler Sit about centering marginalized voices, meeting the needs of the community, managing conflict, and other leadership lessons he has learned as a church planter.
The demographic makeup of localities across the U.S. is rapidly diversifying. Some predominantly white congregations perceive this as a challenge or even a threat. But…
One hopeful trend in Faith Communities Today’s 2020 survey findings is that the percentage of multiracial congregations in the U.S. has doubled over the past…
Lovett H. Weems Jr. highlights key findings in the 2020 U.S. Census Report of significance for churches including an aging overall population, the first-ever decline…
What are the unique characteristics of young people coming of age today? Rock Jones, president of Ohio Wesleyan University, describes a generation of digital natives…
What are the unique characteristics of young people coming of age today? Rock Jones, president of Ohio Wesleyan University, describes a generation of digital natives who are highly connected but also lonely and anxious. Dr. Jones describes Gen Zers’ life questions, the perspectives they bring to spiritual engagement, and ways church leaders can meet them where they are.
Doug Powe of the Lewis Center suggests congregations take a different approach to Black History Month this year. He outlines ideas to encourage church members…
How can your congregation initiate conversations about race? And how can pastors prepare themselves for this important work? In this episode Michael R. Fisher Jr. shares perspectives, questions, and resources that can help church leaders confront the challenging issues of structural racism and white privilege during these turbulent times.
How can the church be more receptive and open as neighborhoods become more complex and culture more multi-faceted? In this episode we speak with consultant Paul Nixon who works to help churches meet the demands of a rapidly changing age.
How can we live into a more multi-ethnic vision for our congregations? In this episode we speak with Jacqui Lewis of Middle Collegiate Church about multi-cultural and multi-racial congregations, plus the joys and challenges of being a multi-ethnic congregation.
The growing Latino and Latina population in the United States is transforming the religious landscape, reshaping virtually every Christian tradition. Drawing on the work of…
HiRho Y. Park has studied how pastoral leaders can be more effective in cross-racial and cross-cultural ministry contexts. These pastors can be bridge builders, she…
Amanda Poppei’s Washington, DC, congregation is engaged in an anti-racism effort aimed at countering racist assumptions embedded in their congregational life and practices. This effort…
How can a congregation focus intentionally on addressing implicit racism within its own institutional and community life? In this episode Amanda Poppei, Senior Leader of the Washington Ethical Society, describes how her community has made anti-racism work an overarching priority — shaping its identity and congregational practices.
A recent editorial in Christianity Today magazine acknowledges how the magazine failed in confronting racism during critical years of the civil rights movement. Lovett H.…
Drawing on his experience in a cross-racial/cross-cultural ministry setting, Albert Shuler explains that successful multicultural ministry depends on clear goals and objectives. The ultimate goal…
How can white Christians talk faithfully about racism? In this episode Carolyn Helsel discusses her book, Anxious to Talk about It, with Lewis Center Associate Director Ann Michel.
Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe, Jr., says evangelistic strategies often fail because they don’t meaningfully and respectfully engage those we are trying to reach.…
Former Wesley Theological Seminary Dean L. Harold DeWolf, who was Martin Luther King’s dissertation director at Boston University, delivered this tribute at King’s funeral on April…
Lovett H. Weems, Jr. shares recent findings indicating that mixed-race neighborhoods are becoming more common and enduring, even in the suburbs. Data suggest that Americans…
Unique challenges arise when a church is served by a pastor from a different racial or cultural background or as it struggles to engage a…
How do you do ministry with people who don’t look like you, sound like you, or think like you? Listen as Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe speaks with thought leader Rev. Jasmine Smothers about insights for doing effective ministry outside one’s native culture.
C. Anthony Hunt explains how Martin Luther King, Jr.’s prophetic witness was grounded in four principles — call, conviction, courage, and commitment. Even fifty years…
The United Methodist Church faces a looming adaptive challenge that can only be addressed by major learning, innovation, and prayerful discernment. United Methodists in the…
Douglas Brouwer, author of How to Become a Multicultural Church, says in diverse settings it’s not enough to treat people the way you would like…
Lovett H. Weems, Jr., founding director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, draws on the example of Judge Warren K. Urbom’s skill in presiding…
Moving Faith Communities to Fruitful Conversations about Race is a dialogue about race in America that may be used to help your church bring people…
As multiculturalism takes hold in U.S. churches, there is a greater need for competent intercultural leaders, says Brian Leander of Adelphi University. He says “culturally…
Incoming Lewis Center Director Doug Powe says that demographic shifts will bring increased diversity to the neighborhoods around most churches in the coming decades. Rather…
Mark DeYmaz and Bob Whitesel say that the church must reposition itself to maintain credibility in an increasingly diverse community. They stress the importance of…
This article is reprinted by permission from Leading Ideas, a free e-newsletter from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary available at churchleadership.com.