Archive

How Mental Health Is the New Domain of Ministry to the Next Generation

Recent data show that the mental health strain teens and young adults were under pre-pandemic have only intensified during the crisis. How should church leaders respond in light of these findings?

ChurchPulse Weekly Conversations: Latasha Morrison on Bridge Building

Why You Might Be Aiming at the Wrong Target in Your Ministry to the Next Generation

With only 10 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds who grew up Christian or in the Church qualifying as what Barna defines as "resilient disciples," pastors may wonder, what can be done to engage young people and even raise this percentage in the years to come?

Will the 2020 Pandemic Accelerate Loss of Faith Among the Next Generation?

Reaching out to the next generation is of key importance, especially in a season of uncertainty and rapid changes. The first step Matlock recommends to welcome Prodigals back into the Church and encourage all young people to stay engaged is to forge deeper connections. These stronger ties will yield insights into how pastors can best support and disciple these young adults.

Why Millennials Aren't Watching Your Streamed Worship Services

Over the last few months, church leaders have expressed that they are struggling in their ministry to younger adult generations. In light of this, Barna president David Kinnaman and Director of Insights Mark Matlock sat down to review what research tells us about these age groups, seeking to offer actionable insights that church leaders can implement right now. We'll kick off this five-day video series, Five Essential Conversations About Ministry to the Next Generation, with an exploration of some of the reasons Millennials may have stopped streaming digital church during the pandemic.

Restoring Relationships: A Barna Digital Summit

On September 30, 2020, Barna and Pepperdine University’s Boone Center for the Family partnered together to host a live digital summit to share findings from the Restoring Relationships report. This free event paired past data with recent research and expert interviews to help pastors get a broader glimpse at relational health in light of the 2020 disruptions, including the COVID-19 crisis, renewed conversations on racial justice and increased political divides preceding the upcoming election.

ChurchPulse Weekly Conversations: Pete Scazzero on Rhythms for Lives in Crisis

On the most recent ChurchPulse Weekly episode, podcast hosts Carey Nieuwhof and David Kinnaman sat down with Pete Scazzero, founder of the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship ministry, to discuss how pastors and churches can respond to the widespread wounds of our traumatized world.

Christians Struggled with Relational Health Prior to the Crisis—So What Has Changed?

It’s no secret that relationships drastically impact our lives. Healthy relationships are supportive and life-giving, contributing to our resilience during challenging times (especially among young people), spurring us to grow in faith together and even allowing us to be better parents. Unhealthy relationships—or even a lack of relationships—have a tendency to leave us feeling drained, empty and dissatisfied. During the COVID-19 crisis, these negative impacts have been felt even more prominently. What can the Church do to help?

ChurchPulse Weekly Conversations: A Panel on Pandemic Church Planting

Church leaders are balancing between old and new normals. While leaders recognize that the pandemic isn’t going away any time soon, churches still have hope that the old normal will return. This week, podcast hosts Carey Nieuwhof and David Kinnaman talk to three pastors on church planting in crisis: Dave Ferguson, Roy Helu Jr., and Glenn Lawson.

ChurchPulse Weekly Conversations: Andy Crouch on Caring for Your Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength

Carey Nieuwhof and David Kinnaman invite Andy Crouch to join them for the most recent ChurchPulse Weekly episode. Crouch, author of The Tech-Wise Family, speaker and partner for theology and culture at Praxis Labs, shares his thoughts on the pandemic, and what pastors and their people can be doing to care for the heart, soul, mind and strength right now.

ChurchPulse Weekly Conversations: Andy Stanley on Offering Clarity During Uncertainty

Earlier this year, in the midst of the pandemic, communicator, author and pastor of North Point Ministries, Andy Stanley, made national news when he announced that his church would remain closed to the public through the end of 2020, a decision many church leaders have been unwilling to make. On the most recent ChurchPulse Weekly episode, podcasts hosts Nieuwhof and Kinnaman sit down with Stanley to discuss how he and his team went about making the decision to keep their church buildings closed through the end of the year and what it takes to lead well in the midst of uncertainty.

ChurchPulse Weekly Podcast: Mark Batterson on Pastoring in a Digital Age, Part 2

Last week, podcast hosts Carey Nieuwhof and David Kinnaman sat down with Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Communitny Church in Washington, DC, to discuss ministry in the current digital era. While the COVID-19 crisis has forced many churches to take their weekly outreach online because of social distancing, the ChurchPulse Weekly hosts and guest also discussed how harnessing the internet for ministerial purposes was a growing need, even before the pandemic. This week’s episode is a continuation of last week’s conversation between Nieuwhof, Kinnaman and Batterson, and covers topics such as next gen ministry, city-wide outreach and the importance of remembering to be kingdom minded.

ChurchPulse Weekly Podcast: Mark Batterson on Pastoring in a Digital Age, Part 1

In the most recent ChurchPulse Weekly episode, podcast hosts Carey Nieuwhof and David Kinnaman are joined by Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington D.C., to discuss pastoring in the digital age.

ChurchPulse Weekly Podcast: Leslie Mack and Shane Sanchez on Student Ministry

Just a few weeks ago, nearly half of U.S. pastors (47%) shared that one of the greatest challenges they’re facing at this moment is ministry to children and youth. This week, podcast hosts Carey Nieuwhof and David Kinnaman drill deeper into this stat with guest panelists Leslie Mack and Shane Sanchez, seeking to offer clarity and direction to leaders who are struggling with next gen ministry.

COVID-19 Conversations: Kara Powell on Innovative Youth Ministry

Over the past few months, pastors and parents alike have expressed the struggle they face when it comes to ministering to children and youth in a time of social distancing. In a recent ChurchPulse Weekly episode, hosts Carey Nieuwhof and David Kinnaman are joined by Kara Powell, executive director of the Fuller Youth Institute, to discuss the unique challenges pastors, parents and teens are facing in the current moment.

Do Pastors Feel Well-Equipped to Help Congregants Heal from Trauma?

Most pastors agree that trauma is an issue the Church should address, but many church leaders have had little to no training in the way of counseling or trauma care. This article explores how prepared U.S. pastors feel when it comes to helping people heal from trauma, looking specifically at how equipped they feel overall, what—if any—training they’ve received on this issue and what types of trauma they are most comfortable handling.

COVID-19 Conversations: Jon Tyson on the Tensions of Online Ministry

As summer comes to a close, the pandemic continues to grip the United States, forcing pastors to consider what it means to lead online or hybrid church services into the fall of 2020.In this week’s episode, Jon Tyson, author and lead pastor of Church of the City, New York, joins podcast hosts Carey Nieuwhof and David Kinnaman to comment on real time data on the tensions pastor feel when it comes to leading in the current moment.

COVID-19 Conversations: Lysa TerKeurst on Vulnerability & Leading in Crisis

In early April, just a few weeks after local and federal government issued safe at home orders and urged citizens to observe social distancing guidelines, Churchpulse Weekly hosts Carey Nieuwhof and David Kinnaman shared findings related to the mental and emotional health of pastors and their congregants in light of current events. Now, in the most recent ChurchPulse Weekly episode, Nieuwhof and Kinnaman take another look at the numbers, honing in on the data on church leaders’ well-being, before inviting Lysa TerKeurst to comment on the data and offer practical advice for pastors leading through crisis.