From the Sporadic Bibliography

I haven’t showcased anything from the “Sporadic Bibliography” here lately, so here we go: A handful of things that I’ve been reading this week!

Week of Compassion Resources
Don’t forget that this Sunday marks the closing day for this year’s Week of Compassion Offering. You can find all sorts of great resources on their website like the history of Week of Compassion, resources for specific projects, success stories from local congregations, and even the video we shared in worship this past Sunday.


What is Week of Compassion from Stephen Moseley on Vimeo.


YouVersion.com
Earlier this week I took part in a Webinar led by church growth and revitalization guru Rev. Cameron Trimble. She turned me on to this website, and I’ve gotta be honest, I’m not quite sure what to make of it just yet. But Cameron has never steered me wrong before, so I’m willing to check it out. YouVersion is an online, social networking, Bible study community. Follow the link to check it out and see if you think it might be something useful for our church to try. If you have any opinions on it, drop me an e-mail.

SWOT Analysis and Asset Mapping
Two separate resources, and they only sound New Age-y. They are actually terrific exercises for organizational development. Sandi DeFeo and I met last night to talk about our upcoming Administrative Council Retreat and we’ll be using modified versions of these two tools to set some goals for Administrative Council and begin the work of discerning God’s vision for our congregation. You’ll be hearing more about the Administrative Council Retreat in the coming weeks, but for now check out these two resources to see what we’ll be talking about.

Growth Stalls, Falls for Largest US Churches
This one is humbling. Actually, it just hurts. USA Today ran a story earlier this month on the statistics and trends in church membership in the United States today. In a word: Not so good. The mainline church (of which the Disciples of Christ are a part, even though we don’t garner a single mention in the article) has continued to see steady decline in membership, giving, and participation. It spells out the very real challenges that are ahead of us if we want to be a growing, vibrant, active church in this day and age. It is well worth the read if you want to get a sense for the state of the church in America today.

Happy reading, friends. If you have anything that you have enjoyed reading lately and would like to recommend it please mention it in the comments section!

Yours in the journey, Rev. Brian