Lexington MA - Sundays at the evangelical Grace Chapel megachurch look like the American ideal of race relations: African-American, Haitian, white, Chinese and Korean families sing along with a white, guitar-playing pastor. U.S. churches rarely have this kind of ethnic mix. But that's changing. Researchers who study race and religion say Grace Chapel is among a vanguard of megachurches that are breaking down racial barriers in American Christianity, altering the long-segregated landscape of Sunday worship.
[more...]
Greater Boston Church Planting Collaborative: Three discussions on church planting Ralph Kee writes: Greetings from the Greater Boston Church Planting Collaborative. Someone recently asked me if GBCPC offers an urban church planting class. I'd loved to facilitate the following three discussions if there is an interest. Greater Boston needs church planting movements.
[more...]
Boston Globe: Churches drop 'Baptist' name, not principles Concord, N.H. (Dec. 3, 2006) One of Concord's oldest churches has a new name, reflecting a local trend of moving away from denominational titles in the evangelical movement. The 188-year-old First Baptist Church was renamed Centerpoint Church earlier this month. According to the Rev. David Spencer, the change was designed to distance the church from some of the negative connotations of the word "Baptist."
[more...]
American Church Research Project: Surprising Stats in New Church Research - Nationwide Church Attendance Less than Half of Previous Estimates St. Louis, MO (Oct. 12, 2006) Attendance at American churches is less than half of what we have believed in the past, according to Dave Olson, director of church planting for the Evangelical Covenant Church, and director of the American Church Research Project. The northeast U.S. is the only region where the church is growing faster than the population.
[more...](1)
Christianty Today: "Holy Spirit religion" is quietly infiltrating the church, revitalizing us all. Chris Armstrong thinks that there is an "inner pentecostal" in all of us. Contemporary worship style is an oft-noted influence of Pentecostalism, with congregations of all stripes now singing choruses and praise music, even raising their hands in adoration. But in Armstrong's opinion, pentecostalism is leaving its deepest mark in less visible, more significant ways:
[more...]
EGC Research: More than 100 new churches planted in Boston area during last 5 years Brian Corcoran, an EGC researcher, writes: Based on our recent church survey research we have encouraging news with regard to the “Quiet Revival”and the vitality of the church in Boston. The “Quiet Revival” stage of recent decades appears to be continuing and perhaps even increasing! In our current research we have identified 98 new churches planted in Boston between January of 2001 and July of 2006. Similarly, across the river in Cambridge, we have identified 16 churches planted.
[more...]
Meeting in the Doubletree Hotel in Westborough, Mass., His Way Inn is a newly "planted" church - one started from scratch specifically for people who may have given up on church or who've never had a church experience. His Way Inn, sponsored by the Foursquare Gospel Church, is one of at least 100 plants in the Boston area since 2000, where local pastors talk of a "quiet revival."
[more...]
Boston Globe: Latinos flock to evangelical church Lawrence MA (July 30, 2006) It's Sunday afternoon, and a thunderous voice from Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer in Lawrence can be heard from at least three blocks away. At this Pentecostal church, Latinos make up most of the membership. In seven years, membership has grown from just a few to more than 200, according to the Rev. Victor Jarvis, the church's pastor.
[more...]
Boston MA (June 2006) One of the most exciting signs of the
movement of the Spirit in this region
is the number of new churches being
planted here. Just as there are people who have been called by God
from around the world to come to Boston and
work for revival, so there are people who have
been called here to start churches.
[more...]
Healthy Church Award: Two Massachusetts churches to be honored by Rick Warren Rick Warren writes about the partnership of 2 Massachusetts churches and holds it up as a model. Peoples Baptist Church of Boston and North River Community Church in suburban Pembroke, Mass. partnered in 'adopting' and ministring to two Boston elementary schools.
[more...]
Boston's newest hair salon with black leather chairs and personal 15-inch flat-screen televisions with satellite link for each customer is not on Newbury Street but in a tiny church located on a bumpy road in south Dorchester. It is to be a Gospel-friendly place where anyone can get a hairstyling and where some might come to God.
[more...]
Christian Science Monitor: Pentecostalism at 100 - a major religious force Boston MA (April 24, 2006) Reviewing the centennial of the Azusa Street Revival, Jane Lampman from the Christian Science Monitor describes how praise songs, the expressiveness of Pentecostal worship, and the focus on "gifts" identified in the book of Acts, have spread through Evangelical churches and nondenominational megachurches.
[more...]
Boston Globe: Jubilee Church to buy church in Stoughton With a membership approaching 7,000, the evangelical, Mattapan-based Jubilee Christian Church is expanding to the suburbs through the $3 million purchase of a Catholic church in Stoughton closed by the Archdiocese of Boston.
[more...]
Boston Globe: Interview with Archbishop O'Malley Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley says he sees "signs of hope" amid the many challenges facing the church. "There's no quick fix, and what we've been through as a local church has been very serious, and has very, very deep effects," O'Malley said in an interview published in The Boston Sunday Globe. "But, as I say, I see many signs of hope."
[more...]
Boston Globe: In historic area, church's pro-gay sign wins permit Boston MA (March 21, 2006) Quincy city officials' decision last week to give the United First Parish Church a temporary sign permit for 60 days appears to have cleared the way to display the 34-foot-long banner proclaiming ''People of Faith for Marriage Equality." Sometime around April 1, the banner will be hung along the top of the columns of the historic Greek revival building in Quincy Center, across from City Hall. [COMMENTS]
Pope Benedict XVI today announced in Rome that Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley will be made a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in a ceremony at the Vatican late next month. O'Malley is among 15 new cardinals included in the first set of appointments by Benedict. The new cardinals -- who will receive the red hats, or birettas, that signal the rank at a ceremony in Rome March 24 -- will help oversee the Vatican's bureaucracy through service on oversight committees, and ultimately many of them could have a vote in the selection of Benedict's successor. [COMMENTS]
Boston Globe: MA bishops to oppose adoption by gays Boston MA (Feb.16, 2006) The four Roman Catholic bishops of Massachusetts plan to seek permission from the state to exclude gay couples as adoptive parents, according to two board members of the church's largest social service agency who were briefed on the plan.
[more...]
Boston Solemn Assembly: April 9, 2006 Jeff Marks writes: The Black Ministerial Alliance is taking the lead on planning a Solemn Assembly in Boston for April 9th. Details are still being worked out, but the basic purpose will be to gather across denominational, cultural, and economic lines as an expression of our Christian unity; to publicly repent for our sins against God and each other; to unite against the demonic strongholds of drugs and violence that threaten the peace, prosperity and safety of our city.
[more...]
A series of disputes and rivalries has shattered the alliance of the powerful black Boston ministers -- Hammond, Rivers, and the Rev. Bruce Wall -- who founded the Boston Ten Point Coalition in 1992 and took to the streets to combat, face-to-face, an unprecedented wave of youth homicides. A younger generation of ministers is struggling to revive the coalition, in part because it has become a popular name that attracts cash in the political and foundation worlds. [COMMENTS]
Boston Globe: Ministers launch drive to combat youth crime - Plan for 1,000 volunteers Boston MA (Feb.9, 2006) Black ministers in Boston, responding to a surge in youth violence, have launched a drive to recruit, train, and deploy 1,000 volunteers to work with at-risk young people from the city's toughest and poorest neighborhoods. City and police officials are applauding the plan. The first 100 volunteers are nearing the end of their training and will be deployed on neighborhood walks, home visits, and mentoring assignments. [COMMENTS]
Milford CONN. (Feb.9, 2006) – In 1991, Pastor Jay Ramirez rented a room in a Ramada Inn off Interstate 95 and started preaching. Tonight he roves the stage of plush Kingdom Life Christian Cathedral, which is packed with an enthusiastic crowd. After 14 eventful years, his congregation, now about 2,300, is hosting an international conference on church growth. And Bishop Ramirez is ordaining pastors from several countries. [COMMENTS]
Christian Post: Megachurch Myths Dispelled in New Report According to Megachurches Today 2005, a joint project released today by Hartford Seminary and the Leadership Network, there are about 1,210 Protestant Churches in the United States with an average weekly attendance of over 2,000.
“That is nearly double the number of megachurches that existed five years ago,” said Warren Bird, Director of Research at Leadership Network.
[more...]
Orlando FL (Jan.27, 2006) Nearly 2,000 attendants representing every state and from over 20 countries soaked up the wisdom and insights from key leaders at an event meant to train pastors to plant five million new churches and convert one billion new souls to Christ over the next ten years. The Billion Soul Pastors Conference is hosting a sold-out crowd at Faith Assembly Church in Orlando, Fla., from Jan. 25-27. Its vision to complete the Great Commission has generated much excitement around the nation since 2002, when the first pastors’ conference drew more than 5,000 pastors.
[more...]
Christianity Today: Boston's Quiet Revival is making national news! Jeff Bass writes: The ChristianityToday.com article about the Quiet
Revival in Boston/New England is a generally positive article that gives a good sense of what is
going on and the anticipation of God doing more in the future. There
are a couple of spots where the reporter doesn't get it quite right
though.
[more...]
Charismatic churches all across the country are becoming more balanced and healthy as they seek to apply the Purpose Driven model of ministry to their church. These churches are discovering that they don't have to lose their theological distinctiveness to become churches committed to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. Here are five principles that Dennis Baril, pastor of Community Covenant Church in Rehoboth MA, discovered during his church's purpose driven journey. [COMMENTS]
WEZE 590: Alex Canavan interviews Dr. Roberto Miranda
WEZE 590 general manager Alex Canavan recently interviewed Dr. Miranda. Listen as Dr. Miranda explains his dream of the Lion of Judah hovering over Boston, a vision that prompted pastor Miranda to move his church from Cambridge to Boston and to rename it 'Congregation Lion of Judah'. Dr. Miranda points out the authoritative, regal dimension of Jesus as the 'Lion of Judah' in addition to being the 'Lamb of God'. Being made in HIS image, Dr. Miranda feels that God calls us to reflect that the 'Lion of Judah' lives within all of us. However, we can only be effective when we fight in unity. Both Mr. Canavan and Dr. Miranda highlight the importance of the upcoming unity meeting in Tremont Temple. [COMMENTS(1)]
Wellesley MA (Jan. 16, 2006) Two years after his friend was shot and killed on a Dorchester street, Desmond McPherson stood yesterday inside Wellesley Congregational Church, a microphone in his hand, and the eyes of biotech executives, homemakers, and the mayor of Boston on him. Calls to end bloodshed in Boston came to this suburban church, straight from people whose lives are more regularly rocked by gunfire -- the parishioners of the Charles Street AME Church in Roxbury, who joined them for a Sunday service inspired by the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. [COMMENTS]
Boston Globe: Higher power point presentation - Technology and religion merge to facilitate spiritual growth Every Wednesday night, youth pastor Christopher Ziegler faces the formidable challenge of getting 50 Haverhill teenagers with no church background to stand and sing praise songs for half an hour. He succeeds, he says, thanks in large part to a presentation software program designed specifically for religious settings. Annual sales of religious software have reached the $80 million mark, according to a 2004 report from Packaged Facts, a market research company that tracks religious publishing. More than 60 percent of Protestant congregations now use large-screen projection systems, many computer-driven, and show video clips during worship. [COMMENTS]
Boston MA (Dec. 25, 2005) On a day when most Christians are celebrating the miracle of Christmas, the 300-plus worshipers who crowded into Roxbury Presbyterian Church on Warren Street were also celebrating another miracle.
Somehow, the 165 members of this 114-year-old church raised nearly $3.3 million over the past several years. They used the money to restore their once-crumbling church, a Victorian Gothic masterpiece built in 1891 with Roxbury puddingstone. [COMMENTS]
Sun Herald: AIDS poses quandary for black churches Black clergy in America have long been on the front lines of important causes affecting their community. But the church's role in the increasing crisis of AIDS in black America remains an unresolved issue. Over the last decade, the rate of new HIV infections among whites has held steady while the rate has doubled for blacks. The Rev. Eugene Rivers, who heads the National Ten Point Leadership Foundation in Boston, calls the church's response in America "less than proactive." While he applauds the work American ministers have done to help those afflicted by AIDS in Africa, he said the church needs to be challenged more on the way it deals with the epidemic here. "The black church," he said, "has failed to address the AIDS issue." [COMMENTS]
Worshippers at Grace Chapel in Lexington MA
Boston Globe 'Housing first,' a radical new approach to ending chronic homelessness, is gaining ground in Boston
