Back from NACBA Conference

I've returned and settled back in from another fantastic NACBA conference. This year's event was held in Orlando at the beautiful Gaylord Palms Hotel.

I saw so many familiar faces...and quite a few first-time attendees, as well. It's always a great time to visit with our readers, who are always so great at giving feedback and offering suggestions.

In fact, one visitor to our booth asked if we had ever covered turning a old chapel into a meditation room to build/expand a prayer ministry. We haven't...but I'm intrigued, and it's an idea I'm going to pursue.

We also spent time with other exhibitors, so if you weren't able to make the show, don't worry. The August issue of RPN will include a roundup of some of the new products and services from vendors at the show.

If you were there, what was the best part of the conference for you?

Come As You Are?

I read an article in The Birmingham News, my local paper, yesterday about area churches going casual for Sunday services...not just the contemporary mega-churches around town, but the more traditional worship facilties, as well. (You can read the full article here.)

One section, in particular, stuck out to me:

The "come as you are" message is a recurring theme in American religious history. One example of a time when that message was well received was during the mid-1800s, said Theodore Trost, chairman of the religious studies department at the University of Alabama.

He said data from the Pew Research Center has shown that church membership in the last 15 to 20 years is on the decline. Whenever confronted with the problem of decline, groups try new techniques to encourage membership, he said.

One of the ways that churches equalize relationships among members is by being less formal, he said. But it's being done in more than dress. It spills over into the music, the musical instruments being used and even changing from traditional pews to theater or auditorium-type seating.

What new techniques are you employing to encourage membership?

Martial Arts Ministry?

A recent article in The New York Times profiled a Memphis church that has implemented a mixed martial arts program as part of its ministry in an effort to reach young men, a group with low church attendance. The piece highlighted a small but growing trend among evanglical churches.

"The outreach is part of a larger and more longstanding effort on the part of some ministers who fear that their churches have become too feminized, promoting kindness and compassion at the expense of strength and responsibility.

These pastors say the marriage of faith and fighting is intended to promote Christian values, quoting verses like “fight the good fight of faith” from Timothy 6:12. Several put the number of churches taking up mixed martial arts at roughly 700 of an estimated 115,000 white evangelical churches in America. The sport is seen as a legitimate outreach tool by the youth ministry affiliate of the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents more than 45,000 churches."

Is your church expanding/adjusting your ministries to reach this particular group? I'm always interested in hearing from you.