Category Archives: Index

Amazing Grace: A Question About Baptism

I get emails. I love reading your blog and have reached the same conclusions on Acts 2:38, but I will say I don’t know how to work around what one of the commenter’s said:  “Jay can conjecture till the Lord … Continue reading

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National Congregations Study: Church Size and Clergy Age, Part 1

Thanks to Ed Stetzer, I’ve been reading the National Congregations Study. This study follows thousands of US congregations over the years and reports trends. And some are quite surprising. Church size The first conclusion has to do with the size … Continue reading

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Attractional vs. Missional: Data

I apologize for the meandering way these posts are proceeding, but I’m trying to be true to the nature of the conversation going on in evangelical circles. And as my own thinking is evolving, it would hardly make sense to … Continue reading

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Attractional vs. Missional: Equipping the Members

Well, Nic posted some insightful words. If we were serious about equipping members to do good works, what would our classes look like? Would we be covering Acts for the 51st time? Teaching hermeneutics? Or offering classes on — local evangelization … Continue reading

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Attractional vs. Missional: Bill Kinnon Says It Plainly

Bill Kinnon is another missional thought leader and practitioner. He joined the conversation in plain terms (which I greatly appreciate) speaking favorably about megachurch Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City — If every megachurch in the world helped to plant … Continue reading

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Attractional vs. Missional: David Fitch Explains It

David Fitch is a Bible professor and leader in the missional church movement. In his blog, he explains why attractional churches fail to be missional. 1. HOW DO THE STRUCTURES OF YOUR ATTRACTIONAL CHURCH SHAPE (TRAIN) YOUR PEOPLE INTO CHRISTIAN … Continue reading

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Attractional vs. Missional: Alan Hirsch Joins the Conversation

Alan Hirsch is the author of The Shaping of Things to Come (a great book by the way) and an important thought-leader in the movement toward greater missionality. In a recent post at “Out of Ur,” a Christianity Today blog, he … Continue reading

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Attractional vs. Missional: Ephesians 4 Gives the Instructions

I can’t close this series without getting a little bit more into the theology. You see, this is what Ephesians 4 is all about. The following is the short version (the long version may be found at this post). (Eph … Continue reading

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Attractional vs. Missional: How It Might Be Done

So how do we actually lead a church to be both attractional and missional? It’s not altogether obvious, largely because few of us have ever experienced such a thing. But I have an idea or two. * I’m not sure … Continue reading

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Attractional vs. Missional: A Third Way

So should be we attractional or missional? Which is better? The danger of the attractional way of doing church is that it can turn disciples into consumers. If the reason I choose church A rather than church B is its … Continue reading

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