November 2019 – What Happened To Our Churches

Growing Closer to God is Similar to Peak Performance by Athletes

Over my years of membership in the American Psychological Association, I watched my division of industrial and organizational psychology spin oﬀ a new specialty called sports psychology. Those psychologists focus on helping athletes to reach peak performance. They explore mental practices that allow an athlete to squeeze out a little more speed or increase endurance …

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Share Episodes of Your Personal Spiritual Journey

“Spiritual Growth” is a long-used category in my Lutheran experience, at least in the Walther League of my youth. But “Growth in the Spirit” is a totally new category not yet on the radar of most pastors. At least that is my experience in trying to promote “Thriving” or “Growing” in the Spirit. “Closeness to …

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Chart Your Spiritual Journey

Telling about one’s spiritual journey is common in Evangelical communities. It’s an invitation to talk about your conversion. But there is no reason why mainline Christians can’t do that, too, even though we are usually baptized as infants. I advocate telling about your spiritual journey in terms of how close or far from God you …

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Their End Is Practically in Sight

The Office of Research and Evaluation of a major mainline church denomination just released their projections of decline in membership and attendance. From 5 million in 1988, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America can expect fewer than 67,000 members thirty years from now. Average attendance will be less than 16,000 in about twenty years. This …

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