By Philip Clayton
March 25, 2012

"The Rise of the Nones" is one of 10 trends changing American life, according to Time magazine's March 12 cover story. That's because the "nones" — those who mark "none" on surveys that ask them to identify their religious affiliation — are the fastest-growing religious group in the United States.

In case anybody is interested... Looks like a great EDGE webinar!

TODAY: EDGE webinar with Phyllis Tickle, "Emergence Christianity: What It Is, Where It Came From, Why It Matters." Monday, Dec. 5, 7:00 pm ET. Free. Register on the EDGE website.

http://www.edge-ucc.ca/transformation/webinars/emergence-christianity/

In all the talk about stewardship and meeting the real needs of congregations and people, has anyone else ever wondered why the United Church doesn't cut some of the bureaucratic positions that seem like sacred cows?

Why does the Human Resources department keep growing, while positions in youth ministry, reugee support and rurual ministry get cut? Does that fit with the grand plan of the General Council Executive? I am sure the emerging church will be on fire for bureaucracy...not!

 In looking around the net I can across this funny story from the AP.  I thought we could start a thread to share humour church related stories.

 The following is an essay I started writing in order to help me figure out what is happening with the church, and also to reconcile that all things are loved by God and have  a place in her world.  Even those people and processes, and structure that I see as destructive.

Nothing I say is something that I might change my mind. In fact I do change my mind about it several times in the same day, as I my mood and optimism changes. It is also not really an esay but a gathering of some of my thoughts, which are always changing.

Sojourners has posted a provocative article from their May 2010 issue asking, "Is the Emerging Church for Whites Only?" The discussion about this article on Sojourners' website, as well as several other blogs, raises important questions and insights about diversity and the emerging church. Through these conversations, roiling at times, some potential new directions and areas of growth are beginning to emerge. And as they do, more attention is being given to the reality that the emerging church is more than just what is happening in North America and bigger than the handful of well-known writers and speakers who are associated with the movement.

"Is the Emerging Church for Whites Only?"
By Soong-Chan Rah and Jason Mach, with responses by Julie Clawson, Brian McLaren, and Debbie Blue.

Sojourners has also posted a number of additional responses on their God's Politics blog, including Shane Claiborne, Soong-Chan Rah, Jarrod McKenna, and Julie Clawson.

Other blogs dicussing the article:

Tony Jones: Emergent's White Problem.

Tall Skinny Kiwi: The Future

On the Faith & Leadership website, writer Lynn Gosnell offers a report on The Loft coffeehouse, an innovative missional community near San Antonio, Texas.

The Loft isn't just a coffeehouse, of course. It is also a church. The Loft is a core ministry of Riverside, a church community planted six years ago by San Antonio's Alamo Heights United Methodist Church. The church plant started with the coffeehouse, and eventually grew to include a food bank, thrift store, and a resource centre for the needy - and this was all before it held its first Sunday worship service. Now Riverside holds two services each Sunday with about 500 people, but there is no formal membership, and it owns no buildings, preferring to rent.

"Customers might not know that this is a church," said Tami Piatnik, who works on Saturdays. Indeed, The Loft displays few crosses or other signs of its affiliation with the United Methodist Church.

This originally appeared on Faith & Leadership, an offering of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity. To go to the original article, click here.

As the Christian landscape changes, Faith & Leadership says leaders must ask and answer a new question: What's the future of denominations? This is part of an occasional series that offers the thoughts of people across Christianity on this vital issue. To see the entire series, including the video interviews, click here.

Denominations are important because they embody an ethos, provide connection and are able "to see and solve problems," said Brian D. McLaren, an author, pastor and public speaker.

But denominations must turn from a "problem focus to a goal focus" if they are to remain relevant, especially to young people, he said.

For most churches, it's annual report time.

Ministers spend hours trying to be pithy, reflective and inspirational as they cobble together words that most of their community will not read. Folks want to get on to the meat of the report - the numbers and graphs. Red ink and black. This is the time when find ourselves weighed, measured, and often found wanting.

Did we make money?

Did membership go up? (There was someone I didn't know sitting in my pew last week.)

Is that welcoming and listening to people really worthwhile?

Is this emerging church thing really working? (I think that H1N1 might have put a stop to it.)

We have one particular problem that needs to be addressed. (Actually, I have many, but you probably don't have the medical credentials to deal with them.) In the past decade, 25-45 year olds have not sought out "membership" in religious institutions. This is not only true of The United Church of Canada, but all churches from evangelical through Anglican and Roman Catholic (don't ask for a footnotes, ask around). It is not limited to churches, but also true for fan clubs, consumer clubs (Costco, Sam's Club, etc.) and other identifiable groups. We don't want to be a single thing, we don't want to limit ourselves with labels and darn it, we just don't trust joining stuff!

No, really, it was an Italian restaurant - this is not some obscure Billy Joel reference. I was having dinner in the early evening by myself in a little Italian eatery with some aspirations to "fine dining." The food was fine, nothing spectacular, but the people were a study.

To my right, over by the bar, sat seven professional business men, gathering after work; they drank a lot of beer, ordered most of the menu and carried on in loud, if jovial, manner that made it clear that this was "their place." As much as I enjoyed their laughter, I was also excluded from it. I didn't know the jokes; I didn't get the references and frankly, they were just too loud.

I began to wonder if we don't often do the same thing in our churches. Jovial folk, well meant, but very clearly in charge, in the know, in the in-crowd. Often, it seems that for new comers, there is no room at the "in" (bad pun, but I trust you take my point). As long as this is "your church" it's never really going to feel like "my church."