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Evangelical pastor Rick Warren is begging parishioners at his Southern California megachurch to cough up $900,000 before Jan. 1 to keep the parish out of the red. In an urgent letter posted on the Saddleback Church Web site on Wednesday, Warren says expenses are up because parishioners are out of work and "the bottom dropped out" when year-end donations dropped dramatically. He asks parishioners to donate before the new year to keep the Orange County church out of debt, The Orange County Register reports. A spokeswoman for Warren said the church does not release financial details, so it's difficult to...

Pastor Rick Warren urgently asks faithful for $900,000 December 30th, 2009 It’s been a heck of a year for mega-pastor/bestselling author/power broker Rick Warren of the enormous Saddleback Church. It started out with Warren’s invocation at the historic inauguration of one President Barack Obama - and it concludes with Warren asking his flock to cough up nearly $1 million in just two days to keep the church out of the red. “Dear Saddleback Family,” begins today’s missive from Warren. “THIS IS AN URGENT LETTER unlike any I’ve written in 30 years. Please read all of it and get back to...

Islamic Society convention lands appearance from Rick WarrenThe Indiana-based Islamic Society of North America will be holding its annual convention -- the largest yearly gathering of Muslims on the continent -- in Washington, D.C. over the Fourth of July weekend. And while convention leaders are holding out hope that President Barack Obama might make the convention his latest stop in his outreach to the Muslim world, the convention has landed another pretty big fish as a featured speaker.Purpose-Driven pastor Rick Warren has agreed to appear at the convention and be part of its main session discussing the convention's theme --...

This refers to the method of conducting a Sunday morning church service where all the events surrounding the service are tailored with the unchurched in mind. The goal of this model is to attempt to make the “seeker” feel comfortable by making the service understandable and enjoyable. In this sense, the church is attempting to build a bridge with the unbeliever with the ultimate goal that they will hear the Gospel and be saved. The preaching model in the seeker churches follows suit. Every sermon is simply another way to present the Gospel. Deeper learning, fellowship, and discipleship are encouraged...

Congregation suing district after its home is sold BY MARK BARNA August 4, 2008 - 1:15AM When the church locks were changed on a summer's day two years ago, Zhen Xue and the other congregants were dumbfounded. After all, the Chinese Alliance Church parish owned the Colorado Springs property and had money in the bank to keep it running. Two days later, on July 2, 2006, the congregation got the explanation: Leaders of the MidAmerica District of the Christian & Missionary Alliance said they were shutting down the church because church membership, and thus donations, had fallen. The district...

Rick Warren Takes On His Critics: "I'm a Big Target" August 15, 2008 8:03 AM In another part of our interview with best-selling author and pastor Rick Warren, I asked him about some of the controversies surrounding his church. I asked him, for instance, about the criticism that he offers a sort of glib, new age Christianity. Rev. Bob DeWaay, author of a book criticizing Warren’s approach, says “the Bible’s theme is about redemption and atonement, not finding meaning and solving problems.” How does he respond to the charge that he offers a shallow 40-day approach to Christianity? "I flatly...

The 23rd Psalm rolled off the Rev. Jason Strand's tongue with soothing familiarity, the way it had since he memorized it as a boy. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters ..." But up on the 16-by-24-foot screens flanking Strand, the PowerPoint version displayed the updated words "quiet waters" instead of the "still waters" of Strand's memory. Amy Anderson noticed the problem instantly. She began scribbling notes in her three-ring binder, then flipped to a new page to catch up with what...

The adage tells us that there is a destination, the road to which is paved with good intentions. It is the destination that we would prefer not to reach. Good intentions can have disastrous results and consequences. When we look at the revolution of worship in America today, I see a dangerous road that is built with such intentions. The good purposes that have transformed worship in America have as their goal to reach a lost world – a world that is marked by baby boomers and Generation Xers who have in many ways rejected traditional forms and styles of...

After modeling a seeker-sensitive approach to church growth for three decades, Willow Creek Community Church now plans to gear its weekend services toward mature believers seeking to grow in their faith. cut Since 1975, Willow Creek has avoided conventional church approaches, using its Sunday services to reach the unchurched through polished music, multimedia, and sermons referencing popular culture and other familiar themes. cut .....surveyed congregants at Willow Creek and six other churches, suggested that evangelistic impact was greater from those who self-reported as "close to Christ" or "Christ-centered" than from new church attendees. In addition, a quarter of the "close...

Evangelical Writers Challenged to Avoid Alienating the Unchurched Evangelical writers nearly always alienate non-evangelicals in their works, noted long-time Christian writer and editor Tim McLaughlin. Fri, May. 09, 2008 Posted: 12:04:29 PM EST PORTLAND, Ore. – “I have a bone to pick with you,” a Christian writer told a group of fellow evangelical writers Thursday. Evangelical writers nearly always alienate non-evangelicals in their works, noted long-time Christian writer and editor Tim McLaughlin. While most writers write to impact non-believers, as well as believers, the phrases they use and how they ignore some faith passages are real obstacles to reaching the...

Churches often borrow from business worldTaking care of business (ABP) -- Churches can learn from the business -- for better or for worse. Some best practices in the corporate world translate well to the nonprofit sector, including churches, experts insist. And at the same time, churches can benefit by looking at some lessons failed businesses learned the hard way. Baptists with expertise in both business and congregational life note several areas where churches can discover lessons worth learning: -- Core values and mission: “Start with a core set of values -- an irreducible minimum of non-negotiable basics,” said Chris...

Rick Warren's book The Purpose-Driven Life is more than a major bestseller.  It's also the most prominent manifestation of a "seeker-sensitive" movement that's attempting, for all intents and purposes, to redefine evangelical Christianity. The seeker-sensitive movement is a close analogy to the contemporary conservative movement. In both cases, people who ought to be offering timeless truths that can save individuals and societies are instead using market research to craft a product that appeals to consumers, telling them what they want to hear rather than a truth that is initially painful but ultimately liberating.  Even if you are not a Christian,...

FRESNO, Calif., Feb 11, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- In a project guaranteed to spark controversy and pique interest, Flipside Christian Church of Madera Ranchos is inviting people to church using what at first glance appears to be an X-Rated web site. The site, http://www.yourultimatelover.com asks the viewer questions about their "Ultimate Lover." Once the link is accessed the viewer is taken to the church's web site for information about a new series on love. The project hits homes in the area with newspaper inserts, and a postcard advertisement about the "yourultimatelover" web site. The site and campaign are designed...

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The congregation of Southland Christian Church is being asked to send letters of love and support to troubled pop star Britney Spears, described by the pastor as having made "devastating life choices." "Take a few minutes and write a note to Britney Spears," pastor John Weece said in a sermon and in a blog on the church Web site. "No preaching. No criticizing. Just love. As a church, let's love Britney the way Jesus loves her." Weece said the idea came as he watched repeated reports of Spears' reported problems with drugs and alcohol and the loss...

'Tsunami' Hits Presbyterians; Dramatic Changes Ahead Top officials of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have come to the conclusion that they cannot continue "doing church" the way they have been. Fri, Sep. 21, 2007 Posted: 15:57:06 PM EST Top officials of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have come to the conclusion that they cannot continue "doing church" the way they have been. Churches within the PC(USA), the nation's largest Presbyterian body, have "hit the wall" and "come to the end of the string," seeking new directions amid a growing exodus from the denomination. "It is as if a tsunami of change has...

July 15, 2007 Warren’s Use of Scripture is No Laughing Matter By Chris Rosebrough Those of you familiar with Rick Warren’s writings are aware that this man is a scripture twister. He constantly rips passages out of context, exegetes bad paraphrases and generally proof texts his own ‘made up’ doctrines. I’m writing a book on this subject called ‘Bible Balloon Animals: How Rick Warren & Other Christian Leaders Twist God’s Word’. The Latest Specimen In Warren’s July 13, 2007 Christian Post article entitled “Learn to Laugh” Warren is up to his usually antics. This article has a perfect example of...

Willow Creek Community Church Rated Most Influential in U.S. SOUTH BARRINGTON /U.S. Newswire/ -- Willow Creek Community Church as been rated the most influential church in the U.S. in a recent survey of more than 2,000 of the largest non-Catholic congregations in the nation. The survey, which was conducted by Church Growth Today, an organization in Bolivar, Mo., which provides consulting and research services for church growth and development, asked participants to recommend up to 10 churches they considered to be among the nation's most influential. The final list is a report entitled, "50 Most Influential Churches." The churches that...

By Ray Baumann Posted: 07/02/2007 Ten Ways To Grow a Church Without GodBy Ray Baumann I have spent many hours figuring out how to grow churches. I recently found some old notes that I had taken at a conference some years ago. To my surprise, I had an outline for success that was void of a Savior even being involved. Back then I focused on what attracted people to church. This is what my list read: 1.  “Leadership is key.” This will be my number one way to grow the church without God. Thinking back, I would say that if I had...

On Controversy in the Church by J. Gresham Machen In the first place, it should be directed not only against the opponents outside the Church but also against the opponents within. The opponents of Holy Scripture do not become less dangerous, but they become far more dangerous, when they are within ecclesiastical walls. At that point, I am well aware that widespread objection arises at the present time. Let us above all, men say, have no controversy in the Church; let us forget our small theological differences and all repeat together Paul's hymn to Christian love. As I listen to...

Church event has carnival flavor Two Methodist clerics ride in on an elephant at a Henrico service   Monday, Apr 30, 2007 - 12:08 AM With outdoor seating, colorful balloons, a menagerie of animals and the smell of food grilling, it was more like a carnival than a church service at Discovery United Methodist Church yesterday.And when the Rev. Jim Lavender and associate pastor Raymond Rowley, dressed in their clergy robes, rode in on an elephant to start the morning service, it seemed like a ringmaster was about to start the show."Why an elephant?" said Lavender, who greeted the crowd...