Ministry Tidbits ATGSFactoids

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Ministry Tidbits ATGS 98% of Americans profess to be “believers” in God, but only _____ worship in church on an average Sunday.

a. 25% c. 40%

b. 35% d. 50%

Ministry Tidbits ATGS 98% of Americans profess to be “believers” in God, but only _____ worship in church on an average Sunday.

answer: 40%

Ministry Tidbits ATGS

The speed at which we live our daily lives can and will directly affect the depth at which we live our devoted lives.

Leonard Sweet

Aqua Church, p. 162

Ministry Tidbits ATGS The Christian leader of the

future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self.

Henri Nouwen

In the Name of Jesus, p. 17

Ministry Tidbits ATGS 62% of Americans believe

that it does not matter what religious faith you follow because all faiths teach similar lessons about life.

George Barna

Absolute Confusion, p. 207

Ministry Tidbits ATGS When spirituality

becomes “spiritualization,” life in the body becomes carnal.

Henri Nouwen

In the Name of Jesus, p. 48

Ministry Tidbits ATGSFactoids

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Ministry Tidbits ATGS The best test [of servant-

leadership] is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?

Robert K. Greenleaf

The Servant as Leader, p. 1

Ministry Tidbits ATGS

The two most computer-savvy segments of our society are children and ______________?

a. Teenagers (ages 13-20)

c. Grandparents (age 55+)b. Parents (ages 32-45)

Ministry Tidbits ATGS

The two most computer-savvy segments of our society are children and ______________?

answer: grandparents

Ministry Tidbits ATGS When we carefully consider

how Jesus lived while among us in the flesh, we learn how we are to live—truly live—empowered by him who is with us always even to the end of the age.

Richard Foster

Streams of Living Water, p. 3

Ministry Tidbits ATGS 71% of Gen Xers claim they are

Christians, but only 52% see themselves as religious, and only 25% say they are “born again.”

George Barna

Invisible Generation, p. 30

Ministry Tidbits ATGS A critical intellectual

capacity for 21st century leadership success will be the ability to build knowledge together with other colleagues.

Reggie McNeal

A Work of Heart, p. 131

Ministry Tidbits ATGSFactoids

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Ministry Tidbits ATGS The goal of communion

[with God] is the becoming one of two hearts—yours and God’s.

Reggie McNeal

A Work of Heart, p. 152

Ministry Tidbits ATGS If we view our communion with

God as something functional and mechanical, we will be consumed with figuring out how to pray, how to study the Bible, how to…whatever.

Reggie McNeal

A Work of Heart, p. 152

Ministry Tidbits ATGS Gen Xers are influenced by

television even more than their boomer parents. Theirs is a postliterary culture for which sound and image have largely replaced the printed Word.

Eddie Gibbs

ChurchNext, p. 127

Ministry Tidbits ATGS ______ of Americans say religion is losing its influence in American life.

a. 48% c. 65%

b. 56% d. 72%

Ministry Tidbits ATGS ______ of Americans say religion is losing its influence in American life.

answer: 65%

Ministry Tidbits ATGS God calls His leaders to

live by design, carefully following the vision He has created for them.

George Barna

Power of Vision, p. 172

Ministry Tidbits ATGSFactoids

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Ministry Tidbits ATGS Our best research techniques

suggest that every day thousands of people in America leave this planet for a known and permanently agonizing eternity, which we commonly refer to as hell.

George Barna

Evangelism That Works, p. 11

Ministry Tidbits ATGS _____ of Americans say “spirituality” has been increasing its influence in their lives.

a. 46% c. 62%

b. 54% d. 71%

Ministry Tidbits ATGS_____ of Americans say “spirituality” has been increasing its influence in their lives.

answer: 62%

Ministry Tidbits ATGS

How are churches getting larger and smaller at the same time?

Smaller through house churches and cell groups, larger through megachurches. Sweet, Aquachurch p. 138

Ministry Tidbits ATGS Only 1% [of Gen Xers]

view the worldwide absence of faith as a significant issue.

George Barna

Invisible Generation, p. 56

Ministry Tidbits ATGS

38% [of Gen Xers] say being a part of a local church is a desirable life condition.

George Barna

Invisible Generation, p. 62

Ministry Tidbits ATGSFactoids

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Ministry Tidbits ATGSSpiritual formation is not a matter of trying harder, but of training wisely.

John Ortberg

The Life You’ve Always Wanted, p. 47

Ministry Tidbits ATGS In 1970 there were ten churches in

America that reported an attendance of 2000.

By 1990 there were over 300 such churches, 43 of which reported 5000 or more in attendance on a weekly basis.

By 1997, another church went “mega” every __________?

a. 1 week

b. 3 weeks

c. 1 month

d. 3 months

Ministry Tidbits ATGS In 1970 there were ten churches in

America that reported an attendance of 2000.

By 1990 there were over 300 such churches, 43 of which reported 5000 or more in attendance on a weekly basis.

By 1997, another church went “mega” every __________?

answer: 3 weeks

Ministry Tidbits ATGS The goal of spiritual

formation is transformation… If we cannot be transformed, we will settle for being informed or conformed.

John Ortberg

The Life You’ve Always Wanted, p. 34

Ministry Tidbits ATGS Church members who have caught the

apostolic vision for people, who experience celebrative indigenous worship, who are involved in pastoral conversation, and in a small group, and in a gift based ministry, and are involved in ministry with pre-Christian people are themselves far more blessed and “ministered unto” than if they had their own hired chaplain in a small traditional church.

George Hunter

Church for the Unchurched, p. 33

Ministry Tidbits ATGS In many places, effective religious

leadership has been replaced by management of the status quo. Managing to get by does not seem to be a bad alternative to the heavy demands placed on a pastor who chooses to lead in the spirit and pattern of Jesus.

Norman Shawchuck and Roger Heuser

Leading the Congregation, p. 20

Ministry Tidbits ATGS

Decentralized networks

Unpredictable world requiring a rapid response of “plan-do”

Uncertainty in dealing with the present, and pessimism and paranoia in considering the future

Change initiated at the periphery

Eddie Gibbs, ChurchNext, p. 25

Moderns PostmodernsCentralized hierarchies

Predictable world and long range strategic

planning and goal setting

Confidence regarding human ability to manage the present and face the

future

Change initiated at the center

Ministry Tidbits ATGS

Are the majority of church members today in small or large churches?

Large membership churches. Sweet, Aquachurch p. 138