Essays about Church Life

 

I have various ideas about how church and faith should be done, and they may or may not be interesting. Those that I don't want to develop into full-blown articles fit nicely into essay format, which I present here. (I place them on the blog to give readers the chance to comment on them).

Emotional management during church services. Here I discuss various rules about which emotions should (and should not) be displayed during church--emotion rules which have implications for how we do church.

Why pastors should plagiarize. There sems to be a norm among pastors that they should not use other people's material, even with appropriate citation, in their sermons. This essay argues against this norm.

Why do pastors give sermons? Sometimes interesting answers can come from rather simple questions. This essay explores if, and why, pastors should give sermons.

What should we do about Mark Driscoll? One of the most colorful characters on the Evangelical Christian scene is Mark Driscoll, of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. This essay examines the controversy he has stirred and suggests an appropriate reaction to it.

Why do some pastors *not* fall into scandal? The big news story in 2006 for American Christianity was Ted Haggard's scandal. In response to it, I reframe the question of pastors and scandals to ask why do some pastors *not* fall into it.

The culture of fear in Christianity. Sociologists have studied the role of fear-based messages in popular society. Here I take that analysis to Christianity, looking at the role, and problems, of fear in the church.

Blink and the need for Christian evaluation. This essay reviews Malcolm Gladwell's book "Blink" and uses it to make the case for more empirical evaluation in Christian churches.