News from the Vineyard
ZOE Group Update
Eric Noah-Wilson
07/01/2010 - Our team met in Nashville at the end of June and decided that it was time to take a fresh look at ZOE. Much has changed in our world and in our churches since our beginning in 1997. We needed to seriously consider the possibility that ZOE might have run its time and course and that we needed to celebrate what God has done and end the ministry. After a long and passionate discussion we all felt strongly that God was not finished with ZOE yet. We still face some daunting challenges, most notably how to keep things going in a struggling economy. But we're determined to try. ...


ANIMAL PLANET® Presents a World Premiere Feature-length Documentary BEASTS OF THE BIBLE
Religion Press Release Services
03/20/2010 - (New York)—BEASTS OF THE BIBLE is the latest offering from Associated Producers (The Naked Archaeologist and The Exodus Decoded). For the first time, Biblical scholars, historians, archaeologists, cryptozoologists (krip-toe-zoo-ologists), and herpetologists (her-pet-ologists), guide an investigation into the creatures described in the Bible. It premieres in the U.S. on Animal Planet Thursday, April 1st at 8:00 p.m. ET. . . .


Super Bowl Ad Research: New Barna Study Examines Tebow/Focus on the Family Commercial
David Kinnaman
02/15/2010 - One of the great American pastimes is playing “armchair quarterback” in the days following the Super Bowl – assessing the big plays and analyzing the prominent advertisements.  A new nationwide Barna Group study explored one such high-profile television spot:  the Super Bowl ad sponsored by Focus on the Family, featuring college quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother Pam discussing his survival from a difficult pregnancy. The nationwide telephone interviews with 1,001 adults were conducted from February 7 through February 10, 2010, including interviews on the evening the Super Bowl Tebow-Focus on the Family commercial aired.


Religious Leaders Not Meeting Responsibility to Address Sexuality Needs of Congregants
Pattie Haubner, Dana Nachbar
02/10/2010 - Westport, CT—America's religious leaders must do a better job of promoting sexual health, education and justice in congregations and communities, the Religious Institute asserts in a new report released today. Sexuality & Religion 2020: Goals for the Next Decade argues that, despite notable progress over the last decade—including greater inclusion of women and LGBT people, and increased attention to sexuality education in faith communities—most religious leaders and institutions are not meeting their responsibility to address the sexuality needs of congregants.


Barna Group Summarizes This Year's Research
The Barna Group
12/21/2009 - Based on his company’s interviews with thousands of people during the year, researcher George Barna synthesized the findings across numerous studies and summarized four themes that emerged from his research regarding religion in 2009.


Many Americans Mix Religious Beliefs and Practices Pew Forum Poll Finds
Robert Mills
12/09/2009 - The religious beliefs and practices of Americans do not fit neatly into conventional categories. According to a new report based on a recent national survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices, blending elements of diverse traditions.


New Research Explores the Long-Term Effect of Spiritual Activity Among Children and Teens
David Kinnaman
11/16/2009 - What is the connection between childhood faith and adult religious commitment?  Parents and religious leaders are naturally interested in knowing if spiritual investment in young lives pays off in the long run.


Less Than 1/3 of Congregations Report Decline in Giving, First Half of 2009
Adriene Davis, Molly Wade
10/27/2009 - INDIANAPOLIS -- More than two-thirds of congregations in a new study on congregational finances in the current recession reported that their fundraising receipts increased or remained the same in the first half of 2009 compared to 2008, even as the recession was worsening.


New Research Explores How Different Generations View and Use the Bible
David Kinnaman, Terry Gorka
10/19/2009 - As observers of American culture debate whether the nation has entered a post-Christian phase, one overlooked discussion is how attitudes about and usage of the Bible may be changing.  A new research report from the Barna Group examines recent nationwide studies on how different generations of American adults view and use the Bible.  For the purposes of this research, the Mosaic generation refers to adults who are currently ages 18 to 25; Busters are those ages 26 to 44; Boomers are 45 to 63; and Elders are 64-plus.


Fearless Debuts at #1 on ECPA Bestseller List
Jana Muntsinger
10/08/2009 - Nashville, TN--Max Lucado's latest book, Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear (Thomas Nelson, September 2009), debuted at #1 on the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) October bestseller list (September sales). Fearless has also spent four consecutive weeks on The New York Times hardcover advice bestseller list--#8 (September 27), #10 (October 4), #10 (October 11) and #10 (October 18).


Shuttle Astronaut Returns to Earth with Piece of Missionary History
Nicole Aptekar
10/05/2009 - NAMPA, Idaho -- After a two-week journey of more than 5.7 million miles around the earth, astronaut Patrick Forrester and fellow space shuttle Discovery crew members landed safely on Sept. 11 at Edwards Air Force Base in California with a piece of missionary history. Forrester is available for interviews about the shuttle mission and his heart for Christian missionary service.


Pew Research Poll: Support For Abortion Slips
Loralei Coyle, Robbie Mills
10/01/2009 - Washington DC--A new national survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds that fewer Americans express support for abortion than in previous years.


The Love Dare Continues: New Book, New iPhone App
Nancy Lovell, Julie Fairchild
09/30/2009 - NASHVILLE, Sept. 30, 2009-- As The Love Dare marks exactly one year (52 weeks) on the New York Times bestseller list (the book from the movie Fireproof has sold more than 3 million copies and is available in 22 different languages), B&H Publishing Group is pleased to announce a follow-up book, The Love Dare Day by Day -- extending 40 to 365 days -- and to report that "The Love Dare: 40 Dares," an iPhone app, is no. 1 in app downloads.


Jesus’ Health Care Plan
George Barna
09/21/2009 - As we assess how individuals deal with poverty on a personal level, we find that Americans do get involved, but in a kind of arms-length manner. For instance, the most common responses are for people to give money, food, and clothing to someone else to get the job done. In contrast, the most personal responses are the least common. Relatively few Americans talk directly with the needy, tutor them, build homes for them, visit them, befriend them, or engage in other types of personal activities to address the issue.


National ‘Back to Church Sunday' Spurs Massive Response
Nicole Aptekar
09/16/2009 - SAN DIEGO, Calif. - During the first-ever national "Back to Church Sunday" (BTCS), held by hundreds of congregations across the country on Sunday, Sept. 13, church members invited more than 700,000 of their friends and family and created worship services specifically geared toward visitors. Participating churches reported surges in attendance, confessions of faith, new members and baptisms.


Number of Female Senior Pastors in Protestant Churches Doubles in Past Decade
George Barna
09/14/2009 - After decades of no growth in the ranks of female senior pastors serving in Protestant churches, a new Barna study that has tracked the ratio of male-to-female pastors indicates that women have made substantial gains in the past ten years. From the early 1990s through 1999 just 5% of the Senior Pastors of Protestant churches were female. Since that time the proportion has slowly but steadily risen, doubling to 10% in 2009.


Bread for the World Mourns Passing of Norman Borlaug
Shawnda Hines
09/14/2009 - Washington, DC, September 13, 2009 - Bread for the World today mourned the passing of Norman Ernest Borlaug Saturday night, citing him as an outstanding individual who has done more to save people from hunger and starvation than any other person in modern history.


Addicted to Facebook?
Jo Kadlecek
09/11/2009 - When they're not sending text messages or tweets, today's Christian college students are spending time on Facebook. A lot of it. One in every three says he's spending 1-2 hours a day on the site; twelve percent report using it 2-4 hours each day and 2.8 percent report usage at 4-7 hours a day. That's in addition to other forms of social media and electronic usage such as video games, blogs, e-mail and Internet browsing.


Among U.S. Religious Groups, Muslims Seen as Facing More Discrimination
Religion News Service
09/09/2009 - Washington, D.C.-- Eight years after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Americans see Muslims as facing more discrimination inside the U.S. than other major religious groups. Nearly six-in-ten adults say that Muslims are subject to a lot of discrimination, far more than say the same about Jews, evangelical Christians, atheists or Mormons, according to a new report based on a recent national survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. In fact, of all the groups asked about, only gays and lesbians are seen as facing more discrimination than Muslims.


How Many People Really Attend a House Church?
the Barna Group
08/31/2009 - Numerous shifts are occurring among church-goers in the U.S. as they choose from many new forms and formats of the local church. One of the least understood forms is the house church, and one of the fundamental questions is exactly how many people are attending house churches. According to a new report from The Barna Group, it depends on how such involvement is described to survey respondents. The California-based research firm has explored people’s involvement in non-traditional ministry settings in a dozen nationwide studies it has conducted in the past five years. The researchers discovered that the number of participants varies significantly according to the definition used, ranging from a minimum of 4% of the adult population to a maximum of 33%!


Religious Views: ____.
Molly Gannon, The Washington Post
08/31/2009 - The Washington Post takes a deep look at this idea, interviewing Facebook members about how they define their faith, why they chose to fill out that box and what the top things are that users post as their religious views.