David W. Swanson

Pastor and Author

Weekend Reading

How about another video edition of this weekly post?  Have a great weekend.

  • Our local CBS station ran a story, “A Talk of Two Black Churches,” that highlights a trend I’ve heard folks talk about in Bronzeville, where our new church is located.  Many in the African American community are alarmed that congregations of older black churches are dwindling. The churches that sustained the community for generations.
  • The good people at Leadership Journal are pulling together some video clips that show some of the different viewpoints within evangelicalism of women in church leadership: part one (Rose Madrid-Swetman), part two (Bill Kynes), and part three (N.T. Wright).
  • Here’s a video advocating “The New Tithe” that I mostly disagree with and find really interesting.  This may make an appearance during Sunday’s sermon.
  • And finally, to make sure this entire list isn’t about church, here is the video for “Ghost Woman Blues” from the new album by The Low Album.

David Swanson

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4 responses to “Weekend Reading”

  1. laurend4iv Avatar
    laurend4iv

    I”m also interested by “The New Tithe” video. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

    Reply
  2. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    The “New Tithe” video reminds me of the saying that for comedy to be funny it has to have some grain of truth in it. I think that the video has some truth to it but some of the dots are connected in a way that would make Glenn Beck proud.
    Many Christians don’t stop with the collection plate when they tithe but contribute to organizations outside of thier church. When you directly contribute to a cause you have both greater control over where the money goes and often get better feedback on how the money was used and what difference your contribution made. If churches were able to improve in these areas I think they might see a rise in the amount of collections they receive. There are many public school districts and county governments that put their check registers online where anyone interested can see were the money goes. Maybe it is time for churches and non for profits to consider doing the same?

    Reply
    1. David Swanson Avatar
      David Swanson

      Dan- I agree that it is important to know where money is going when giving, whether at church or elsewhere. When it comes to churches I think it is especially important because a church, unlike an institution, is made up of its people. Additionally, a church exists not simply for its own sake but to express and participate in God’s mission. Giving within a church then is an expression of our commitment to God’s work through the church in a specific context. Knowing how money is spent to support this work makes a lot of sense and, in my opinion, invites greater participation in that work.

      Reply
  3. Andrew V Avatar
    Andrew V

    I don’t believe for a second that 21M of the 63M Americans who (claim to have) attended a church service last week tithed at least 10% of their income.

    Reply

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