The Ten Most Influential Churches of the Last Century
Intro
I have been holding this draft of The Ten Most Influential Churches of the Last Century for a few months.
I don’t really know why I didn’t use it right away but I just looked it over and I can’t see any reason to hold it any longer.
Perhaps, just perhaps, I am a bit apprehensive that you will find it too long or too detailed or too dull or too something!
I found it very interesting and informative.
I saw a lot of names of people, churches, denominations, presentation approaches, music and musicians that I recognized.
If you are a reasonably “churchy” person who experienced a good sized chunk of the 20th century, like me, I think you will recognize a lot of these things, too.
And if your not a “churchy” person or not one who lived through more than half of the 2oth century, but you are a little curious about what has happened to churches during that period, you are in the right place.
Christianity Today
Christianity Today is the brainchild of Billy Graham in the 1950s. And its history is another interesting story for another day.
It is a mature and well respected source of balanced reporting and interpreting of the important happenings in the relatively current state of Christianity worldwide and has been recognized this way for over 60 years.
So, with that introduction to Christianity Today, I will be directing you to a comprehensive article by Ed Stetzer. This is very short summary of his impressive bio.
Ed Stetzer, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of LifeWay Research, a prolific author, and well-known conference and seminar leader. Stetzer has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches, trained pastors and church planters on six continents, holds two masters degrees and two doctorates, and has written dozens of articles and books.
Stetzer’s article starts like this:
“At some level, all Christians want their churches to be influential in carrying out the work of God. One pathway to increased influence is a road we often overlook—the one behind us.
Looking back can be good. It can give us wisdom and perspective. It can also help us look forward to what God is doing next in your churches and ours.
This helpful book looks back at ten historic spiritual shifts of the last century and identifies a church closest to the center of each one. You may not have heard of these pioneering churches and their leaders, but we suspect you have been influenced by them far more than you realize. And we strongly suspect that after reading each of their stories, you’ll be glad you did—and you’ll have a better perspective on your own church and how God is at work in and around it.”
Now, finally, here is the link.
The Ten Most Influential Churches of the Last Century
Well, what did you think of the article?
It took me a little while to realize that as comprehensive as the article is, it is mostly a summary of a full length book by Elmer L. Towns.
So, if you want to dive deeper, that’s where to go next.
My Observations
My first reaction to the article is that it tells me that the Church of Jesus Christ is alive and well despite all kinds of cultural, political, economic, paramilitary and theological differences of major proportions and despite wars, even now as there is a struggle between Islam and Christianity that is growing more hostile by the day.
I was also fascinated to see how much has happened to the world wide church since the beginning of the 20th century.
The history certainly hasn’t been stagnant or boring!
Lastly, I had lost touch with Christianity Today for a number of years but this re-connection has prompted me to bookmark the link:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/
Etc.
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