LOS ANGELES (RNS)—Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback, knows that being a good Christian doesn’t solve everything.

Watching Christian movies growing up, Tebow had his doubts when the main character started praying and suddenly everything “was just perfect.”

“That’s not real life,” said Tebow, now readying for his fourth season as a minor-league baseball player. “Life’s not easy.”

As executive producers of the new film “Run the Race,” Tebow and his brother Robby wanted to create the kind of movie—and Christian life—he longed to see instead: one that’s not perfect, but authentic.

“Run the Race,” the story of two high school brothers trying to overcome their mother’s death and father’s abandonment, sticks close to the power of fraternal love and sports. Zach Truett, played by Tanner Stine, is working to earn a college football scholarship, but after he suffers an injury, he worries he’ll never find his way out of his small town.

Not wanting to give up on their dream, his brother, Dave, attempts to save both brothers’ futures by securing his own scholarship in track.

The characters, especially Zach, also spend a lot of time grappling with and asking questions about their faith—questions many of those involved in the movie, including real-life Christians Stine and Tebow, have asked themselves.

“We all go through our own faith journey. You ask the questions and you ask the why,” Tebow said. “Even in your lows, God loves you and he’s chasing you and he wants to know you and support you and he gave his best for you.”

DBU alum wrote the script

Jake McEntire, who began writing the original script while a student at Dallas Baptist University, was in one of those lows. He had been working on the screenplay for almost a decade.

“I remember being in class in 2004, just freehand writing this stuff,” said McEntire.

He rewrote it multiple times over the years, then made a “concept” trailer hoping it’d attract more people to the project. McEntire said there were multiple times he’d pray, asking God if he should give up or if God wanted him to keep going.

“I just felt like this was a calling God gave me in my heart to go tell this story,” he said.

It was on one of those days of praying and questioning whether to continue that the Tebows called, he said.

Trey Brunson, who met McEntire at DBU, got to know Robby Tebow as a pastor in Florida. Six years ago, Brunson—now an executive producer himself—showed the trailer to Robby, who showed it to Tim. The Tebow brothers then asked to read the full script.

Reading the script, Tim Tebow said, provided his impetus to get into the movie industry. The power of McEntire’s storytelling impressed on him how limited his appearances as a public speaker were compared with the movies.

“It’s just another avenue to encourage people,” said Tebow, who has been supporting the movie with press and on social media. “Why not use that avenue for good, too?”

Drawn from real life experiences

Although McEntire now had Tebow to ask about achieving in sports, the writer said that much of the film is drawn on his own sports experience.

McEntire had a scholarship to play college football before he tore his ACL and his dream of a football career went away. The mother in the film is based on a friend’s mom who had passed away from breast cancer.

“I kind of cherry-picked things that happened to me and my brothers and my best friends, the good and the bad, and put it all into one story,” he said.

Even McEntire’s relationship with his wife was used to create a storyline that is not the usual Hollywood teen romance.

McEntire knew he wanted to marry his wife three days after meeting her—something he immediately told his brothers. Six months later he bought a ring, but he continued to pray for another six months.

“I was like: ‘Lord, if you want me to marry this girl, I’ll do it. But if you don’t want me to marry her, get me out of here,’” he said.

They were married in April 2007, 16 months after they met. “We were both virgins when we got married, so I wanted to show that purity,” he said. “I wanted to show kids that can still happen—you can have this.”

If the movie represents Christian values, it’s not a sermon from on high. The filmmakers even debated if any character should say the name Jesus, McEntire said.

Collaborative effort

Once they got to filming, in fact, “Run the Race” became a collaboration. Director Chris Dowling shares screenwriting credit with McEntire and Jason Baumgardner, and Dowling in turn allowed his actors a lot of flexibility. That spirit is what convinced veteran actor Mario Van Peebles to take the role of Pastor Baker, who leads the church in the Truetts’ small town.

“I wanted to play this character because there were things I wanted to say,” Van Peebles said. “Some of what you see in the film is ad lib.”

While there is a lot about Christianity in “Run the Race,” Dowling said it addresses experiences many people can relate to—not least the director himself, whose father walked out on his family when Dowling was young.

“As humans we all want the same thing. We want to know we have a purpose, we want to feel loved, we want the best for our kids,” Dowling said.

Tebow hopes people see what he says is the reality of trusting in God.

“You don’t want to trick people or fool people that all the sudden life is going to be perfect. Never told it’s going to be perfect or easy—just worth it,” he said.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—As U.S. lawmakers continue to debate the best approach to illegal immigration, most Protestant pastors say the solution should be multifaceted.

LifeWay Research surveyed 1,000 Protestant pastors to ask their views on illegal immigration and how churches should view people who are in the country illegally.

Eighty percent say the government has the responsibility to stop illegal immigration, while 9 percent disagree and 11 percent are not sure.

Meanwhile, 70 percent of pastors say they are in favor of an immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for those who are currently in the country illegally. Seventeen percent disagree and 13 percent are not sure.

Three-quarters of pastors (76 percent) say Christians have a responsibility to assist immigrants even if they are in the country illegally, while 14 percent disagree and 10 percent are not sure.

Currently, about three in 10 pastors say their churches are involved locally in assisting immigrants. Seven in 10 say they are not currently involved.

“Lawmakers have left many of the bigger immigration questions unresolved often voicing ‘either-or’ positions,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. “Pastors don’t seem as conflicted desiring improvement in both border security and a path to citizenship for those here illegally.”

Desire end to illegal immigration

While 80 percent of pastors today say the government has the responsibility to stop illegal immigration, that’s down from 87 percent in a 2014 LifeWay Research survey.

“Among these questions, stopping illegal immigration registers the strongest sentiment from pastors,” said McConnell. “But support for this is now more in line with caring for immigrants already in the country and establishing a path to citizenship.”

Today, African-American pastors are more likely than white pastors to disagree that the government carries the responsibility to stop illegal immigration (21 percent to 8 percent).

Those in the Northeast (15 percent) and Midwest (12 percent) are more likely to disagree than pastors in the South (5 percent).

Education, age and denomination all factor into how likely a pastor is to say the government bears the responsibility to stop illegal immigration.

Pastors 65 and older are more likely to see that as the government’s job than pastors 44 and younger (85 percent to 75 percent).

Those with a bachelor’s degree or less (87 percent) are more likely than those with more education (77 percent).

Evangelical pastors (87 percent) are more likely to agree than mainline pastors (74 percent).

Pentecostals (94 percent) and Baptists (89 percent) are more likely to agree than Church of Christ pastors (79 percent), Lutherans (74 percent), Presbyterian or Reformed (74 percent), or Methodists (68 percent).

Provide a path to citizenship

More pastors today favor immigration reform that provides a path to citizenship for immigrants currently in the country illegally.

Since 2014, the percentage of pastors who favor a path to citizenship has grown 12 percentage points from 58 percent to 70 percent today. The percentage who disagreed was cut in half—34 percent to 17 percent.

“For immigrants in the country illegally, there are no real options for redemption,” McConnell noted. “That doesn’t sit well with pastors—the majority of whom were ready for lawmakers to offer a means of making restitution and gaining legal status years ago.”

In 2019, African-American pastors are the ethnicity most likely to agree (91 percent), while pastors 65 and older are the age range least likely to agree (62 percent).

Mainline pastors (80 percent) are more likely to back a path to citizenship than evangelical ones (66 percent).

Methodist (86 percent) and Presbyterian or Reformed (80 percent) pastors are more likely to agree than Church of Christ (65 percent), Baptist (60 percent) and Pentecostal (59 percent) pastors.

Help immigrants—regardless of legal status

Compared to 2014, a similar number of pastors say Christians have a responsibility to assist immigrants even if they are here illegally—76 percent today and 79 percent then.

Evangelical pastors are more likely to disagree than mainline pastors (16 percent to 10 percent).

Pastors 65 and older are least likely to agree (67 percent).

Those in the Northeast (85 percent) are more likely to agree than those in the South (74 percent) or Midwest (74 percent).

Holiness (88 percent) and Presbyterian or Reformed (87 percent) are more likely to agree than Lutherans (74 percent), Church of Christ pastors (73 percent), Baptists (70 percent), or Pentecostals (66 percent).

Almost 3 in 10 pastors say their church is currently helping immigrants (29 percent), while 70 percent say they are not.

Mainline pastors (33 percent) are more likely to say they are assisting than evangelical ones (26 percent).

Lutheran (40 percent), Methodist (33 percent) and Presbyterian or Reformed pastors (35 percent) are more likely to say they are helping than Baptist pastors (23 percent).

Pastors of churches with 250 or more in attendance are more likely to say they are currently assisting immigrants than pastors of churches with less than 50 in attendance (37 percent to 23 percent).

“Pastors place just as much responsibility on their congregations as they do legislators,” McConnell said. “More than twice as many pastors say Christians should help immigrants than say their church is personally involved assisting local immigrant neighbors today.”

LifeWay Research conducted the phone survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors January 14-30. The calling list was a stratified random sample, drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Researchers used quotas for church size.

Each interview was conducted with the senior pastor, minister or priest of the church called. Analysts weighted responses by region to reflect the population more accurately. The completed sample is 1,000 surveys, providing 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.2 percent. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

OKLAHOMA CITY (The Christian Chronicle)—When Phil Brookman preaches, even the virtual assistant Alexa listens—and dutifully obeys.

Brookman, a minister for Memorial Road Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, was delivering a Sunday message from 1 Corinthians 12 when his sermon illustration nearly resulted in the purchase of $28 worth of toilet paper.

The sermon, titled “Greet One Another,” was based on the Apostle Paul’s admonition that the church function as one body with many parts.

In addition to the audience of more than 1,000 worshippers gathered for the congregation’s early service, numerous believers watched the sermon online through the church’s video streaming service.

One of them, Bethany Becknell, was at home with a sick child, Eli.

Her husband, Wes, attended Memorial Road’s first service with their other son, Cam.

Brookman preached about how easy it is in the 21st century for Christians to live separate lives and to fail to see the need for the kind of unity Paul advocates.

Even shopping has become depersonalized, Brookman said. Instead of going to a store and interacting with other humans, one need only say, “Alexa, order toilet paper.”

From the master bathroom in her house, Bethany Becknell heard a polite female voice respond: “OK. I’ve added it to your cart.”

The voice was that of her Amazon Echo smart speaker, which can play music and set alarms in response to voice commands—and order things from Amazon.com.

Bethany Becknell grabbed her phone. Sure enough, there in her Amazon cart was a package of 60 double rolls of Angel Soft Toilet Paper. Cost: $27.45.

“My first thought was: ‘Cancel! Cancel! Cancel!’” she said. Her family simply didn’t need that much toilet paper.

She soon figured out how to remove the item from her virtual shopping cart—but not before texting a screenshot to her husband. After the sermon, Wes Becknell approached Brookman and said, “You owe me 28 bucks.”

Brookman, enamored with his newfound power, quickly incorporated the screenshot into his sermon and shared it with Memorial Road’s second service. (Two other church members later told him they also wound up with toilet paper in their Amazon carts after the sermon.)

Bethany Becknell said she was happy to add some humor to the sermon, but she added, “I’m a little embarrassed that everybody knows how much toilet paper we buy.”

For the second service, Brookman opted for a new sermon illustration: “Alexa, donate $500 to the Memorial Road Church of Christ.”

No word yet on if it worked.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Pastors are eager to reach the next generation for Christ as well as growing the size, diversity and level of discipleship within their congregations, according to a new LifeWay Research survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors.

“Pastors are thinking about reaching the next generation. That becomes a top concern for four out of 10,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “The other sizable concern would be the lack of discipleship in the congregation.”

The 2019 Future of the Church Study by Facts & Trends and LifeWay Research is based on a survey of Protestant pastors, examining their views on the future of their congregations.

Looking toward to the future, many pastors anticipate numerical growth of their congregations, increased ethnic diversity, more leadership roles for women, and robust community engagement by church members.

The survey found 79 percent of pastors say weekly worship attendance at their church will increase in the next five years. But looking at the last five years, only 36 percent of pastors say worship attendance growth increased, while two-thirds say attendance stayed the same or declined (27 percent decreased, 37 percent stayed the same).

Pastors more likely to say worship attendance grew in the past five years include those from ethnicities other than white or African-American (50 percent), those pastors aged 18 to 54 (41 percent), Baptists (41 percent), those leading a congregation of 250 or more in worship (56 percent) and those ministering in a western state (43 percent).

“There is a sharp contrast between how many pastors think their churches are going to grow and how few are actually growing.” McConnell said. “We have one-third with worship attendance growing and 79 percent who say it’s going to grow in the next five years.

“Logically how do you put that together? What’s going to change at the church for that to happen? Pastors are saying, ‘If we reach the next generation, we can do this.’”

Growth in worship attendance

Looking five years out, anticipation for growth in worship attendance is strongest among pastors ages 45 to 54 (85 percent), evangelicals (85 percent), Pentecostals (94 percent) and pastors with worship attendance of 250 or more (91 percent).

The Future of the Church survey asked pastors if attendance by 18- to 29-year-olds in the past five years increased, decreased or stayed the same at their church. Almost a third (32 percent) say attendance of young adults increased, while 29 percent say attendance decreased and 39 percent say it stayed the same.

Researchers found answers varied among pastors when it came to age, denomination and church size.

Pastors age 18 to 44 (43 percent) are more likely to select “increased” than those 55 to 64 (27 percent) and 65 and older (25 percent).

Baptist (40 percent) and Holiness (43 percent) pastors are more likely to select “increased” than Lutherans (24 percent), Methodists (16 percent) and Presbyterian/Reformed (28 percent).

Pastors of churches with attendance of 250 or greater are the most likely to select “increased” (50 percent) followed by those with an attendance of 100 to 249 (36 percent), 50 to 99 (30 percent) and 49 or fewer (20 percent).

When asked about worship attendance by 18- to 29-year-olds in the next five years, 72 percent of pastors say they expect to see growth. A quarter say they expect attendance of young adults to stay the same, while 4 percent expect a decrease.

Pastors most likely to select “will increase” include African-American pastors (89 percent) and pastors of churches with worship attendance of 250 and higher (85 percent).

“Similar to overall worship attendance, we see more than twice as many pastors thinking they are going to increase worship attendance of young adults than have actually seen that in the last five years,” McConnell said. “Again, there is a huge amount of optimism there. And yet, you have to ask what needs to change to actually see that increase happen?”

Growth in diversity, more women in leadership

A third of pastors told LifeWay Research the ethnic diversity of worship attendees at their church grew the last five years. Sixty-two percent say it stayed the same and 4 percent say ethnic diversity decreased. Looking toward the next five years, a majority of pastors (62 percent) say the ethnic diversity of worship attendees will increase.

When Lifeway Research asked pastors about the ethnic diversity of leaders in the next five years, half of pastors (52 percent) say ethnic diversity will increase and half (48 percent) say it will stay the same. Less than 1 percent say it will decrease.

In a similar question about women in leadership roles, almost half of pastors (47 percent) say they saw an increase of women in leadership roles the last five years. Another 52 percent say women in leadership roles stayed the same. Looking to the next five years, 42 percent of pastors say women in leadership roles will increase, 2 percent say it will decrease, and 56 percent say it will stay the same.

“To see that women in leadership of some kind is growing is pretty telling,” McConnell says. “That has to impact the church culturally. For women, the message they’re hearing is about their value and role in kingdom work.

Researchers also asked pastors about community ministry and denominational involvement.

Among those findings:

• 64 percent say ministry in their community increased the last five years at their church compared to 4 percent who say it decreased and 32 percent who say it stayed the same.
• 85 percent say ministry in their community will increase the next five years, while 1 percent say it will decrease, and 15 percent say it will stay the same.
• 28 percent say denominational involvement at their church increased the last five years compared to 10 percent who say it decreased and 62 percent who say it stayed the same.
• 32 percent say denominational involvement will increase in the next five years, while 6 percent say it will decrease and 62 percent say it will stay the same.

LifeWay Research conducted the phone survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors June 19 – July 2, 2018. The calling list was a stratified random sample, drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Quotas were used for church size. Each interview was conducted with the senior pastor, minister or priest of the church called. Responses were weighted by region to reflect the population more accurately. The sample provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.2 percent. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

Timothy C. Morgan is the director of the Journalism Certificate Program at Wheaton College in Illinois.

Hospitality is a wide word. It means different things to different people.

Some people extend hospitality with an invitation to a meal at a restaurant. Other people exhibit hospitality with an invitation to their home. And still others demonstrate hospitality by giving other people space and staying out of their business.

We like to think we are hospitable people, but how do we know our efforts are perceived as we intend? Likewise, how do we recognize when people from other cultures are extending hospitality to us?

Answering these questions requires time, patience and self-examination.

Seeing hospitality clearly begins by examining culture

In A Beginner’s Guide to Crossing Cultures: Making Friends in a Multicultural World, Patty Lane, director of intercultural ministries for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, writes: “A simple [definition of culture] is ‘a system of meanings and values that shape one’s behavior.’ Everyone has a culture, but recognizing the impact of culture on relationships is not always so easy.”

Testing Lane’s claim is pretty easy. For example, when an Anglo homeowner in a North Texas neighborhood delivered baked goods to her Arab neighbors last Christmas, she did not expect to be asked to wait on the porch until she was handed cookies in return. However, the Arab neighbor felt obligated to reciprocate the gift, leaving the Anglo neighbor worried she had imposed on her neighbor.

For these two neighbors, culture had a direct impact on their relationship.

Similar cross-cultural interactions happen all the time, and increasingly so in a quickly diversifying state like Texas. This also means the potential for misunderstanding is increasing. Caring for people of other cultures calls for moving past or avoiding misunderstanding.

Mark Heavener, strategist in intercultural ministries for Texas Baptists, spends his life in the intersection of cultures and has learned, “When two cultures meet, they are looking at each other through their own cultural lenses.”

Therefore, for cross-cultural relationships to grow, participants need first to examine how they themselves see the world and then how the other sees the world.

Expressions of hospitality across cultures

Anglo-Americans frequently are concerned with time and, to avoid scheduling conflicts, may prefer for someone to call before dropping by their home or office. Many other cultures, however, consider it an honor to receive guests at any time, even unannounced.

Some cultures expect visitors to call ahead to ensure elaborate preparations can be made to welcome and host that person. If the visitor arrives unannounced, he or she will be asked to wait somewhere while those same preparations are made in a flurry of unseen activity.

A common greeting in Middle Eastern cultures includes a kiss on each cheek. While meeting a group of pastors and leaders from different Middle Eastern cultures, Heavener proceeded to extend the customary greeting but was stopped when his guide told him a particular individual was from a Middle Eastern culture that did not greet with a kiss.

Among Congolese and other Central Africans, it is considered improper for men and women who do not know each other to shake or hold hands. Instead, they touch the back of each others’ hands. Imagine how this might play out during the greeting time of a worship service or in a prayer circle.

Hospitality is a matter of honor

Hospitality and honor are tied together in many cultures. To maintain honor while avoiding shame, learning to extend and receive hospitality well is important.

As an example, Heavener notes Anglo-Americans tend to be structured by time, while most other cultures are structured by event.

If invited to an event hosted by people of a different culture, Heavener encourages having a cultural guide who can help explain and walk visitors through the event. Many times, a guide will be assigned, which is an expression of hospitality that should not be rejected.

If the event is a worship service concluded with a meal, visitors should expect to stay for the entire event—including the meal. The meal is the culmination of the event when the real fellowship happens. Leaving before the meal can communicate disinterest in or dislike of the host and thus be a mark of shame.

Another way people in the majority culture can extend hospitality to others is by paying attention to what is happening within their communities or countries of origin. Just as we continue to be affected by “news from home,” immigrants, refugees and others living in the United States also care about what is happening around the world. Hospitality includes caring about their sources of joy, sorrow and anxiety.

A handful of helpful tips for starting cross-cultural relationships

Starting and growing cross-cultural relationships is easier than many think and richer and more rewarding than many realize.

• Be patient.
• Forget about time.
• Do as the other does. For example, if they remove their shoes, remove your shoes. If they avoid eye contact, then avoid eye contact.
• Accept invitations.
• Ask for help.
• Be gracious.
• Don’t assume you have the most to give in the relationship. Chances are, you will be wrong.
• When you attend that meal, you may be the honored guest. When offered seconds, get them quickly, whether you want them or not. Those who do want seconds will be waiting eagerly for you to go first.

Resources

Patty Lane and Mark Heavener are available to assist churches desiring to learn about crossing cultures.

In addition to Patty Lane’s book, Heavener recommended American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, which addresses topics such as how different cultures perceive facts, understand the place of the individual within society, and interact socially.

Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success by David Livermore provides a framework for examining one’s own culture while learning to navigate other cultures.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Most young adults who attended church as teenagers say they believe in God today, but fewer consider themselves devout Christians. And as a whole, they have conflicting recollections about the churches they attended in high school.

LifeWay Research surveyed more than 2,000 American adults between the ages of 23 and 30 who attended a Protestant church twice a month or more for at least a year as a teenager.

Today, 39 percent say they consider themselves a devout Christian with a strong faith in God, while 27 percent still consider themselves Christian but not particularly devout. Fewer say they believe in God but are uncertain of Christianity (14 percent) or say they consider themselves spiritual, but not religious (11 percent).

Only a small number say they are uncertain about their belief in God (5 percent) or say they don’t believe in God or in any higher being (4 percent).

Two-thirds (66 percent) of those who attended church regularly in high school dropped out for at least one year when they reached young adulthood.

“During the years most young adults are gone from church, they tend to hang onto their faith but don’t make it a priority,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research.

Those who dropped out vs. those who stayed

Researchers found significantly different spiritual perspectives between those who dropped out of church and those who stayed.

Those who dropped out of church as young adults are less likely to say they consider themselves a devout Christian today compared to those who stayed in church (29 to 60 percent).

Those who stopped attending church for at least a year are more likely to say they believe in God, but are uncertain about Christianity (17 to 8 percent); say they consider themselves spiritual, but not religious (13 to 5 percent); say they’re uncertain about their belief in God (7 to 3 percent); and say they don’t believe in God (6 to 1 percent).

Among all young adults who attended a Protestant church as a teenager, 61 percent say they currently spend regular time in prayer privately. Half (49 percent) want the church to help guide their decisions in everyday life. Fewer say they consistently give financially to the church (37 percent), spend regular time reading the Bible privately (36 percent) or attend a church small group (32 percent).

Those who didn’t drop out of church are more likely to say they do each of these.

“Prayer is the only spiritual practice in which a majority of young adults participate,” McConnell said. “While most maintain a Christian identity, they admit their devotion to Jesus is either not all it could be or is even in doubt.”

When the young adults think about the years immediately after high school, those who stayed in church felt welcomed, connected and mostly agreed with what they heard at their church. Those who dropped out of church had vastly different perceptions of the congregations they left behind.

When asked to share the opinions they had as an 18- to 22-year-old about the church they attended in high school, half (52 percent) say they agreed with the beliefs their church taught. Similar numbers (49 percent) say their church genuinely demonstrated how to follow Jesus.

Perceptions were significantly different, however, between those who remained in church during that time and those who dropped out.

Three-quarters of those who stayed (75 percent) say they agreed with the beliefs of their church, while 40 percent of those who left say the same. Seventy-two percent of those who continued to attend felt their church modeled how to follow Jesus. That dropped to 37 percent of those who left.

Other attitudes toward church saw similar splits:

• I felt connected to the church as a whole (61 percent of those who stayed, 24 percent of those who left).
• My church was a welcoming environment for people in my life stage (66 percent, 34 percent)
• I agreed with my church’s political perspective (63 percent, 29 percent).
• The pastor’s sermons were relevant to my life (67 percent, 33 percent).
• My church was important in my life (73 percent, 28 percent).
• Other people like me attended the church (65 percent, 33 percent).

“Jesus didn’t intend for people to follow him alone,” McConnell said. “Some of the starkest differences we see between those who attend church as young adults and those who don’t is how connected they feel with others at a church.”

When asked specifically about impressions of church members, young adults found some good traits.

Overall, 46 percent say church members were generally welcoming. More than 4 in 10 say church members were authentic and caring (42 percent each). Slightly fewer say those at their church were forgiving (37 percent) and inspirational (27 percent).

Young adults also remembered negative characteristics about church members. Forty-one percent say they were judgmental; 37 percent felt church members were cliquish; 36 percent said people in the church were disapproving of those who didn’t meet their expectations; 34 percent thought church members were hypocritical; and 31 percent said members were insincere.

Those who stayed in church are more likely to agree with each of the positive attributes and those who dropped out are more likely to agree with the negative traits.

Young adults are more than 3.5 times more likely to say church members were politically conservative (46 percent) than politically liberal (13 percent).

“The primary choice churches offer people is not political but the opportunity to follow Jesus Christ,” McConnell said. “Neither conservative nor liberal politics keep young adults from church. But when a church communicates political views that differ from a young adult, that person is much less likely to walk that church’s aisle.”

Researchers interviewed a demographically balanced online panel of American adults between ages 23 and 30. The survey was conducted Sept. 15 – Oct. 13, 2017. Analysts used slight weights to balance gender, ethnicity, education and region. The sample was screened to only include those who attended a Protestant church twice a month or more for at least a year in high school. The completed sample is 2,002 surveys, providing 95 percent confidence the sampling error from the online panel does not exceed plus or minus 2.4 percent. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Tiffany Shlain built her career by being online almost all the time.

She founded the Webby Awards, which honor the best of the Web each year. She also runs a film studio and creates online conversations to use the internet in “its best way, which is to bring people together on issues that unite us,” she said.

And yet every Friday evening for nearly a decade, Shlain and her family have unplugged their devices and spent the next 24 hours offline in what she calls a “Technology Shabbat.”

“As our society becomes more oversaturated with technology, I feel like it’s the thing we need right now,” she said.

Tech Shabbat is a modern twist on an ancient religious practice, which is attracting the attention of burned-out millennials and others who are exhausted by trying to keep up in an increasingly connected and fast-paced world.

Some science supports the idea that practicing a day of rest—including time away from social media and digital devices—benefits longevity and both mental and physical health.

“This can be adapted for anyone, wherever you fall on the belief spectrum, and it will bring meaning and value to your life in unbelievable ways,” Shlain said.

Honor the Sabbath

Shabbat or Sabbath is the day of the week reserved for rest and worship in Judaism and Christianity.

Jews observe Shabbat on Saturdays, beginning Friday nights with lit candles and shared meals. In addition to resting from work at their jobs during that time, Orthodox Jews also refrain from a number of other activities that are considered work, such as driving and switching lights off or on.

Seventh-day Adventists also take Sabbath seriously, worshipping, avoiding work and spending time with other church members on Saturdays.

Most Christians worship on Sunday, and their observance of a day of rest varies from church to church and even from Christian to Christian. In the past, the regular practice of Sabbath included so-called “blue laws” that once kept many stores closed on Sundays.

Now some are urging their fellow Christians to rediscover the practice of honoring the Sabbath.

Dana Trent is one of them. The ordained Baptist minister began observing a Sabbath after a visit to the doctor’s office.

The doctor told Trent she needed to “slow down.” At the time, she was working four adjunct jobs and commuting up to two hours per day. She also had recently been diagnosed with chronic migraine syndrome—although her visit to the doctor had been for a Q-Tip she had lodged in her ear while in a rush.

Observing the Sabbath means trusting that if she takes time off, the world won’t spin out of control, said Trent, author of For Sabbath’s Sake: Embracing Your Need for Rest, Worship, and Community. It’s an act of humility that puts God at the center of her life, not herself.

Not everybody can take Saturday or Sunday or even a full 24 hours to rest—that’s a privilege for those who work 9-to-5 jobs on weekdays, she acknowledged.

“I think Sabbath can take lots of different shapes, but the idea is that we step out of what we’re doing every day—like the normal routine stuff—in order to make meaning,” she said.

Value of unplugging

It also makes sense to many others who are looking at the health benefits of unplugging from the world—and from devices.

Research presented last year at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association suggests constantly staring at screens may be making us more “distracted, distant and drained.” Other studies of social media use have linked it to everything from loneliness to disrupted sleep.

For Shlain and her family, lighting candles, inviting people over, sharing a meal and logging off together guards against those things. She laughs more on Shabbat than any other day, she said. And at the end of the day, she looks forward to checking in again online.

There may be benefits to more traditional observances of Sabbath, as well.

In 2005, National Geographic published the findings of scientists, funded in part by the U.S. National Institute on Aging, who traveled around the globe to learn the secrets of longevity from populations that had high rates of centenarians, few deadly diseases and more healthy years of life. Among them were Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, Calif. Scientists pointed to Adventists’ practice of Sabbath as one of the reasons for their good health.

An earlier study found the average Adventist lived four to 10 years longer than the average Californian.

A more recent 2014 study co-authored by Jerry Lee of the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University, an Adventist school in Southern California, looked at the correlation between Sabbath-keeping and mental health and well-being. According to their research, Lee said, “refraining from secular activities on Sabbath was associated with better mental health and better physical health.”

The professor currently is working on another study measuring stress hormone levels before and after Sabbath. And most interesting to him, he said, is a study showing fewer deaths during Shabbat in Israel.

But, Lee said, more research would be “useful.”

“There have been a number of books, but most of the books that I’ve seen don’t really have a lot of empirical data,” he said.

Remember: ‘It’s not about you’

Judith Shulevitz, author of The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time, also cautions against practicing Sabbath for selfish reasons.

It’s not just a day of rest for individuals, she said. Instead, she said that it’s meant to be a “day of rest which is synchronized with the rest of society.”

“It’s not about you. It’s about us,” she said.

And the practice still is debated within some Christian circles.

A.J. Swoboda, pastor of Theophilus Church in Portland, Ore., said he decided to preach about Sabbath a few years ago when he noticed the people in his congregation were tired and in need of rest. So was he.

“Our souls and our bodies and our spirits absolutely need it,” he said.

Because he pastors a church on weekends, Swoboda and his family take their day of rest to unplug, eat pancakes and get outside together on Tuesdays—a “distinctly Protestant view of the Sabbath,” he said.

Swoboda’s book, Subversive Sabbath: The Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World, recently was recognized in Christianity Today’s 2019 Book Awards. Taking a Sabbath reminds people that there’s more to life than being busy and plugged in all the time, according to the pastor.

“It’s a very threatening biblical concept because it completely undermines all of the assumptions of what we have come to believe being an American is all about, which is being productive,” he said.

Shlain, whose book about Tech Sabbath is due later this year, believes everyone can benefit from a day of rest.

Her family is Jewish, but they only began to practice a Tech Shabbat together after her father Leonard Shlain—a bestselling author, inventor and surgeon—was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Sometimes he only had one good hour a day, she said. She would turn off her phone to spend that time with him.

To Shlain, that time spent unplugged felt like “the most beautiful solution to this urgent problem in our society right now, which is that screens are just on all the time and everywhere, and you’re not being present with the people that you’re with, and you’re not really focused on any one thing.”

“I believe in this kind of modern take on it because I believe Judaism is all about reinterpreting based on the times we’re living,” she said.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—A strong faith could be the key to a good night’s sleep, according to a study in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Researchers found that those who believe in salvation and feel they have an unshakable relationship with God tend to sleep longer, fall asleep faster and feel more rested in the morning, according to Terrence D. Hill, associate professor at the University of Arizona School of Sociology.

Hill, a co-author of the study, “Sleep Quality and the Stress-Buffering Role of Religious Involvement: A Mediated Moderation Analysis,” said the findings aren’t surprising to him.

“If you believe a higher power is out there looking out for you, then what you’re going through now is temporary,” he said. “These worldly experiences are temporary.”

Less stress

Those beliefs, he explained, help one feel less stress by giving a sense of hope and reducing sadness, and therefore sleeping better.

“It makes intuitive sense,” said co-author Reed T. DeAngelis, graduate student of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “People who believe they’re secure to God and will go to heaven when they die rest assured.”

The lead author on the study is Christopher G. Ellison, professor of sociology at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Their research, Hill explained, “also shows that religion can indirectly promote sleep by protecting against other risk factors—in this case, stress.”

According to the National Sleep Foundation, people tend to be too stressed to sleep when they can’t turn off their minds, and instead replay their worries or frustration; when they experience muscle tension; and when they have an increased heart rate, which also causes physical tension.

Shared sense of purpose

Religion can help with these stresses by bringing people together who share common beliefs on a regular basis, which builds solidarity and a shared sense of purpose. Church members also tend to provide assistance to one another and promote positive coping practices, according to the new study.

“For all these reasons, it is plausible that regular churchgoers may experience less agitation in the wake of negative life events, and, ultimately, better quality sleep,” the report reads.

The study also found, however, that one doesn’t necessarily need a religious community to reduce stress. A nonorganizational religious practice, such as frequent reading of Scripture and prayer, also can reduce stress and facilitate sound sleep so long as the individual feels secure in the attachment to God and the person’s place in the afterlife.

“Believers may be unable to comprehend why misfortune has befallen them, but they may nevertheless sleep better at night knowing that the universe is under the watchful eye of a deity who, at the end of the day, remains deeply concerned with the well-being of the world and its inhabitants,” the study concludes.

Generally unexplored area of research

Until now, the authors of the study say, there has been very little research on the correlation between religiosity and sleep.

In a paper they published last year in the Journal of the National Sleep Foundation, they wrote that over the past three decades numerous studies have shown religious involvement is associated with improved health, including healthy behaviors, mental health, biological functioning, physical health and lower mortality risk.

“In contrast to these bodies of work, researchers have virtually ignored possible links between religious involvement and sleep,” they wrote.

Cross-sectional data for the study came from a 2017 Baylor Religion Survey of 1,410 people who were asked about recent stressful events, sleep quality and religious involvement and religious cognitions.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—When a congregant has dementia, what can a house of worship do?

Although each person is different and advice varies depending on an individual’s condition, here are some basic suggestions from experts on how congregations and individuals can help and not hurt.

Congregations

Do

• Visit people in homes, at care facilities
  • Offer respite to caregivers
  • Create support group; connect with local ones
  • Hold a hymn sing; recite traditional prayers
  • Use name tags

Don’t

• Exclude—instead, make accommodations
  • Offer traditional service in home setting
  • Give weekend sermon at weekday nursing home visit

Individuals

Do

• Treat people with respect
  • Reintroduce yourself
  • Sing—make a playlist of favorite hymns and songs
  • Listen and validate feelings
  • Phone caregivers

Don’t

• Ask, “Do you remember me?”
  • Be condescending—treat like adults, not children
  • Try to correct—accept their reality
  • Ask about recent activities

Sources: Faith United Against Alzheimer’s, RNS research

EDITOR’S NOTE: Another helpful resource in caring for those with dementia is Creating Moments of Joy: Along the Alzheimer’s Journey: A Guide for Families and Caregivers by Jolene Brackey. 

Read more here. 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (RNS)—Adults sat in a circle in a room usually used by high schoolers and talked about the people they loved who no longer recognized them or who had died forgetting the names of family caregivers in their last days.

The Alzheimer’s caregiver support group on a campus of Southeast Christian Church started with a devotional lesson referring to Charlie Brown pal Linus’ lack of fear as he told the story of the birth of Jesus.

“It’s only through our relationship with Christ that we can have the inner peace that can help us just get through the day,” said a facilitator before the group of 10 bowed their heads for an opening prayer.

Her petition acknowledged the challenges of both caring for someone and coping with the “job” being done if that someone had recently died.

Caregivers need supportive social networks

The monthly caregivers’ gathering at this evangelical megachurch is among the hundreds of support groups held at houses of worship and affiliated with the Alzheimer’s Association.

From the nearby University of Louisville to the University of Exeter, researchers have found that people caring for loved ones with dementia benefit from supportive social networks. Church and association leaders say they recognize that people may feel more at ease disclosing their difficult circumstances within a congregational setting.

“We know that one of the first places many families and individuals may turn is to their faith community, so it is important that faith leaders know about our services and resources,” said Ruth Drew, director of the association’s information and support services. “We also strive to have volunteers engaged in these communities to give people a chance to access resources and guidance in a place where they feel safe and comfortable.”

The association said in its 2018 report that nearly half of all caregivers who provide help to older adults do so for someone with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. It is a condition that has afflicted everyone from retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, who announced his diagnosis at an African Methodist Episcopal Church bicentennial event.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 5.7 million Americans have Alzheimer’s. Experts predict twice as many Americans 65 and older will have the disease by 2040.

Support group participants share stories

At the Southeast Christian gathering, the group met for an hour and a quarter, their sniffles mixed with their sharing.

One man passed around an album of photos of his wedding after describing his wife, who is in the late stages of Alzheimer’s. Members of the group joked about his hair before it was gray and praised him for standing by his wife as she no longer remembers who he is. The group encouraged him to draft a list of friends he can meet for coffee while his daughters watch his wife.

But he said most of his friends are dead.

One woman, whose father had died the month before, struggled to figure out what she might do next. Others spoke of family division over a mother’s dementia. A woman said she fixed her mother’s hair and then took a photo of her mom. She then shared the photo with her brother, who can’t handle visiting their mom. At least that way he could see how she looks.

As one group member told a story, others nodded knowingly and made gentle rejoinders to show they empathized.

“It’s hard to become the parent to your parent,” one woman said.

Between prayers, they gave one another advice, such as turning on child locks in their cars and putting away bills before loved ones move them and can’t remember where they are.

One person recalled a breakfast outing when a loved one with Alzheimer’s started piling napkins high and moving other items off the table. Someone had a suggestion—passing around a card that reads: “Please Be Patient … The person with me is challenged with Alzheimer’s. Thank you for understanding.”

When they shared how they can be angry or wonder why God gave them this situation, a facilitator reminded the caregivers: “Job also questioned God.”

Ministry of presence

An analysis by University of Exeter researchers of 1,283 caregivers of people with mild to moderate dementia found it was important for them to have resources to aid their own physical and psychological health. Three-quarters of those interviewed said they were Christian and a fifth claimed no religion.

University of Louisville professor and geropsychologist Benjamin Mast, author of Second Forgetting: Remembering the Power of the Gospel during Alzheimer’s Disease, has researched what caregivers say they need from their faith communities.

“The number one response that I got over and over again was presence,” said Mast, who has had members of his family affected by Alzheimer’s. “They would tell me things like, ‘I would just love to have a phone call, either from the pastor or from somebody from the church, to check in on me and to see how I was doing.’ What they were telling me was they didn’t really need some elaborate intervention or something complicated, but they wanted to feel as if they had somebody to go with them on this journey.”

That’s why Valerie Washington, pastor of Hughlett Temple African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church—across town from where the Southeast Christian group meets—started an Alzheimer’s caregiver support group in August after a longtime church officer was diagnosed with dementia.

“He would be the first one to open the door, last one to leave,” she said of the man in his 80s who continues to attend the predominantly black church regularly but can no longer run meetings due to his condition. “I just wanted to be able to not only help him but help my congregation as well as his family.”

Washington, whose father had Alzheimer’s and who has an aging congregation (a third are older than 70), said the group, which varies from five to a dozen, includes another member whose wife has Alzheimer’s. Others are survivors whose loved ones had dementia.

“They’re there to help the ones that are going through it to know what to either expect or what they went through,” she said. “Most of them make the statement: ‘If it wasn’t for God, I wouldn’t be able to go through this. I wouldn’t be able to handle this.’”

Shared experiences provide empathy

Facilitators of caregiver groups, who generally have had their own experiences with loved ones with dementia, often are ready to volunteer to help others.

Debbie Buckler, who helps lead a caregiver support group on another Southeast Church campus, lost her husband, Frank, to dementia in  2004. She also lost her mother to dementia on Jan. 2.

“For people that are going through this, especially a spouse, there is what I call a first widowhood, where I had to realize I had lost my husband,” she said in an interview. “And that first widowhood was worse than the second.”

She said she tries to help people cope with the challenges of being a caregiver, from being up in the middle of the night on watch for a loved one wandering around the house to being a “prisoner in your own home” who is exhausted and has little social life.

“Every day is a heartbreak,” said Buckler, whose husband had to retire early as a machine shop teacher at a vocational school as his symptoms became evident. She left her work as a physician recruiter to care for him.

Nevertheless, Buckler said she tried to note “small miracles” and celebrate them.

“The most disturbing thing was that my husband also had Parkinson’s and they lose the ability to smile and I remember praying that—to God—I could really deal with this better if only he could still smile,” she recalled. “And I went home that day and he was smiling. Now, he was able to smile up to about two weeks before his death.”

Norm Meyer, a member of Southeast whose wife, Carol, died in June 2017, helps lead a group at another Louisville church. He also travels five hours once a month to guide a group in Missouri, where their hometowns are located. At her memorial service there, he was greeted by several families that were coping with dementia and realized the rural area didn’t have a caregiver support group while the Louisville metro area has more than a dozen.

Meyer, who was married for “15 days shy of 50” years, fondly recalls his wife, who was a homecoming queen and played in her college band before they raised three children together. For 10 years they traveled through her dementia together, at first attending couples’ counseling as they adjusted to her condition. He later went on his own to as many as three support groups a month to share experiences with other caregivers.

Meyer said the groups helped him so much he didn’t choose to attend grief counseling regularly after her death.

Instead, the air conditioning company retiree is taking what he learned and passing it on to others, offering what he considers “a little bit” of a ministry.

“Honestly, I always thought support groups were for sissies, but they’re not,” he said. “I know that now.”

The group that meets on the megachurch’s southwest campus talked about the family bond that has formed among them as they confidentially share what they’re going through. Their meeting concluded that November day with heads bowed, eyes closed, tears dabbed.

The final prayer sought divine intervention for the next times each of them might be with a relative with some form of dementia.

“Lord, I just pray that you would give them sweet moments,” said the prayer leader. “And they can see, just by looking in their eyes that they can see their mom, and they can see their wife, they can see their spouse and, Lord, that they will have a connection, even if it’s just a little glimpse of a moment.”

This article is one in a series from Religion News Service, made possible by support from the John Templeton Foundation. Opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.

Read more here.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (RNS)—When geropsychologist Benjamin Mast evaluates dementia clients at his University of Louisville research lab, there’s a question some people of faith ask him: “What if I forget about God?”

It’s a query that reflects the struggles of people facing diseases like Alzheimer’s.

The earliest stages of Alzheimer’s involve the buildup of protein fragments, or plaques, on some brain cells and the growth of twisted fibers, or tangles, within those cells. That process, Mast said in an interview, “damages a particular aspect of the memory system more significantly than others.”

In his book, Second Forgetting: Remembering the Power of the Gospel During Alzheimer’s Disease, Mast describes a man who may not always remember his grown children’s names but “quickly joins in” when someone reads one of his favorite psalms.

What remains intact is the part of the memory that’s held longest, Mast said. In some cases, that relates to faith—hymns and creeds that people may have recited for years.

“If you ask a person who’s been deeply affected by Alzheimer’s about something that happened yesterday, you’re going to their weakness in terms of memory,” said Mast.

“But if we can engage them, for example, in the context of faith services with older songs and hymns that they’ve known for many years, we’re meeting them where they’re strong.”

From congregations to chaplains’ offices, there are stories of kept faith and questions about whether it has been lost. Experts and everyday individuals speak of “magical” moments when people who usually stare into space are suddenly enlivened by worship and tough times when a loved one no longer avows a long-term belief.

‘Christ holds her’

Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary—whose campus is about seven miles from Mast’s lab—has learned of both sides of this aspect of dementia. His mother is in a memory care facility years after receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.

“Thankfully, she is very aware of God’s love,” said Mohler, recalling family members’ visits with her. “She just constantly reminds us all of how blessed we are and will just make statements of how much God has blessed us.”

But he has counseled congregants and students who have had a different experience. One student told him recently that his grandmother denied she was ever a Christian when she was reminded that she had been one.

“I just tried to assure this student: ‘Your grandmother loved Christ, confessed Christ,’” the seminary president said. “‘She has lost the knowledge of much of her life, but Christ holds her just as fast.’”

Need to train ministers

Mast said clergy have often told him they grapple with how to help congregants whose families are coping with dementia.

“The common refrain is, ‘Seminary didn’t prepare me for this,’” he said.

Mast succeeded in having fellow Southern Baptists adopt a 2016 resolution that called for pastors to seek training about Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia and churches to expand their ministries to meet needs of caregivers and the people for whom they are providing care.

Mohler said the growing aging population and new awareness of dementia have prompted theological schools to include more about these topics in ministry, theology and ethics courses.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 5.7 million Americans have Alzheimer’s. Experts predict twice as many Americans 65 and older will have the disease by 2040.

“Are we doing enough?” Mohler asked. “The answer is certainly no, because we are playing catch-up a bit on this.”

Remembering hymns 

Chaplains in senior citizens’ facilities have long dealt with residents with dementia and have noticed how some residents may recall their religion more than other aspects of their lives.

“Their faith is the thing, even as they move further into dementia, that they will retain,” said Rebecca Church, director of pastoral services at Wesley Manor, a United Methodist-affiliated retirement community in Louisville. “They will remember how to say the Lord’s Prayer when they won’t remember anyone’s name. They’ll remember the words to ‘Amazing Grace’ when they don’t know what day it is.”

Some churches have found that special worship services may meet a need when a longtime congregant can no longer manage the typical sermons and contemporary music that may be heard in a sanctuary.

Jane Gumbiner, a member of Southeast Christian Church, a megachurch in Louisville, tears up when she speaks of how nice it is to hear her husband, Hal, sing at its “Classic Worship” service on Thursdays.

Once, when they lived in Florida, they were immersed in the life of a church they started—washing Communion cups, counting money, assisting in the nursery. Now, she relishes the moments when his memory of church appears three and a half years after his diagnosis with dementia.

The Thursday gathering, basically a weekday Bible study attended by more than 100 people, allows the retired veterinarian to sing “old-timey hymns” like “The Old Rugged Cross” and “I Surrender All.”

“He sings them, he knows them,” said the retired educator who wears a pendant with a fish next to her cross to underline her faith. She adds more softly: “As opposed to just being totally silent.”

At Phoebe Richland, a United Church of Christ-affiliated senior care facility 50 miles north of Philadelphia, four residents with dementia who had just attended a “Spirit Alive” worship service spoke about how they liked the music and the prayers that had just concluded.

Though some did not directly answer a question about God, a couple of them distinctly remembered earlier church gatherings. One resident, Doris Fosbenner, recalled the names of the streets at the corner where she attended an Italian chapel in Philadelphia. Shirley Derstine, who remembered sending greeting cards to missionaries and helping out with Sunday school, hopes the choir from her Christian Reformed congregation that visited and sang for residents last fall will return.

“There were so many comments that they enjoyed it a lot so I’m staying in touch with our organist and have her think about doing it once again,” she said.

In response to a request to confirm the choir’s visit, Jamie Moyer, Phoebe Richland’s chaplain, added in an email: “Her church community means a lot to her, and she is usually beaming for a week after they are here!”

During NPR’s Morning Edition on Jan. 14, host Rachel Martin interviewed Robert Alter about his newly released translation of the Hebrew Bible, a 24-year labor of love. Alter approaches the Hebrew Bible as a literary work of art and sought to translate it in a way to restore its artistry. Click here to listen to the interview or to read a transcript on NPR.org.