Michelle Van Loon

Maybe ten years ago, I participated in a small playwriting workshop led by a man who’d directed a number of Broadway plays in the 1960′s and 1970′s. (For the life of me, I can not remember his name at this…

One of the benefits of being a Patheos blogger is the opportunity to participate in a book club-themed conversation about a particular book during a certain two-week or so time period. It’s interesting to get a lot of different perspectives…

Last May, after hearing from more than 400 people over the age of 40 about the nature of their relationship with a local church, I made these observations: Church leaders must do some serious thinking about their models for spiritual…

Though Barna’s 2011 survey and my own less-scientific one last spring showed that those over 40 were leaving or greatly decreasing their involvement in their local churches in large numbers, I wondered what pastors of all ages observed about church…

They’re more willing to serve. They’re less willing to serve. The pastors and leaders who responded to my survey querying pastors and leaders about the joys and challenges of ministering to congregants over age 40 reported both as the case in their…

The first post in this series offers a look at the demographics of those who responded to my survey of pastors and church leaders in search of their insight about how they’re ministering to and with congregants over age 40. (Click here to…