The United Kingdom's Back to Church Sunday program is based on a solid statistical insights into why people lose contact with church. It's positive results suggest it may be a welcome tool in the shed for congregations keen to connect in '09.

There are two basic models to church growth, and they both risk truncating the task God has committed to us and diminishing the gift He has given us in each other.

Every church is cultural to some extent. Unwittingly, unknowingly perhaps, all churches run the danger of baptising their particular cultural values in the font of Christianity.

Life and growth are chaotic. This is nowhere more true than in church life.

One of the greatest challenges in youth ministry is making connections - between younger people and older leaders, school students and local churches, and most of all, between believers and unbelievers. Camps are a venue that can achieve all three.

Who would have thought that a fishing group could become the key to cracking open the hearts of Aussies hardened to the idea of attending church? Well, Tim Scheuer, for one...

God looks upon the heart. Unfortunately we humans are far more shallow. For us, we start with appearances.

We all know we should be reading more Christian books, but often time is either the enemy or the excuse. But what if you could use technology to turn wasted time into reading time?

Why does walk up evangelism work well in one place and not in another? It all comes down to time and place. There are some circumstances that make our efforts conducive to success and some that do not.

Generation Y is the so-called ‘options’ generation. They are renowned for their lack of long-term commitment and last-minute attitude to life. So how do you recruit and manage volunteers from people whose every commitment is flexible?

This is a tricky piece for me to write. It concerns my daughter Nicola and the murder of two of her friends. So forgive any apparent lack of objectivity. That said, I hope you will be heartened by this account of God's grace in the light of violence and death.

Corporate prayer - an powerhouse for spiritual growth or public embarrassment? Mark Dever, the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC shares his insights on the significance of corporate prayer for believers and non-believers in a church service.

Many people have wondered if they have a book inside of them somewhere - the question is, is it one of John Bunyan's? Now is your chance to take part in an on-line project to re-write a Christian classic for 21st century readers.

Our Advent program is underway, but an unplanned mega-event has evolved before our very eyes.