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40 Days of Prayer The booklet Seek God for the City 2014 produced by Waymakers is a tool to unite Christians in persistent prayer for spiritual awakening in the 40 days leading up to Palm Sunday, Mar. 5 – Apr. 13. A companion app is also available. Pastors, mission leaders, and prayer leaders may call (800) 264-5214 for a complimentary review copy. Bulk pricing discounts are available. More info

‘The Story’ Church-Wide Experience “The Story” DVD series is a Bible engagement curriculum for people of all ages, and helps participants see how their stories intersect with the Bible. This chronological look at scripture is based on a book by the same title from Pastor Randy Frazee of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. What do participants say about the 31-lesson series? Mark Johnson, Pastor of Tapestry Fellowship and Executive Director of City First Foundation says his church is using the material “for growth, evangelism, and reading together in small groups. Awesome tool!” More info

Prayer Coaching Offered for Pastors Project Pray offers pastors six weeks of free prayer coaching through online meetings. Pastors gather in groups of 12 for brief sessions that focus on personal prayer, prayer models and concepts, and learning to pray by praying. If you are interested in prayer coaching for your team, email Doug Small (dougsmall@projectpray.org) or call 855-842-5483. More info

Discipleship Training for Church Planters Discipleship in Church Planting, a free eBook by J.D. Payne, provides guidelines for church planters to establish healthy approaches for teaching new believers to obey all that Jesus commanded.
More info

Operation World, a Guide to Pray for the Nations Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation, revised by Jason Mandryk, is the global prayer guide that will help focus your heart and life towards God’s passion for His glory among all nations. The guide features all the countries of the world with maps of each country, geographic information, people groups, economic and political information, and religious make-up of each country. Includes daily prayer calendar. It also includes human trafficking and persecution figures, global hot spots, trends, and more. The 1000-page print book is also available in electronic form, which includes 10,000-plus media items licensed for reuse. The guide is useful as a prayer calendar, a tool for preparing for a mission trip, or a means of increasing awareness of people groups worldwide. More info

Ministering to Women with a Message of Grace Sanctity of Human Life Sunday provides churches with an opportunity to consider how to reach out to women seeking emotional healing after an abortion. In My Baby’s Feet, author Sheila M. Luck walks through her journey from shame and guilt to forgiveness and a solid relationship with Jesus Christ. The resource can help ministry leaders understand how a woman might feel and better minister to her needs. More info

– New Member from Bellevue, WA

Editor’s Note: MAC members, we’d love to hear from you! Tell us why you are part of the Mission America Coalition or why you’d encourage others to consider involvement. Send your responses to info@missionamerica.org.

A blessed new year! As we reflect on the past year, we have so much for which to be thankful. The Lord has been so gracious to us and the various ministries of the Mission America Coalition.

We give Him special thanks for the significant advancement of the LOVE2020 initiative. The momentum continues to grow and expand. We are looking forward to sharing together in mid February for an important gathering of our LOVE2020 conveners along with members of our Mission America Coalition for our annual Leadership Consultation: Loving America to Christ. You are invited to join us for this strategic meeting.

Registration is now open. We will be meeting at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, NC, God willing. Our sessions are scheduled to begin with a reception and evening session on Monday, Feb. 17, and will conclude with an early evening session on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

For more details of our consultation and information on how you can register, go to www.missionamerica.org and select Loving America to Christ. Please prayerfully review the details of the meeting and then prayerfully considering joining with us.

It would be a joy to share with you in Charlotte!

Prayerfully and expectantly,

Paul Cedar
Chairman

1. LOVE2020.com – A call to a prayer-care-share lifestyle
2. Like us on Facebook
3. Cities & Communities – New!
4. Ethnic Embrace USA
5. Global Resources & Networking
6. Lighthouse Movement

Bible Engagement in the US Lifeway Research about Bible engagement in North America finds 66% of Canadian churchgoers agree with the statement, “I desire to please and honor Jesus in all I do.” However, 34% say they rarely or never read the Bible outside of church. Only 11% read it daily and 27% a few times a week or once a month. Only 3% do daily in-depth Bible study. 53% rarely or never study the Bible. 62% disagree with the statement, “If I go several days without reading the Bible, I find myself unfulfilled.” When six other factors are present, individuals have higher levels of Bible engagement: 1) Confess wrongdoings to God and ask forgiveness. 2) Believe in Jesus Christ as the only way to heaven. 3) Make a decision to obey or follow God, knowing it might be costly. 4) Pray for people they know are not professing Christians. 5) Read a book about increasing their spiritual growth. 6) Have a one-on-one mentoring relationship with a spiritually mature Christian. There is a strong correlation between engaging the Bible and living accordance to the Scriptures. (CT’s The Exchange 11/20/13)

Great Commission Being Fulfilled According to Open Doors, 40 years ago there were only 200 Muslim converts to Christianity in Iran. Today, they estimate it is 370,000. Similar growth is occurring in the Asian subcontinent, sub-Saharan Africa and regions of the Middle East. Tragically, persecution is a sign the Great Commission is being fulfilled. (LifeSite News 12/4/13)

How Religious? 69% of Americans are either very religious (40%) or moderately religious (29%), according to a 2012 December Gallup Poll, with 31% being nonreligious. (Gallup 12/04/12)Chinese Religiously Unaffiliated The number of religiously unaffiliated people in China is more than twice the U.S. total population. About 700 million Chinese residents do not identify with a specific religious group. (Huffington Post 10/22/13)

Asian Americans Growing Fueled both by immigration and birth rates, Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the U.S. With a population of 18.9 million in 2012, they are projected to reach over 40.6 million by 2050. That will increase their proportion of the total population from 5% to 9%. Asian Americans consist of more than 34 ethnicities, each with vastly different backgrounds of languages, cultures, nationalities, time of immigration and more. 83% are in these top six ethnicities: Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Korean or Japanese. (CT’s The Exchange 11/7/13)

R-rated Movies Damaging to Faith Young people who watch R-rated movies are more likely to have decreased church attendance and to consider their faith less important, finds a recent Baylor Univ. study. “Viewing R-rated movies was damaging to religious faith even after accounting for the importance of religion in one’s family, peer influence and parental monitoring of media, among other factors,” said researcher Phil Davignon. However, watching the movies didn’t affect whether or not young people have doubts about their faith or whether they thought it was acceptable to choose parts of the faith to believe without accepting the whole. (Review of Religious Research 6/13)

Most People Are Part of Religious Majorities Nearly 3/4 of the world’s people live in countries where their group is a religious majority of the population. (Huffington Post 10/22/13)

Hispanic Exodus Today 69% of Hispanic Americans were raised Catholic, but only 53% have remained so. 31% who left Catholicism became evangelicals, 22% Mainline Christians, 13% other and 34% are unaffiliated. (CT 12/13)Hindus Geographically Concentrated 97% of the world’s Hindus live in only three countries: India, Mauritius and Nepal. (Huffington Post 10/22/13)

Alternative Punishment for Nonviolent Crimes American evangelical leaders overwhelmingly support alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, according to the November Evangelical Leaders Survey. Only two percent of respondents do not support alternative measures. Evangelicals have a particular concern for those in prison as they are mentioned specifically by Jesus when telling his followers to care for the “least of these.” This concern was reflected in the June Evangelical Leaders Survey that showed nearly all evangelical leaders have visited a prison, many of whom did so in a ministry context. Through relationships formed in ministry, evangelicals have seen the negative effects imprisonment often has on prisoners and their families. (National Association of Evangelicals, 12/10/13)

Prayer Helps People Cope A Saarland Univ. and the Univ. of Mannheim in Germany study shows prayer helps people stay in control of their emotions and behavior. Those who pray when their lives become demanding find themselves better able to cope with temptation and control their emotions. (Church Leaders 12/6/13)

Religious Practice is associated with higher levels of economic well-being and academic performance as well as reductions in the incidence of crime, delinquency, drug and alcohol addiction and problems related to physical and emotional health. (LifeSite News 11/15/13)

Saturated Media Culture New research from author and psychologist Catherine Steiner-Adair finds many teens are turning to Internet videos to educate themselves on physical relationships, dating and gender stereotypes. Without parents monitoring their children’s online viewing, Internet access provides them with content that can be confusing, and graphic images that can create a false understanding of appropriate intimate behavior. This encourages teens in particular to behave in a way online they never would in face-to-face interactions. (The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age by Catherine Steiner-Adair, Harper 2013)

76 Seconds to Communicate According to LivePerson, today’s consumers want access to information and support instantly, and if they don’t find what they need quickly, they will look for it somewhere else. The study finds that, on average, consumers won’t wait more than 76 seconds if they need help during their online session. 58% are frustrated by poor quality service online. 49% continue to find websites difficult to navigate with 33% struggling to seek help or locate customer service. (Center for Media Research Brief 11/26/13)

More Info Faster Millions of Americans feel having too much information actually limits their ability to simply make a choice. When it comes to books, 35% of adults say while they enjoy reading, they feel most books are too long. Men (41%) are notably more likely than women (28%) to feel this way. Only 27% of Elders say most books feel too long, while 30% of Boomers and 31% of Busters likewise agree. Among Millennials, 49% say most books are too long for them to enjoy, yet 76% want to keep up with current trends. The research shows while people want to “stay up to speed,” they want their information to be compact. This doesn’t mean they don’t want substance; it more likely means they want to get to the substance faster. (Barna Group 10/22/13)

Time Names Pope Person of the Year Pope Francis has been named Time magazine’s 1023 Person of the Year. Francis, who is the Catholic Church’s 266th pope, is Time’s 86th person of the year. He is the 3rd pope to be named person of the year (Pope John XXIII was named in 1962, and Pope John Paul II in 1994). (Media Daily News 12/11/13)

Megachurch Stats Five million people worship in a U.S. megachurch on a typical weekend. Currently there are 1,650 megachurches in the U.S. While almost 10% of Protestant churchgoers attend a megachurch, they represent only 0.5% of the roughly 320,000 U.S. Protestant churches. While many are nondenominational, most Protestant denominations have at least one megachurch. 21% were founded in the last 20 years. 22% were founded by their current lead pastor. 79% of current megachurch pastors led their congregation through its most dramatic growth era. The median age of today’s megachurch lead pastor is 55 (5% are under 40 and 18% are under 45). (Leadership Network 12/13/13)

Younger Donor Trends According to a new Achieve survey, organizations that want to persuade people in their 20s and early 30s to give and volunteer need to update their websites frequently and include compelling details about their causes and the people they serve. Three in four donors born from 1979 to 1994 were put off when a nonprofit’s website had not been updated recently. Six in 10 want nonprofits to share stories about successful projects and programs and appreciate information about an organization’s cause and the people it serves. Also, too much info about the group itself especially bothers young donors who are open to making small donations more frequently. 84% prefer to give online. Eight in 10 have smartphones and use them to read e-mails and articles from nonprofits. Three in four have liked, retweeted or shared nonprofit content on social networks. (The Chronicle Board Report Sept./Oct. 2013)

Giving to Evangelical Churches and ministries outpaced giving to secular charities in 2012. In its 4th annual State of Giving report, ECFA reveals giving to more than 1,600 of its accredited organizations increased 6.4% last year. Donations reached $11 billion in 2012 vs. $3 billion in 2011. However, Empty Tomb, Inc. research suggests giving trends among denominations has declined for four consecutive years. The only other comparable period of prolonged decline was from 1928 through 1934, mostly during the Great Depression. (ECFA 12/4/13)

Church Attendance not the Only Decline Some reports show 80–85% of all U.S. churches are either in decline or stagnant when it comes to membership and attendance. Other reports state 50% of pastors would like to quit, and as many as 85% are discouraged. Americans no longer look to experts with answers no matter how magnetic and regardless of how great the show. They prefer to connect on a personal, one-on-one level. This is why newspapers and magazines have fewer readers and why network TV is in decline. It is also why many have dropped out of church. And this is why Facebook has grown, allowing people to connect and communicate, using new technology, to a small circle of family and friends. (American Church Magazine 11/13)

Divorce Rises in Mature Population For people 50 and over, divorce has risen to its highest level on record. A National Center for Family and Marriage Research study reports in 1990, only one in 10 people who got divorced was 50 or older; by 2009 the number was roughly one in four. If that increase holds steady, the number of over-50 divorces in 2030, based on current trends, could easily top 800,000 per year. (The Gray Divorce Revolution 11/13)

People Retiring Later Retirement is coming later in life and it no longer represents a complete exit from the workforce. Prior to the Great Recession, the average age of those who report retiring was 57, while the average for those who retired afterward is 62. The line between working and retirement is shifting, with 82% of Americans 50 and older who are working, but not yet retired, saying it is likely or very likely that they will do some work for pay during their retirement. Of those who are currently working, 47% now plan to retire at a later age than they expected when they were 40. (Center for Media Research Brief 12/2/13)

Success Guarantee? Children raised by both a Mom and Dad are more likely to go to college and to make more money than those raised by unwed and divorced parents, and the impact is greater among the poor according to a recent American Enterprise Institute panel discussion. Unwed childbearing is now the new norm for U.S. women under 30. There is also a growing class divide with the low income having more children out-of-wedlock than those with high incomes. Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s Mike Petrilli said if students follow the “success sequence”: 1) get a high school diploma 2) get a job 3) get married and 4) have babies in that order, they are “almost guaranteed to not be poor” and their children will not be poor. (Christian Post 10/31/13)

Children and TV According to the Sourcebook for Teaching Science, the average American youth watches about 1,500 hours of TV in a year but spends only 900 hours in school per year. 70% of daycare centers use TV on a typical day. 54% of four- to six-year-olds said they preferred watching TV to spending time with their fathers. (Sourcebook for Teaching Science)

Engaged Workers Help Bottom Line Organizations with higher levels of employee engagement are more likely to retain employees, while those suffering from high turnover are likely to find employees don’t feel valued, don’t trust senior leaders and don’t understand the organization’s goals and how they contribute to meeting them. The new 2013 Trend Report: The State of Employee Engagement reports 67.7% of employees ranked as engaged in 2012 vs. 66.6% in 2010. A correlation was found between profit level and level of worker engagement. (Incentive 11/22/13)

Longer Hours Americans are now putting in longer work weeks than ever, yet most still think they have a good work-life balance. A new Rasmussen Reports survey finds only 31% of employed Americans work 40 hours a week, 40% more than 40, including 9% who work more than 50. 28% work fewer than 40 with 10% working fewer than 20. (Rasmussen Reports 12/13/13)

Millennials Read Newspapers How many Millennials read newspaper content every week? 56%, says the Newspaper Assoc. of America. That includes both those who read print and online newspapers. 60% of those 18 to 34 who read their local newspaper or newspaper website believe it is trustworthy. 55% believe the papers operate ethically and have the public’s best interest in mind. (Ragan.com 12/12/13)

Teen Spending The recent Piper Jaffray Taking Stock with Teens consumer insights survey found fashion accounts for 39% of teen budgets. 78% of females and 82% of males shop online. 60–70% of teens prefer to shop the websites of their favorite store-based retailers. Teens represent more than one-third of video game players, and gaming accounts for 7% of teen spending. (Center for Media Research Brief 10/28/13)

People & Transitions:

• Russ Reid, 82, a marketer who revolutionized the way Christian ministries raise money, died 12/7/13.
• Paul Crouch, 79 and co-founder of TBN, died 11/30/13 from a chronic heart condition.

Fast Facts:

• At the Urbana 2012 student missions’ conference, 39% of the 16,000 attendees were Asians and Asian Americans vs. 24.4% at the previous Urbana 2009.
• 42% of U.S. pastors say they wish they had spent more time with their kids.
• Approximately 35% of American churches average 100–499 people and at least 60% average 1–99.
• Consumers with a household income of $50,000 or less purchase about 50% of all Christian fiction titles.
• Nearly four out of five Americans identify themselves with some type of religious belief.
• 75% of the U.S. general public self-identify as Christians.
• 95% of U.S. Protestant pastors agree that care for the poor is mandated by the gospel.
• Over 300 million people in the world are considered charismatic Christians (14% of all self-identified Christians).
• 73% of U.S. practicing Christians want to stay informed of culture and trends, same as the national average.
• In a typical week, 95% of U.S. dads spend at least some time grocery shopping.
• Those who grow up in married-parent families are 82% less likely to live in poverty.
• In America, there are 102 million single adults (44.1% of the U.S. population).
• A quarter of Americans who get divorced are 50 or older.
• Every day, almost 11,000 Boomers turn 50-that’s one every eight seconds.
• One in 691 babies are born with Down syndrome.
• Boomers control 70% of the disposable income in the U.S.
• Millennials spend 82% of their income.
• 35% of Americans 16 and older own tablet
• 51% of all U.S. adults believe there is a connection between watching a violent movie and violent behavior.
• 2.2 million U.S. college students sought professional counseling in 2012.
• 88% of college counseling center directors report seeing a steady increase in the number of students with severe psychological problems.
• 87% of college counseling center directors believe there has been a steady increase in the number of students already on psychiatric medications.

News and Trends information compiled and edited by Gary Foster, President of Gary D Foster Consulting, a firm that assists Christian ministries and product companies in solving management, marketing, donor/customer service and product development problems. Contact Gary at: 419.238.4082, GFosterCns@rmi.net or go to www.GaryDFoster.com.

We’ve put our Collaboration Calendar online! Check here for events and activities that are open for participation to the whole Church.

View Online Collaboration Calendar

Conference Calls & Webinars

MAC – Prayer Evangelism – Intercession for the Harvest Wednesdays at 12:00 pm CDT (641)715-3300 / passcode 416432#

MAC Cityreaching Conference Call Dec. 19, 10:00 a.m. CDT (712) 432-0075 / passcode 9310472#

‘Meet the Need’ Webinar Jan. 7, 12:00 p.m. CDT

Call is scheduled for January 15th, 10am Central. Information concerning the call: Facebook or email Brian Considine (brian@missionamerica.org)

Events

Mom’s Day of Prayer Jan. 18, Worldwide

Desiring God 2014 Conference for Pastors Feb.3-5, Minneapolis

National Marriage Week USA Feb.7-14, Nationwide

MAC 2014 Leadership Consultation Feb.17-19, Charlotte, N.C.

Collegiate Day of Prayer Feb. 27, Nationwide

Global 4/14 Day of Prayer Apr. 14, Worldwide

iSpectra Global Conference Apr. 24-26, 2014, San Francisco Bay Area

Exponential 2014 Church Planters Conference East Apr. 28-May 1, Orlando, Fla.

National Day of Prayer May 1, Nationwide

Internet Evangelism Day June 1, Worldwide

Global Outreach Day June 14, Worldwide

Exponential 2014 Church Planters Conference West Oct. 6-9 Los Angeles