Around the web...March 31, 2014

Should The Church Pander to Millennials?
This week and beyond, Millennials on IRD’s staff will be addressing this issue in their own blogs as part of a series. They merit hearing. Here’s the first one, from Brian Miller, himself a law student. Look forward to more from others!

SYMPOSIUM: What Does Liberal Christianity Offer Millennials?
This is Part 1 in an IRD Symposium on Millennials in the Church
...Orthodoxy and traditional teachings on sex are not turning young people away from the Church. The frequently cited statistics about liberal congregations in decline and conservative denominations on the rise are, I think, over relied upon. Especially in light of statistics that show all denominations are on a decline overall. However, that conservative denominations have weathered the storm better than their liberal counterparts cannot be discounted. Being an Anglo-Catholic in the Washington D.C. area I find myself in a variety of churches. The Roman Catholic young adult ministries are full of devout and conservative millennials, and most of the events are standing room only. In the evangelical Anglican Churches, the congregations are overwhelmingly young, perhaps too young. My own Church is composed mostly of young families. But whenever I sneak into the notoriously liberal Episcopal Churches for Evensong or daily mass, I find I am the youngest attendee by approximately thirty-years...

Surprised by N.T. Wright
People who are asked to write about N. T. Wright may find they quickly run out of superlatives. He is the most prolific biblical scholar in a generation. Some say he is the most important apologist for the Christian faith since C. S. Lewis. He has written the most extensive series of popular commentaries on the New Testament since William Barclay. And, in case three careers sound like too few, he is also a church leader, having served as Bishop of Durham, England, before his current teaching post at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

But perhaps the most significant praise of all: When Wright speaks, preaches, or writes, folks say they see Jesus, and lives are transformed. A pastor friend of mine describes a church member walking into his office, hands trembling as he held a copy of Wright's Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. "If this book is true," he said, "then my whole life has to change."

 

The superlatives are striking, considering Wright's goal in his teaching and writing is to massively revise the way Christianity has been articulated for generations...

 

Street preacher accepts £13,000 compensation after wrongful arrest
...John Craven was preaching in Manchester city centre in September 2011 when he was approached by two homosexual teenagers who asked him what he thought about gays.

Craven says that when he explained the Bible's stance on homosexuality, the two teenagers responded by kissing each other and making sexually suggestive acts.

When they complained to a police officer that they had found Mr Craven's comments insulting, he was arrested by Police Constable Alistair McKittrick for a public order offence and was detained for over 19 hours.

He was arrested under section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986, which criminalises the use of insulting words with the intention of causing harassment, alarm or distress.

While the police claim it was necessary to arrest him in order to conduct "a prompt and effective investigation" into the complaint, Mr Craven said this was not conveyed to him at the time.

The Christian Institute, which provided him with legal assistance, said he went nearly 15 hours without access to food, water or his medication for rheumatoid arthritis...