Face painting is a popular activity for reaching non-Christians during a Crossover weekend.
PHOTO BY GIBBS FRAZEUR
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Crossover leads to 23,000 professions of faith in Christ
Crossover became a fixture of Southern Baptist Convention annual meetings in 1989, resulting in more than 23,000 professions of faith. Crossover is an evangelism event designed to saturate the host city on the weekend before the convention. Here are the numbers of professions of faith recorded for the past six years:
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1997, Crossover Dallas4,207
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1998, Crossover Salt Lake City1,715
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1999, Crossover Atlanta2,849
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2000, Crossover Orlando1,213
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2001, Crossover New Orleans1,348
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2002, Crossover St. Louis2,812
Source: Baptist Press, March 31, 2003
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Christians and technology
Most Americans have spent a growing percentage of their income to link themselves to the outside world just within the last three years. Today many Americans are paying well over $200 a month for services that allow them to watch TV, make phone calls and use the Internet. And theyre spending only about half as much as they say they would be willing to pay for technologies that would fit their needs, according to a Barna poll studying Americas high-tech habits.
 The poll revealed that 59 percent of Christians have home Internet accessthe same percentage as non-Christians. Fifty-six percent of all adults own a DVD player (56 percent of Christians, 55 percent of non-Christians). Twenty-eight percent of all adults own a satellite dish (29 percent of Christians, 27 percent of non-Christians). Sixty-five percent of Americans have cell phones (68 percent of Christians, 64 percent of non-Christians).
With the increasing rise of home technology, there is concern about the growing number of moral choices Christians will face. The differences between Christians and non-Christians are indistinguishable, because Christian leaders have not addressed the role of technology, according to David Kinnamen, vice president of the Barna Research Group. He suggests that Christians need to think about the expectationsboth good and badtechnology creates and satisfies among its users.
Imagine the impact Christians can have on the world if they learn to use technology to serve Christ and share Him with others.
Sources: The New York Times, April 10, 2003, Baptist Press, April 4, 2003, and Barna Research Services, April 2, 2003
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Prayer connected to better health
Studies have shown that individuals who pray regularly and attend religious services stay healthier and live longer than those who rarely or never do.
 A six-year Duke University study of 4,000 men and women of various faiths, all over 64, found that the relative risk of dying was 46 percent lower for those who frequently attend religious services. Another study of the same group of 4,000 people found that those who prayed regularly had significantly lower blood pressure than the less religious. A third study showed that those who attended religious services had healthier immune systems, too.
Studies also have been done on the effects of intercessory prayer. Findings have been mixed, but a review of 23 studies of intercessory prayer, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found a positive effect in 57 percent and concluded that the evidence thus far merits further study.
Science may not ever be able to prove that prayer heals, but to many the evidence of miracles and healthy lives speaks for itself.
Source: Parade Magazine, March 23, 2003
Quick Quote
Individuals who are demonstrative about their religion do not share the same values, tenets or practices, and thus do not represent a cross-section of society.
Joseph F. Lisa, New Jersey appellate judge, ruling that overtly religious people can be barred from serving on juries.
Source: Christianity Today, March 2003
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Insights into the unchurched
What unchurched adults like least about their past church experiences
Hypocritical behavior of the churched 21 percent
Strict/inflexible beliefs 21 percent
Nothing in particular 21 percent
The worship service (long, boring, etc.) 12 percent
Too much emphasis on giving money 9 percent
Air of superiority among the churched 6 percent
Source: Barna Research Services, 2002
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Is America experiencing religious [in]stability?
The nations religious habits appear to be no different than they were five or 10 years ago, even though 66 percent of adults believe that religion is losing its influence in society. Oddly, people tend to view the nations faith as losing ground when 70 percent of adults say that their own religious faith is growing deeper.
 Baby Busters, the countrys second-largest generation ever, born between 1965 and 1983 and often described as pessimistic, self-centered and brooding, is now becoming more accepting of traditional Christian activities. Since 1996, seven percent more Busters attend Sunday school, seven percent more read the Bible, six percent more participate in small groups for Bible study, prayer and fellowship, and four percent more attend church.
Older Americans are dropping out of organized faith activity in significant numbers due to limited mobility and declining health of the spiritually devout Seniors generation and the erosion of commitment among the less faith-driven Builders generation. These two generations are decreasing their involvement in church attendance. There is no indication that the intensity of their personal faith is fading.
African Americans are 10 percentage points less likely to read the Bible and six points less likely to share their faith with nonbelievers than they were just three years ago. They are also four points less likely to attend a Sunday school class than they were in 1996.
The South, considered the Bible Belt, is experiencing changes in religious behaviors. Although residents of the South are still more likely to attend church services than are people from other regions, the weekly attendance figure in the South has fallen by six percentage points since 1997. Sharing ones faith in Christ with a nonbeliever has dropped by seven points in the past three years. And there has been a nine-point decline in the percent of adults in the South who are classified as Christians since 1997.
Source: Barna Research Services, February 24, 2003, and March 18, 2003
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Going it alone
A new threat facing the church today is that many Christians are deciding to leave the church and grow their faith on their own. These are not nominal Christians who have never been committed to a church according to Alan Jamieson, pastor, sociologist and author of A Churchless Faith.
He calls them post-congregational Christians. He found that of these Christians, 94 percent had been church leadersdeacons, elders, Sunday school teachers. And 32 percent had been full-time ministers. Jamieson is not alone in his findings.
Pollster George Barna had similar findings in his book Re-Churching the Unchurched. Relatively few unchurched people are atheists. Most call themselves Christian and have had a serious dose of church life in the past, says Barna.
Many Christians who leave the church say they havent lost their faith but want to save it. They feel theyll grow more spiritually on their own than in the church where problems sometimes plague congregations.
David Barrett, author of the World Christian Encyclopedia, estimates there are about 112 million churchless Christians worldwide. He projects that number will double by 2025.
Source: Moody magazine, March/April 2003
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Top reasons why people do not attend a church
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No time; schedule conflicts; working
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Not interested; nothing to offer; no reason
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My beliefs are different than the churchs
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Dont believe in organized religion/dont need to worship at a church
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Their beliefs are too rigid/too inflexible
Source: Grow Your Church from the Outside In, by George Barna, (Regal) 2002
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