Dr Paul Allen

The Oldest Christian Church - Yerevan, Armenia (Photo credit: whl.travel ) You’ve seen the statistics. If you’re in ministry, you’ve probably witnessed the problem firsthand. The Millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) are leaving the church in droves, and staying away. Approximately 70 percent of those raised in the church disengage from it in their 20s. One-third of Americans under 30 now claim “no religion.” There are 80 million Millennials in the U.S.—and approximately the same number of suggestions for how to bring them back to church. But most of the proposals I’ve heard fall into two camps. The first goes something like this: The church needs to be more hip and relevant. Drop stodgy traditions. Play louder music. Hire pastors with tattoos and fauxhawks. Few come right out and advocate for this approach. But from pastoral search committees to denominational gatherings to popular conferences, a quest for relevance drives the agenda. Others demand more fundamental ch...

Image via Wikipedia With the passing of 2011, many of us wave goodbye to a season marked by persistent questions about public institutions and a general belief that, surely, things can only get better.   But what challenges can we expect to face as a society in 2012? Here are my predictive picks for the 12 biggest social shifts we might expect to see in 2012.  Hyper-Tech & Refuseniks : We will see a growing role for professional ethicists in corporate and government strategic planning, as new developments in medicine, bio-tech , genetics and other sectors stretch traditional ethics paradigms to the limit. Well organised groups of 'technology refuseniks' will emerge, calling for slowing of change in technological research and development...  De-Gadgetisation & the Neo-Frugals : 2012 will see a drive to recalibrate our reliance on digital communications . New psychological terms will be introduced to describe fresh symptoms of psychological or social disorder deriv...