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Want to know the country of origin of the people living in your community? An earlier issue of Advance pointed you to a website, www.peoplegroups.info, where in just a few clicks you can find relevant information on your church's neighbors by zip/postal code, city or county. We compiled a dozen other helpful free links and titled that article Help Is a Click Away.
Now we're offering another collection of resources, but all from one user-friendly website. It's the mother lode of research data called The Association of Religion Data Archives, popularly known by the acronym ARDA. The quality data and interactive tools can help your ministry team create customized reports to advance your impact.
We've listed below a number of specific tools you can find on the ARDA site. If you want a big
picture look, check out ARDA's "Congregations" page. There, you'll find an excellent overview and a convenient launching pad to the resources of greatest interest to church leaders.
Interactive Tools
Compare your church to the views of people in your area
What do people in your community value and believe? In order to learn the theological views of people in your area, use the Compare Yourself tool at the bottom of the congregational landing page.
This link allows you to see how similar your beliefs are to the beliefs of others in certain zip codes. After providing some basic information and responses about your religious habits, practices and beliefs, the website generates a comparison with the regional norm. . . |
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Number of Centenarians on the Rise |
Once virtually nonexistent, the world's population of people 100 years of age or older is projected to reach nearly 6 million by midcentury. That's pushing the median age toward 50 in many developed nations and challenging views of what it means to be old and middle-age.
The number of centenarians already has jumped from an estimated few thousand in 1950 to more than 340,000 worldwide today, with the highest concentrations in the U.S. and Japan, according to the latest Census Bureau figures. Those numbers are projected to grow at more than 20 times the rates of the total population by 2050, making centenarians the fastest-growing age segment.
New Development – in 45 Languages |
LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK), a church innovator in ministry models and technology, recently launched a free group instant messaging tool called BabelWith.me that allows users to communicate in real-time--without a language barrier.
Developed in-house as a web-based Google application, BabelWith.me translates up to 45 different languages such as Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi and Spanish. The tool is not just for LifeChurch.tv members, but can be used by any business, church, mission group or individuals hoping to expand messages globally.
Life Serve National Conference
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The Life Serve National Conference is a one-of-a-kind event that combines the best of the Church Volunteer Central National Conference with the Externally-Focused Network Annual Conference--giving your leadership team the synergy of two leadership conferences for the price of one.
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| Save Sept. 9 for "The Nines" Online |
Mark your calendars now for The Nines--a special online free event for church leaders on 09/09/09 (starting at 09:09 a.m. CDT). You'll be able to hear first-hand from some great communicators sharing what they're passionate about. Watch future editions of Leadership Network Advance and your email in-box for more information coming soon.
| Leadership Network recently invited several big-picture thinkers to submit ideas they think will make a significant impact in the Kingdom during the next 10 years. A handful of these people were selected to come to |
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Dallas to share, shape, stretch and combine their ideas. In this issue of Audio Advance, Chris Willard and Eric Swanson talk about this exciting gathering. |
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Listen in on this wide-ranging, fast-paced interview as Dr. Sam Chand:
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Explains the importance of sharing vision in a way that shapes culture intentionally |
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Offers valuable insight about succession planning |
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Discusses a change he has seen in giving as people move away from "tithes and offerings" to "cause" giving |
Dr. Sam Chand, a former pastor and university president, is a consultant to many of today's high-visibility fast-growing churches. His singular vision in life is to help others succeed.
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You can peruse 100+ past issues of Leadership Network Advance and get valuable information on a variety of ministry topics in our Archives. Select VIEW FULL ARCHIVES LIST to see what's there.
Here are a few topics of interest we covered recently: |
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