News

Have You Noticed Church Is Farther Away Than it Used to Be?

Study finds more Christians driving longer distances to worship.

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More Americans are driving farther to church, according to a new study from sociologists Kevin D. Dougherty at Baylor University and Mark T. Mulder at Calvin University. About a third of evangelicals drive more than 15 minutes to church, and 8 percent drive more than half an hour. Black Protestants drive farthest, with nearly one in five going more than 30 minutes to worship. Among all church goers, the percentage traveling more than 15 minutes to church increased 10 points from 2001 to 2017. The change may be connected to the growth of megachurches, the sociologists say, which pull people from a larger geographical area.

Also in this issue

This month’s cover story examines the power of communal confession to heal the church’s—and society’s—deepest divisions. But pastor and writer Jeff Peabody doesn’t point to the early church or to liturgical traditions as the model for how we should pray; he turns to the famous ancient prayer of Daniel at the end of Israel’s long Babylonian exile. The prayer upends our typical notions of what it means to “speak prophetically,” and the implications for our fractious cultural and political moment are striking.

Cover Story

Forgive Us Our Sins (And Theirs, Too)

Set Free by the Cross, Why Do We Live in Bondage?

New Editor, Old Roots

The Motherly Love of a Wrathful God

Reply All

Democratic Christians Weigh Their Primary Concerns

Real Love Requires a Command

María de los Ángeles La Torre Cuadros

Why Do Fewer Christian Women Work in Science?

Twelve Christian Women in Science You Should Know

Erica Carlson

Mary Schweitzer

Joanna Ng

Audrey Bowden

Margaret Miller

Lydia Manikonda

Jessica Moerman

Keila Natilde Lopez

Georgia Dunston

Mercy Akinyi

Alynne MacLean

Testimony

I Assumed Science Had All the Answers. Then I Started Asking Inconvenient Questions.

The Old Testament Twins We’ve Forgotten

Our March Issue: Us vs. Us

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Christian Martyr Numbers Down by Half in a Decade. Or Are They?

News

Despite a Murder and Visa Denials, Christians Persevere in Turkey

The Many Faces of Narcissism in the Church

Review

Religious Parents Are Remarkably Similar, Even When They Belong to Different Religions

Review

Be Careful About Reading the Bible as a Political Guide

New & Noteworthy Books

Excerpt

My Generation Prized ‘Authenticity.’ Why I’ve Come to Love Wearing a Mask.

News

Why German Evangelicals Are Praising God in English

View issue

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Egypt’s Redemption—and Ours

The flight of the holy family is more than a historical curiosity. It points us toward the breadth and beauty of God’s redemption.

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Shamanism in Indonesia

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Shamanism in Japan

Christians in the country view pastors’ benedictions as powerful spiritual mantras.

Shamanism in Taiwan

In a land teeming with ghosts, is there room for the Holy Spirit to work?

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