News

Go Figure

Get the numbers on cancer patients, American Idol, and lay leaders.

11.3% Highly religious cancer patients who received mechanical ventilation during the last week of life, in a study of 345 advanced cancer patients.

3.6% Least religious patients who received mechanical ventilation.

(Source: Journal of the American Medical Association)

6 Number of the 11 American Idol finalists who regularly perform at places of worship.

3 Number who have worked as worship leaders at a church.

(Source: Associated Press)

31% Congregations that would accept a member of a cohabiting unmarried couple as a lay leader.

23% Congregations that would accept a member of an openly homosexual couple as a lay leader.

(Source: National Congregations Study)

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Related Elsewhere:

See our earlier Go Figure postings from April 2009, March 2009, February 2009, January 2009, December 2008, November 2008, October 2008, September 2008, August 2008, July 2008, June 2008, May 2008, April 2008, March 2008, February 2008, January 2008, December 2007, November 2007, October 2007, September 2007, and earlier issues.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

News

The Not-for-Profit Surge

Books Uncommon and Offbeat

Keeping Holy Ground Holy

Theology in Wood and Concrete

Praying 'Deliver Us from Evil'

Surveying the Wondrous Cross

Review

Science and the Mystic

Abolishing Homelessness in Ten Years

My Top 5 Spiritual Memoirs

What Do Prayer Studies Prove?

News

More Giving, Less Taxing

News

Pressure to Prove Himself

News

'The Perfect Hybrid'

Review

What to Do with the Stranger?

Augustine's Origin of Species

From the Printing Press to the iPhone

Readers Write

Out of Step and Fine with It

News

Learning from Widows

News

A Simple, Old-Fashioned Fundraiser

CreationWatch

Why We Need Earthquakes

News

Passages

News

Be Careful What You Wish For

News

News Briefs: May 01, 2009

News

Quotation Marks

News

El Salvador's Values Voters

Q & A: Carl Moeller

News

Faith on the Frontera

News

A Problematic Peace Accord

News

Caring for the Caregivers

News

Church Pink Slips

News

In Over His Pay Grade

View issue

Our Latest

News

Black Clergy and Christians Grapple with Charlie Kirk’s Legacy

Many say the activist’s inflammatory statements on race should inform how we remember his life.

News

A Sudden Death: Voddie Baucham, Who Warned the Church of Fault Lines

Known for confronting critical theory, moral relativism, and secular ideologies, Baucham died a month into leading a new seminary in Florida.

Why Many Black Christians Reject the Evangelical and Mainline Labels

The history of a prominent church pastored by MLK in Alabama shows the reason African Americans often don’t embrace either term.

News

Pastor Abducted in Nigeria Amid Escalating Kidnapping Crisis

Armed gang continues to hold him after family paid the ransom.

Review

The Liturgy of American Charisma

Historian Molly Worthen studies dynamic leaders, eager followers, and their shared efforts to “consecrate a new reality.”

Inside the Ministry

The Next Gen Initiative

Casting a captivating vision of following Jesus for the next generation.

The Just Life with Benjamin Watson

Bruce Deel: Mercy With A Spine

Creating real pathways to stability so families can flourish through housing, work, and dignity.

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