{"id":3633,"date":"2015-12-29T16:56:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-29T16:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/2015\/12\/29\/ideas-that-work-60\/"},"modified":"2015-12-29T16:56:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-29T16:56:00","slug":"ideas-that-work-60","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/","title":{"rendered":"Better Offering Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">\n\tBetter Offering Time<\/h2>\n<p>\n\tLike a kiss or a good joke, timing may be all important for the effectiveness of church offerings as well.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tKeith Hamilton with the Georgia Baptist Convention observed that &quot;Giving normally will increase 10-20 percent if the offering is collected at the end of the worship service as opposed to the traditional collection time in the middle.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&quot;Sorry to say,&quot; he jokingly adds, &quot;the offering increased based on how good the sermon was that Sunday.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>\n\tOne congregation that opted for a post-sermon offering is First Baptist Church of Lawrenceville, Georgia. Pastor Inman Houston prefers to place the offering at the end of the worship order for two primary reasons.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t&quot;First, and most importantly,&quot; he notes, &quot;I view the offering as a worship response to God. By placing it at the end of our gathering, we emphasize this truth in our giving. Second, we ask members and guests to fill out an info tab during worship. We collect these tabs through our offering. On the tab, people have the opportunity to indicate that they have made a spiritual decision and\/or would like more follow up. If we collected these tabs in the middle of our gathering, we would not allow time for the full work of the Spirit through music and the Word.&quot;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">\n\tChanging the Worship Furniture<\/h2>\n<p>\n\tFew things are as established as church furniture, and nothing reveals what a church cares more about than how it is arranged.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAn elevated, prominent pulpit emphasizes The Authoritative Word; a big platform with the spotlight on the drum set magnifies Worship; an altar stretching across the front of the sanctuary accentuates the Sacraments.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tPastor Phil Wood of Fellowship Church in Carol Stream, Illinois, wonders why some of the furniture cannot be changed regularly. &quot;Most pews are fastened,&quot; he notes, &quot;but there are many other items that can be moved or adjusted, depending upon the focus of the particular service.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWhen celebrating the Eucharist once a month, their communion table is hoisted on the platform and centrally located. At other times, when the service is music heavy, the pulpit is removed or placed in a secondary location, sometimes adding instruments or risers to the platform. In addition to placement, lighting is used to focus and direct attention.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tPastor Ian Simpkus from Poplar Creek Church in Bartlett, Illinois, recently led his congregation to re-arrange the forward-facing chairs in the sanctuary to be in the round, with a raised platform centrally located. The following month the chairs were shaped like a U. His intention, by design, is to keep things fresh and fluid.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">\n\tFamiliarity Breeds Worship<\/h2>\n<p>\n\tC.S. Lewis, in his book <em class=\"citation\">Letters to Malcolm<\/em>, writes that worship, like dancing, works best when you don&#39;t have to think about it: &quot;As long as you notice, and have to count the steps, you are not yet dancing, but only learning to dance.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWorship pastors have attempted many ways to familiarize and help congregations internalize worship. Chris Geiger, worship pastor at Catoctin Valley Community Church in Purcellville, Virginia, believes that &quot;Great worship begins with songs the congregation knows well. I limit my playlist to songs I can repeat throughout the year. I often pick a set of theme songs that gets repeated during a given sermon series.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>\n\tTo help ensure familiarity, his list mirrors the top 40 from the local Christian radio station.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tJoe Woolworth from marketingjesus.net writes, &quot;A great way to encourage continual worship outside of services is to provide Spotify playlists of your worship songs from Sunday morning. This is really easy and free for both your church and congregation. Simply create a Spotify account for your church, make a playlist that includes your songs from service, and share the playlist url to your social media sites.&quot;<\/p>\n<p class=\"is-style-article-copyright\">\n\tCopyright &copy; 2016 by the author or Christianity Today\/<em class=\"citation\">Leadership Journal<\/em>.\n\t<a href=\"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/le\/help\/permissionsprivacy\/permissions.html#answer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"copyright\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here<\/a> for reprint information on <em class=\"citation\">Leadership Journal<\/em>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Better Offering Time Like a kiss or a good joke, timing may be all important for the effectiveness of church offerings as well. Keith Hamilton with the Georgia Baptist Convention observed that &quot;Giving normally will increase 10-20 percent if the offering is collected at the end of the worship service as opposed to the traditional <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/\">Read more&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":3634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[154,160],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[131],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[178,156,190],"tax_ctp_tags":[3609,3610,3645,3712,3897],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-3633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tax_publications-2016-leadership-journal","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_publications-winter_2016-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-church-growth","tax_ctp_tags-church-health","tax_ctp_tags-community-impact","tax_ctp_tags-creativity","tax_ctp_tags-evangelism"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Better Offering Time - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"And other innovative practices from around the ministry world.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Better Offering Time - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"And other innovative practices from around the ministry world.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-29T16:56:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/66539.jpg?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Compiled by Josh Wood\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"CMS Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/85018388509706870f1ad6829069e1a3\"},\"headline\":\"Better Offering Time\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-29T16:56:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-29T16:56:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/\"},\"wordCount\":667,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/66539.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/\",\"name\":\"Better Offering Time - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/66539.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-29T16:56:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-29T16:56:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"And other innovative practices from around the ministry world.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/66539.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/66539.jpg\",\"width\":1240,\"height\":697},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Better Offering Time\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/85018388509706870f1ad6829069e1a3\",\"name\":\"CMS Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b746e0581dc75423e361301b595167f5234d819bbff5b0a82621db777cbfeb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b746e0581dc75423e361301b595167f5234d819bbff5b0a82621db777cbfeb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CMS Admin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Better Offering Time - CT Pastors","description":"And other innovative practices from around the ministry world.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Better Offering Time - CT Pastors","og_description":"And other innovative practices from around the ministry world.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/","og_site_name":"CT Pastors","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors","article_published_time":"2015-12-29T16:56:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/66539.jpg?resize=1200,628","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Compiled by Josh Wood","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CTpastors","twitter_site":"@CTpastors","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/"},"author":{"name":"CMS Admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/85018388509706870f1ad6829069e1a3"},"headline":"Better Offering Time","datePublished":"2015-12-29T16:56:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-29T16:56:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/"},"wordCount":667,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/66539.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/","name":"Better Offering Time - CT Pastors","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/66539.jpg","datePublished":"2015-12-29T16:56:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-29T16:56:00+00:00","description":"And other innovative practices from around the ministry world.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/66539.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/66539.jpg","width":1240,"height":697},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Better Offering Time"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/","name":"CT Pastors","description":"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization","name":"Christianity Today","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg","caption":"Christianity Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors","https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/85018388509706870f1ad6829069e1a3","name":"CMS Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b746e0581dc75423e361301b595167f5234d819bbff5b0a82621db777cbfeb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b746e0581dc75423e361301b595167f5234d819bbff5b0a82621db777cbfeb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CMS Admin"}}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Better Offering Time","url":"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/ideas-that-work-60\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/66539.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/66539.jpg"},"articleSection":"Uncategorized","author":"Compiled by Josh Wood","creator":"Compiled by Josh Wood","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"CT Pastors","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2015-12-29T16:56:00Z","datePublished":"2015-12-29T16:56:00Z","dateModified":"2015-12-29T16:56:00Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Better Offering Time\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.christianitytoday.com\\\/pastors\\\/content\\\/ideas-that-work-60\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.christianitytoday.com\\\/pastors\\\/content\\\/ideas-that-work-60\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.christianitytoday.com\\\/pastors\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/19\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/66539.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.christianitytoday.com\\\/pastors\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/19\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/66539.jpg\"},\"articleSection\":\"Uncategorized\",\"author\":\"Compiled by Josh Wood\",\"creator\":\"Compiled by Josh Wood\",\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[],\"dateCreated\":\"2015-12-29T16:56:00Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-29T16:56:00Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-29T16:56:00Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/christianitytoday.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/66539.jpg","byline":{"writer_byline":"Compiled by Josh Wood","writer_byline_override":""},"primary_category":null,"secondary_categories":[],"featured_video":null,"related_articles":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3633"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3635,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3633\/revisions\/3635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_authors?post=3633"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_books","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_books?post=3633"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_categories?post=3633"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory?post=3633"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_field_guides","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_field_guides?post=3633"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_format?post=3633"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_multimedia","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_multimedia?post=3633"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_point_editor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_point_editor?post=3633"},{"taxonomy":"tax_publications","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_publications?post=3633"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_tags?post=3633"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_topics?post=3633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}