Congregations that would accept a member of a cohabiting unmarried couple as a lay leader: 31 percent

Congregations that would accept a member of an openly homosexual couple as a lay leader: 23 percent

With the growth of the multinational church, mission is becoming multidirectional. The U.S. remains the largest single contributor of Protestant cross-cultural missionaries. But which country is the second largest? Not a Western nation, but India. And it is possible that India has overtaken the States in the number of those involved in truly cross-cultural mission—both within and beyond India. ...

Eight Men Out is the historical drama about the infamous Chicago White Sox scandal of 1919. When many of the players felt cheated and demoralized by owner Charles Comiskey's penny-pinching and tough-handed ways, gamblers influenced several of them to lose the World Series in exchange for a large amount of money. A newspaper reporter eventually exposed the scandal. A sympathetic jury later found them ...

Describing the difficulty of racial reconciliation, one African American church leader tells this story:

It was my third year with the ministry. I got a call from a prominent white Christian leader, asking me to go to lunch with him. As we're sitting down to eat, all of a sudden this guy starts crying.… He explained that God had blessed him—his children were healthy, he was known throughout ...

Courage is like a muscle. The more we exercise it, the stronger it gets. I sometimes worry that our collective courage is growing weaker from disuse. We don't demand it from our leaders, and our leaders don't demand it from us. The courage deficit is both our problem and our fault. As a result, too many leaders in the public and private sectors lack the courage necessary to honor their obligations ...

Our Fathers is a dramatized account of the hidden sexual abuse and scandal that shook the foundation of the Catholic Church near the beginning of the 21st century. In this scene, a group of the victims gather at a local bar to celebrate a face-to-face confrontation with Cardinal Bernard Law, where they told of being sexually abused as children at the hands of parish priests.

One of them, Tommy Blanchette, ...

The highly regarded HBO miniseries Band of Brothers follows a company of U.S. paratroopers through the preparation and experience of invading Europe on D-Day. Based on real life interviews by survivors, the series captures both the intensity of war and the heroism of the troops.

The leadership of E Company was usually exemplary, but then someone at division headquarters sent down a new lieutenant to ...

What makes a good leader? That question was asked by the Army War College in a study of highly regarded major generals in Iraq. Subordinates rated the officers anonymously. The responses, in order of importance:

1) Keeps cool under pressure.

2) Clearly explains missions, standards, and priorities.

3) Sees the big picture; provides context and perspective.

4) Makes tough, sound decisions on time.

One of ...

We Were Soldiers chronicles the true story of the first American battle in Vietnam during the 1960s. Although the battle for civil rights waged on back in the United States, black and white fought together on the battlefield.

In this scene, Colonel Moore (Mel Gibson) and Sergeant Plumley (Sam Elliott) are training a group of young lieutenants and their men for the battle ahead. After an intense hike ...

Steve Sample is the president of the University of Southern California. In his book, The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership, Sample shares a leadership lesson he learned early in his career.

One of my earliest introductions to real leadership occurred in 1971, when I was named (at the tender age of thirty) to be deputy director for academic affairs of the Illinois Board of Higher Education. There I learned ...