ISAE Associate Director Larry Eskridge's new book on the history of the Jesus People Movement published.
God's Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America has just been published by Oxford University Press>>
Complimentary copies of July 2012 issue of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research available from the ISAE
The July 2012 "Faith, Flags, and Identities" issue of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research featured several articles from the ISAE's 2011 "Saving the World? The Changing Terrain of American Protestant Missions" conference by scholars such as Heather Curtis, Mark Ellingsen, and Jason Vickers. For a complimentary hard copy of this issue contact the ISAE. To view the issue on line, visit the IBMR website>>
ISAE's People of Faith video series wins 2013 "Silver Remi" Award for best documentary in Religion, Ethics and Spirituality.
Another award for the ISAE's People of Faith series produced and distributed by Vision Video, this one at the Worldfest Houston International Film Festival, the oldest film festival in the South. To buy a copy of People of Faith>>
Jesus People USA sell rural site of long-running Cornerstone Festival
Chicago's Jesus People USA (JPUSA) has sold several hundred acres in Bushnell, IL where for more than two decades it hosted its annual countercultural music and ministry gathering. A press release on the sale and the commune's new plans from the Evangelical Covenant Church>>
Dallas Willard, author of The Divine Conspiracy, dead at 77
Christian thinker, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Southern California, and author of several influential books about spiritual discipline dies of cancer. For the story>>
Passing of Baptist historian H. Leon McBeth
Southern Baptist historian H. Leon McBeth was the author of several important histories of the Baptists: the story from the Associated Baptist Press >>
George Beverly Shea, Billy Graham's Long-Time Soloist Passes Away at 104
Here's a statement issued by Billy Graham on the BGEA's website >>, as well as a link to the Billy Graham Center Archives' memorial page. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has put up a video of the full memorial service>>
Hispanic Evangelicals Drawing Increased Attention:
Here's a commentary from the Huffington Post >> on the growing impact and awareness of Latino evangelicals as set forth in the current Time cover story >> (subscription content).
Evangelicals Trending Toward Stronger Attachments to Their Faith and Churches Over the Decades
Amid the growth within the United States' population of people with no religious affiliation, a study by a sociologist at the University of Nebraska claims American evangelicals have grown in their identification with their religious beliefs and churches at the same time as American Catholics are trending in the opposite direction. Study website >>
Evangelical Voters More Unified in Their Conservative Voting Patterns?
This article in Christianity Today about early analysis of the 2012 Presidential and local elections would seem to suggest that talk in recent years arguing evangelicals were moving toward the Democrats and political points leftward may not have been on-target. One caveat for thinking about the piece's observation that evangelicals have moved from a 50-50 split between Democratic and Republican presidential candidates since 1980: that race was something of an “evangelical political cage match ” pitting the candidacy of Southern Democrat—and avowedly born-again incumbent—Jimmy Carter, vs. the new darling of the emerging Religious Right, Ronald Reagan. Read the article on-line >>
New Survey Shows “Nones” on the Rise and Self-Identifying Protestants On the Decrease
A new study just released by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life states that those identifying as having “no religion ” now account for just under 20% of the population, and includes nearly 30% of those under 30 years of age. Meanwhile, fewer than half (48%) of the population now describe themselves as “Protestant. ” Study website >>
Link to 2012 Billy Graham Center Archival Research Lecture
The text for a recent presentation by Dr. Hans Krabbendam, the Assistant Director of the Roosevelt Study Center in Middleburg, the Netherlands on “The Lost Continent? The Discovery of Europe as a Mission Field by American Evangelicals, 1940-1980.”
Study: Public Perceptions of Size of Various American Religious Groups
According to a new study from Grey Matter Research & Consulting, the American Public believes that only 20% of the U.S. population is Protestant, and that even Protestants seriously underestimate the percentage of people in the country who are Protestant. Meanwhile, most other groups (except Catholics) greatly overestimate the size of their own faith community.
Read the press release >>
American Bible Society Releases Its “State of the Bible 2012” Report
The New York City-based American Bible Society (founded in 1816) has released its annual State of the Bible report. Among its findings: 85% of American households own a Bible, but 54% of those surveyed could not name the first five books of the Old Testament. Report website >>
ISAE's People of Faith Video Series Wins Awards
The International Christian Visual Media (ICVM) group has announced that the ISAE's 6-part documentary video series People of Faith was selected as the winner of two “Bronze Crown” awards in the categories of “Best Series” and “Best Documentary Over $50,000”. Website >>
Berger on Pew Lausanne Survey
March 1st, 2012
Eminent sociologist of religion Peter Berger provides an interesting analysis of a Pew survey of evangelical leaders at the 2010 Third Lausanne Congress of World Evangelization held in Cape Town in 2010.
Read article in The American Interest >>
Billy Graham Project Grant Announcement
December 6th, 2011
The Lilly Endowment has awarded the ISAE a two year grant to study the career and legacy of Billy Graham.