The Christian Century

Here are the Century magazine articles that were most popular online this year. Thanks for reading.

1. "You can't make this up: The limits of self-made religion," by Lillian Daniel: "If we got all these spiritual-not-religious people together, they might find out that most of America agrees with them. But getting them together would be way too much like church."


2. "Normal Mormons: A 'model minority' blends in," by Jana Riess: "Mormons are in the familiar situation of being on the defensive theologically and politically. But they are also in terra incognita: they are viewed as leading the way in preserving family values."


3. "Loose connections: What's happening to church membership?" by Amy Frykholm: "Most churches still approach membership the way they did in the 1960s. But if new modes of affiliation are appearing, churches will need new ways of thinking about membership."


4. "Voice lessons: Learning to preach," by William H. Willimon: "King George was terrified to be in front of a microphone. That's nothing compared to going head to head with the average North American congregation with nothing but three points and a poem."


5. "Why do men stay away?" by Thomas G. Long: "Men and the church are often at odds. Sadly, many of the reasons researchers give for this are as insulting as they are misguided."


6. "Same-sex complementarity: A theology of marriage," by Eugene F. Rogers Jr.: "Marriage is a means by which God draws a couple close by turning their limits to their good. And no conservative I know has seriously argued that same-sex couples need sanctification any less than opposite-sex couples do."


7. "New harmonies: Music and identity at four congregations," by Steve Thorngate: "Some post-worship-war churches revel in musical eclecticism. Others have a singular approach and sound, rendering the terms traditional and contemporary irrelevant."


8. "And Jesus sang," by Barbara Brown Taylor: "After Jesus shared his last supper with his friends, they sang a hymn together. There is every reason to believe it was the Hallel, Psalms 113 through 118. How have I missed this before?"


9. "Why sermons bore us," by Thomas G. Long: "Much of the snickering about boring sermons comes not because we expect so little but because we have hoped for so much. A hunger persists for a word from the Lord—without which we are left to our boring selves."


10. "Advice and consent: Monogamy in the age of Dan Savage," by Benjamin J. Dueholm: "While Dan Savage, an atheist, wouldn't put it this way, the popular sex columnist exegetes rules about relationships with the precision of a rabbi or canon lawyer. Pastors should pay attention."