01: D.C. Minyan in Washington is unique among Orthodox Jewish synagogues in its dedication to lay leadership and equal roles for men and women, while maintaining many Orthodox traditions.
The congregation was formed seven months ago to pioneer a lay-led synagogue where women could fully participate. Like most Orthodox synagogues, men and women sit apart at D.C. Minyan, but they do so in groups side-by side, in full view of each other, and the women’s side participates fully.
The group now draws about 75 people to its Sabbath services.
(Source: Washington Post, Sept. 15)
02: Festival con Dios is part Christian music festival and part evangelistic rally and is said to be today’s cutting edge evangelism strategy.
The festival has toured 33 cities, attracting over 100,000 with its use of Christian contemporary music, extreme stunts, and preaching. Now the Festival con Dios founder is teaming up with the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association to expand its outreach. The evangelistic association, which will supply evangelists to the festivals, had already switched to a musical festival format in 1999 and has attracted 10 times the crowds of previous Palau crusades.
A recent festival in Redmond, Wash., attracted 150,000 in August. This blend of entertainment and evangelism will likely “set a framework on how to go about the work of [evangelism] for the next couple of decades,” says David Olmsted of the Billy Graham Center’s Institute of Strategic Evangelism.
(Source: Christianity Today, Oct. 7)