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A tractor-trailer rig full of groceries and emergency supplies was more than the 40-member Lothair Church of Christ in Hazard, Ky., could fit in its building.

So church members — eager to help struggling neighbors in flood-stricken Appalachia — unloaded the truck Saturday morning at nearby East Perry Elementary School.

By midafternoon, the congregation had given away most of the roughly 300 food boxes provided by Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort Inc. in Nashville, Tenn., minister Larry Hendrix said.

The rapid distribution illustrates the extreme need after torrential rains that led to flash flooding claimed at least 37 lives in eastern Kentucky.

Bobby Ross Jr. reports.

ELGIN, lll. — Some flew thousands of miles to attend.

Others made 16-hour drives in church vans.

All came — from Churches of Christ in more than 20 states — to sing praises to God, play soccer and volleyball and enjoy fellowship with Spanish-speaking peers.

The recent three-day Reunión Juvenil Nacional — “national youth meeting” in English — drew about 750 young people and sponsors to a Chicago-area community center.

The Elgin Church of Christ, about 40 miles northwest of the Windy City, organized the long-planned Latino gathering. The event proceeded after two years of delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bobby Ross Jr. reports with photos by Audrey Jackson.

In his Insight column, Erik Tryggestad shares behind-the-scenes details about a meal with a fellow Christian during his Ukraine reporting trip.

Anyone following social research in the United States has seen the bleak forecast for religion: declining attendance and diminishing adherents.

Anyone following the recent work of Stan Granberg knows Churches of Christ are not immune from these alarming developments. Though congregational exceptions to these trends undoubtedly exist, they are outliers.

Conservative and liberal. Urban and rural. The average membership of congregations is aging and declining. Young people are leaving. Churches are closing.

Discouragement and resignation to our seeming fate seems inevitable. But there is another option.

Jeremie Beller reviews Granberg’s new book.