Quotation Marks

"A generic form of evangelicalism is emerging as the normative form of non-Catholic Christianity in the United States."
Mark Silk, director of the Public Values Program at Trinity College. The number of Americans identifying as "non-denominational Christian" has increased from less than 200,000 in 1990 to over 8 million today.
(Source: ARIS 2008)

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"We use props all the time for messages … If I knew it would cause this kind of problem, I certainly would have reconsidered."
John Putnam, Pastor of Pentecostals of Sheboygan County (Wis.), on being fined $109 for shooting an arrow as a sermon illustration.
(Source: Sheboygan Press)

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"You have to look at the mission; the mission is to make housing more affordable."
Paul Warriner, executive director of the Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Saginaw, Micigan, on the ministry's increase in demolishing old homes. The chapter is demolishing two houses a week and building or refurbishing eight a year.
(Source: The New York Times)

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"Discussing your values with your teenagers will help them to form their own. Remember, though, that trying to convince them of what's right and wrong may discourage them from being open."
from Talking to Your Teenager About Sex and Relationships, a pamphlet published by the British government.
(Source: The Times)

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"When reality gets ugly, fiction takes off."
Karen Ball, executive editor at B&H Publishing Group, on why Christian fiction sales are strong even as sales of Christian nonfiction have dropped.
(Source: The Tennessean)

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"Sometimes in reading the news, I get the impression that access to Holy Communion in the Church is like having bar privileges at the Elks' Club."
Charles J. Chaput, The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Denver, speaking to reporters at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
(Source: Archdiocese of Denver)

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"I'm more afraid of some of the people I'm locked out from than the person I'm locked in with."
David Pinckney, pastor of River of Grace Church in Chichester, New Hampshire, on getting death threats from neighbors after housing a convicted child killer in his home.
(Source: Union-Leader)