We have been given the Great Commission to make disciples, to share the gospel, and to build God's house. But significant numbers of American churches and Christians are not being obedient. For many reasons we remain still and silent. And none of those reasons is acceptable to God.

From a generational perspective, our research shows that churches are losing 70 percent of young adults ages 18 to 22. But our research also reveals good news. We heard from young adults who returned to church after several years' absence. Simply stated, one of the most receptive fields toward multiplication in a church is the young adult group who dropped out a few years earlier.

Churches that are intentional about reclaiming dechurched young adults are seeing significant responses in this group returning to church. Let's look at some of their approaches.

Wondering what you can do to make your existing church building more environmentally friendly? Here are 25 ideas you can use today.

Architect Steve Fridsma talks about the value of incorporating environmental design for churches.

Facility financing and operational maintenance are typically among the largest budget line items for churches, after staffing. In today's cost-cutting climate, churches are looking for ways to reduce expenses in this area. Building environmental features into church facilities may be one significant way to accomplish this.

Hold up there, Progress.

Change may be the wave of the future, but parishioners like the old-fashioned way when it comes to churches: Stained glass, pews, bells and organs still have their place in modern worship.

When they can afford it, congregations that are building new churches usually opt to move beloved fixtures from the previous building. And when they can't, they save what can be preserved and then let modern trends take over, said Paul Smedberg of C.D. Smith Construction in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Smedberg served as project manager on new facilities for Holy Family Catholic Community and St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran, while C.D. Smith has worked on numerous church projects over the years.

When I was a newly minted pastor's wife I was puzzled by what appeared to be an unexplainable correlation between long-time members' retirement from their jobs and their retirement from church involvement. Now that I am on the cusp of fitting into the "senior citizen" category, I have discovered at least one reason why retirees sometimes seem to diminish their ministry within the church: lack of accessibility to the sanctuary.

The distinction between secular and sacred space continues to blur as a small but growing number of churches meet in movie theaters and consider eschewing traditional church buildings altogether.

For eight years, we lived next door to a family whose youngest daughter had significant physical disabilities. Alison's parents worked tirelessly to raise awareness in our town and schools to the mobility challenges she would face the rest of her life. For Alison to integrate fully into the community, she would need to be able to get around town.