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"I don't see a third Great Awakening happening at the moment, " Thumma said.
NPR: Southern Baptists Expand North With Church Plants
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"Cell phones, e-mail, complex phone systems and the Internet all enhance the way megachurches work, " says Thumma, faculty associate at the Hartford Institute.
FORBES: Megachurches, Megabusinesses
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Thumma said it's a clear effort to avoid some of the stereotypes about Southerners, such as negative perceptions of their racial views or reputed "damn-us-all-to-hell" fundamentalism.
NPR: Southern Baptists Expand North With Church Plants
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No denomination is investing as much in New England church planting, though Hartford Seminary professor Scott Thumma notes that attendance isn't growing as fast as the number of churches.
NPR: Southern Baptists Expand North With Church Plants
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Thumma said Southern Baptists are drawing immigrants and new residents, but there's little proof they've reaching area lifers, including the large Roman Catholic population and increasing numbers of secularists.
NPR: Southern Baptists Expand North With Church Plants
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Thumma said the roughly 30, 500 members the denomination had in New England 2010 is a 20 percent increase from a decade ago, according to the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies.
NPR: Southern Baptists Expand North With Church Plants