Here are The Next Step Community’s most read blogs this year. Thanks to all of the 13,569 visitors who helped us log over 27,000 views since we launched in March of 2020.
Honorable Mention
Although it was a podcast, “On That Morning” with guest Kip Fox would have been in the top 5 for blog views if it had been a blog. That second episode of Season 1 of the Next Step Podcast was part of our first ever hymn journal: When from Death I’m Free.
#10
The very first post by Naomi Rossow starts off our Top Ten of 2020. Forced by Covid to live off campus and away from her friends, Naomi looks at her relationship with God through the lens of trying to stay connected with a special someone.
#9
As part of Ponder Anew: A Hymn Journal of Trust and Confidence, illustrator Ann Gillaspie shared some of her own personal thoughts, and art, with our online community. The free downloads made this a popular post!
#8
When Mr. Rogers shared his pool with Officer Clemens, he confronted the racial tension of his day head on. This blog uses that foot washing scene to think through our contemporary tensions and our relationship to Jesus.
#7
Katie Helmreich always shares helpful insights about following Jesus as a family. This look at her family devotions gives us encouragement, hope, and some methodology for our own family faith experiments.
#6
Change is always challenging. Covid-19 on top of all kinds of other changes led Naomi Rossow into some pretty dark times. Her post explores that experience of God’s absence in order to point us to the light of God’s persistent presence.
#5
Remember when online worship was something new and different? Valerie Matyas shared her longing to return to in-person worship along with some of what her family did to make their home a sacred space for worship.
#4
Pat Maier, one of the Cofounders of Visual Faith™ Ministry, shared her visual prayer space as a way of focusing hearts and minds during Covid-19. Pat also shared a little about how to use this resource in your own prayer life.
#3
Visual Faith™ Ministry became a key partner of The Next Step Community in 2020. This article about the theology and practice of “hymn journaling” shaped three Next Step publications this year. It also got the third most views on our webpage.
#2
Covid-19 dramatically changed how we experience worship together. Our second most read blog was a note of encouragement to pastors and other professionals who had the difficult job of reinventing their weekly routine in the middle of a pandemic.
#1
Finally, the article that got the most views on The Next Step Community blog in 2020 was authored by Justin Rossow, founder of Next Step Press. “Decision Fatigue” seemed to set in somewhere right after Easter. It never really went away. But 1,840 times people turned to this blog for insight, encouragement and hope.
Thanks to all of our wonderful authors and to all of you who helped make The Next Step Community a reality in 2020! If you would like to be part of our Next Step Community, please sign up here. And Happy New Year!