Note 2.0

future church (2)

GUEST POST ~ For Leaders of Congregational Change

Posted by Reimagine Curator on July 1, 2023 at 11:51
I’ve been thinking!
 
I believe that we are living in times of amazing transition that are exhilarating and terrifying at the same time and that challenge us to be our very best selves.
 
In a meeting with a small group of pastors and theological academics, I said: "I'm convinced that in the next 10-30 years, the local congregation as we know it will, for all intents and purposes, cease to exist. Most of our efforts at revitalizing the church are about renewing systems and structures that serve a world that no longer exists. I'm not saying the body of Christ is going away. But where and how it mobilizes to serve, I believe, will be very different."
 
In a different conversation with a denominational executive, I asked, "If you could get your congregations to do just one thing - and that one thing would foster significant movement toward the transformation of the people of God and the communities they serve, what would that one thing be?” Her answer: I'd have 80% of the congregations I serve sell their building and figure out how to use the money to structure different kinds of ministries to the community in which they exist. The building both defines and profoundly limits change, because we think our building is where God is on mission and we are spending so much on keeping the building in repair.”
 
I've thought a lot about these two conversations. How will the body of Christ look in 10 to 30 years? I don't know. If I had to make some predictions based on my current perspective, I would say house churches, churches in the workplace functioning subversively, and the return of vibrant, small neighborhood churches. I think these neighborhood churches will be evaluated by two criteria. Do they regularly produced transformed people who can love God, neighbor, stranger, enemy and self? And do they serve the felt needs of the community in which they exist? In other words, do they add measurable value to the quality of the community, to the presence of the Shalom of God.
 
What interesting times we live in. God grant us wisdom for the living of these days.
 
Jim Herrington
 
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Guest Post ~ #Reconceive Future Church

Posted by Reimagine Curator on January 30, 2023 at 18:34

Guest Post ~ #Reconceive Future Church

The Future  Church
By Mike Glenn, Pastor of Brentwood Baptist in Brentwood Tennessee.
 
The age of the mega-church is over. 
 
We won't be building church campuses like we used to. 
 
Churches will be centered in neighborhoods and communities. They will be central to community life seven days a week. 
 
The rising generations won't financially support the construction of large facilities. Future facilities will be integrated into the neighborhood by providing everything from ESL classes to daycares for children and senior adults. 
 
More and more people will be brought into the church through weekday engagements than Sunday mornings. The ministry now comes before the message. When people see the church loving the community, they will want to know what motivates that love.
 
Because churches will be smaller, they will be run by co-vocational staff and volunteers. 
 
More and more, successful pastors will be those who can piece together full-time programs and ministries with a patchwork of "employees" with limited hours.  
 
More and more of the pastor's time will be spent training, assigning, and overseeing volunteer and part-time ministers. 
 
In some congregations, everyone in attendance during Sunday worship will have some kind of job in the church's ministry. What used to be forty-hour-per-week jobs will be broken up into ten four-hour-per-week or eight five-hour-a-week positions.
 
Leaders will train leaders. 
 
We'll finally get Ephesians 4 right. Instead of "Training God's people -- comma -- for the work of the ministry," we'll get back to "Training God's people for the work of ministry."  
 
Instead of visiting the hospital, pastors will be training those who go to the hospital. Instead of teaching small groups, pastors will train leaders of small groups. Effective leaders will multiply their ministry by developing leaders who will do the actual ministry.
 
While the rising generations give, they give very differently than the builders and boomers before them. 
 
If you need a well dug in Africa or school supplies for orphans in Moldova, you'll find that millennials, Gen X and Gen Z will give sacrificially and generously. 
 
But if you need to pay the light bill on your church building, well, not so much. Remember, every institution in our current culture is undergoing a crisis of trust. 
 
We no longer trust the government, the medical profession, the judicial system, our academic institutions, or our churches. 
 
Sexual and financial scandals have made everyone suspicious of the church's motives. Trust has to be earned every day. When it is, financial support will flow to whatever ministry is personally impacting the person or their family.
 
Trauma is the new reality. 
 
For years we've been discussing the breakdown of the nuclear family without fully understanding the long-term ramifications. 
 
Now, those ramifications are being lived out in front of us. Few people you know, especially young adults, are stepping into their futures with a solid base for their lives. 
 
People get married hoping their partner will fix them. Couples have children hoping the child will make their marriage complete. Most people are walking around with a giant hole in their heart waiting for someone to validate their existence. 
 
This means that when we're dealing with people, the church isn't dealing with a clean slate. There's a lifetime of pain to deal with before any healing and growth can begin.
 
This means that the gospel is needed now more than ever. 
 
The good news that we are loved and forgiven is amazing news in and of itself, but the invitation to live a life that we've always wanted -- a life of purpose, meaning, joy, and hope -- that's almost too good to believe. And a lot of people don't believe....and that's why we have to find a way to our best preaching. In a world this dark, we can't be shy with the light we have.
 
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