Five Major Trends for Amercian Churches…
There's an interesting article at the ChristianPost.com about research that identifies five emerging trends in U.S. churches.
Here are the five:
1. Our nation will see the emergence of the largest generational mission field in over a century.
2. The dominant attitude of this huge generation toward Christianity will be largely indifferent.
3. Senior adult ministries in churches will experience steep declines.
4. The large Boomer generation will become more receptive to the gospel.
5. Family will be a key value for both of the large generations.
The question is how do churches adjust to these trends? Should churches adjust? How should churches respond?
Here are some of my thoughts:
• Whatever the trends are, make sure the gospel is preached. Self-improvement messages are catchy and attractive, but the gospel is God's power for salvation.
• People reach people, methods and programs do not. Continually communicate the truth of every believers responsibility and privilege to reach out to others.
• Prayer. No matter the flow of the cultural current, prayer is the driving force that transcends culture. More prayer, more power.
• Focus on making disciples. It's our job description. It's easy to be distracted by more "flashy" programs and events because disciple-making is repetitive and lacks pizazz. But always remember: changed people change culture.
You can read the full article here.
Gospel-driven ministry
Some good thoughts on ministry/church practices...
Gospel 101 from Sojourn Community Church on Vimeo.
Know your role
I love John's response to his disciples over their concern that they are "losing" people to Jesus' ministry: "God in heaven appoints each person's work." (John 3:27)
John had a confidence in and a clear understanding of his God-appointed role in ministry: To prepare the way for Christ - "that is all." (v.28) Nothing more, nothing less.
In a highly-pressurized ministry culture that says do more, grow more, multiply more, expand more, etc., can pastors and ministry leaders every say "that is all"? I think one of the keys to ministry is to know your appointed role, find satisfaction in your role, and stop trying to become like someone else or their ministry.
There is a distinction between "that is all" and "it is finished". To be clear, the work of the Kingdom is never finished until Christ's return. When John said "that is all" he wasn't declaring mission accomplished; he was simply saying I know my role on the grander stage, and I won't try to overreach and play someone else's role.
In short, know your role.
Change
At GBCK we are walking through a lot of change in areas of leadership, systems, spiritual growth track, and even our service times. Last Summer there was something brewing inside of me that as a church we needed to change; that is, what got us to our current state wasn't going to get to where we needed to go.
Here are some things we're learning about change, especially from mistakes we made:
• In general, people do not like change. You will always have your "early adopters", but most people adopt change slowly.
• Communication is critical to change. Communicate early. Communicate often.
• Change takes time. People don't soak up change like a sponge; change seeps in.
• Get your leaders and influencers bought into the change early. Don't assume they "got it".
• Change is a process. Plan out the steps to change and then work the plan.
• Vision is the engine to change. Vision makes change a mission. Without vision change becomes a duty.
• Change takes a lot of leadership energy at the front-end.
• Change is good, change is hard.
Clear as Mud
You can never be too clear. Like a window can never be too clean, or water can never be too clear.
Clarity is something we're working hard on at GBCK. Here are some things we're learning, and re-learning, about clarity:
• It may be clear in your head (or in your staff meeting) but it takes a whole lot of work to make something clear to the rest of the congregation.
• Clarity can never be assumed. It's safer to assume things are still unclear, and then keep working at clarity.
• Pop quizzes: one way we want to determine clarity is short "quizzes" that will help determine if something that's being communicated is going in.
• Say it often, differently, and creatively.
• Clarity empowers others and frees them to act. Lack of clarity paralyzes.
• If the leadership is unclear then it's over; what you're trying to communicate will end at the leadership level and never go to the congregation.
• Use sounding boards to gauge clarity. One of my most important weekly meetings is our "Word" meeting where Dane and I go over Friday's and Sunday's sermons. We spend a lot of time clarifying big ideas. "If there's a haze in the pulpit, there's a fog in the pews."
Here are some of the things we're trying to clarify:
1. The vision of GBCK
2. Leadership roles and functions
3. The Gospel
Again, you can never be too clear.
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