Skip to main content

Thoughts From Thom Shultz

Dear Friends,

In light of current cultural trends, have you wondered what the church in America will look like in the future? This article by Thom Shultz, entitled “Five Ways the Church Will Change” (written a few years back) was, and still is by all estimations, very accurate. In fact, at the end of his article I include very recent (2022) findings done by Barna Research which come to the same conclusion. 


If you love Jesus and His church (and I’m not talking so much about the trappings that go along with it, like it’s historic buildings, cumbersome organizational structures, etc.) and you wonder how to reach out wisely to unbelievers so that they may come to know him, Shultz offers wise advice by giving us five ways the church will change and needs to change. Better yet, five ways the church needs to return to the way it originally functioned in its earliest days. A return to what we could call a more biblical model that often got overshadowed or lost in the heyday of the church’s “success.” Enjoy.

Five Ways the Church Will Change
Is the American church fading away? Will the losses in membership and attendance lead to a marginalized church presence such as that in present-day Europe? What will the American church look like in ten years? Church leaders, denominational executives, and religion researchers gathered in Colorado recently to examine the church’s health and prognosis... After evaluating current trends, Summit members predicted a number of likely scenarios for the American church in the next ten years: 



1. Emphasis on relationships. Whereas the church and congregational worship today are largely spectator-oriented, the new coming trend will prioritize spiritual growth through personal relationships.

2. Return to Jesus. The current church is preoccupied with the “ABCs”—attendance, buildings and cash. A Summit pastor said, “We need to deal with the idols of the church.” The coming church will highly focus its mission, goals, measurements, and message on Jesus.

3. Community focus. The church of tomorrow will be much more engaged in addressing the needs in the community. The church will be known more for its members’ relational acts of compassion outside of church walls, taking ministry out rather than waiting for outsiders to come in and sit.

4. Conversationally oriented. The current church relies primarily on one-way messaging—from the preacher/teacher at the microphone. The new church will rely more on person-to-person conversation, sharing messages of God’s love with one another. Churches will begin to trade pews for conversation tables.


5. Rise of the laity. Shrinking resources will trigger fewer paid ministry positions—and more reliance on unpaid ministry work. The concept of “the priesthood of all believers” will re-emerge.

I also add this note I received from Ron Hamilton, “I had the opportunity to attend the 'Jesus Now Summit' in Dallas, Texas in December 2022. This summit was hosted by the Barna Group...[who] shared some intriguing research data. The results of the study showed some encouraging news that there is a rising spiritual openness in our nation... A survey of 2,000 U.S. adults, three out of four (74%) say they want to grow spiritually. Additionally, the same proportion (77%) say they believe in a higher power. Nearly half (44%) say they are more open to God today than before the pandemic. Though the trajectory of Christian commitment in the U.S. has been on a downward slide over the last four decades and is in need of urgent interventions, this new data gives Christian leaders cause for hope. Though religious affiliation and church attendance continue to decline, spiritual openness and curiosity are on the rise. The challenge facing the Church and parachurch ministries is whether they are ready and able to meet the spiritually open—where they are, as they are.”



I will leave it at that. A reason for hope. A reason for much prayer. A call for God’s people to go back to their roots and take a look at the book of Acts, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, venture out to embrace new (actually, very old!) ways of doing things.

Keeping Our Eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our Faith, Pastor Jeff

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Thoughts from Charles Spurgeon on Chronic Pain

Dear Friends, Life is not always easy. Things come our way that inflict pain and wound the heart. Sickness can steal away our energy and strength for a time – though it is more difficult when it is chronic. My father was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 43 and struggled with its effects until he passed away at 85 – being told close to that time that his physical body was like that of a 110-year-old. Being in constant pain earned him the occasional nick-name, “Grumpy Grampy.” I could understand why. Pain is no fun. I’m not the easiest to be around when I’m in constant pain either. And as John Owen once pointed out, “It is not the intensity of the trial, but its longevity, that eats away at our resolve.” Therefore, if you are struggling in this area (or know someone who is), today I offer you some helpful words from Charles Spurgeon. Yet, it helps to point out he was not giving advice as one who did not himself struggle. He battled much of his life with depressi...

Thoughts From Charles Spurgeon

Dear Friends, Sometimes spiritual truths are best understood using illustrations that include things familiar to us in our everyday lives. To come up with some of his best illustrations Charles Spurgeon would spend considerable blocks of time walking down the street, through gardens, into the fields and woods, and visiting those places where his parishioners worked and lived. It is surely one of the reasons he has been called, “The Prince of Preachers." One of the best preachers in all church history. He gives some credit for learning to do this to the Puritan Thomas Manton. Speaking of Manton’s writings (which consist of 22 volumes, mostly sermons), Spurgeon says, “There is not one poor discourse in the whole collection; he is evenly good, constantly excellent.” Along with Richard Sibbes (another Puritan) Manton was one of Spurgeon’s ‘mentors’ as a preacher. His first book of illustrations, entitled “Feathers for Arrows” was phenomenally popular, so 13 years later he wrote...

Thoughts On Anxiety

Dear Friends, Recent studies have shown that 32.3% of the U.S. population (110,618,560 people) report dealing with anxiety/stress/worry symptoms (*2023 Household Pulse Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau). That’s down about 10% from November of 2020 when 42.6% of the population (147,260,958 people) reported symptoms. Yet it’s still very high – with the highest percentage of those being between 18-24 years old. Therefore, today, I wanted to pass along some “thoughts” (20 to be exact) that speak to the issues of anxiety/stress/worry. If you happen to be one of the people who wrestles with any of these, I hope you find this selection helpful. Enjoy. “Anxiety is contemplating your future apart from seeing the hand of a loving and sovereign God directing and guiding it.” “Though there is much to be puzzled about, there is nothing to be worried about.” C. S. Lewis “We fly off the handle because we flew away from anything having a handle to hold on to a long time ago.” Gar...