Trends I Am Seeing
Few things both humor and disquiet me like an individual who thinks they have the right to speak for the whole church, or even know what is going on. When I hear it, in my mind I think: “Yes, so you are speaking for 20-60 million Christians?” Or: “How many congregations have you visited with in the last year? 5? 10?”
All of that said I want to share some purely observational insights from my personal experience interacting with over 1,500 congregations and their ministers:
1 - Our churches are becoming YOUNGER: It was, I believe 1972 when the lead story in the Gospel Advocate was “The Graying of the American Church.” It did seem for years that the church was getting older and there are plenty of congregations that may be, but I am almost always shocked when I visit rural churches at how many children and young families I see. It is more often than not that the church is full of babies and children. This is a very encouraging trend for the future. A healthy church will not be all old or all young but a mixture of people at all ages.
2 - Our churches are becoming more racially diverse: Growing up in the 70’s it was not rare to see an African American person in a predominately Caucasian church. So, in most of our churches, the race question had been fought and settled. Fast-forward to today and in most of our medium to large cities, you will find churches with a moderate to high racial diversity. It is nothing rare to find many congregations who have historically been white to have black men in their leadership. There is nothing shocking here and nothing should be (Isaiah 2:2)! But as our country is ablaze in racial tension, MOST of our churches are not playing along! It is both refreshing and a reason to rejoice and be thankful for those who stood for right in the 60’s when this WAS an issue. On the other side of the aisle, there are still many African American congregations that wish to remain that way. While I completely understand that I find myself wondering if that statement were reversed would we be comfortable with it?
3 - Our leaders are humble and generous: Yes, there are some difficult leaders out there and a number of our congregations seem to be tormented with a single particular Diotrephes (see 3 John 1:9). But, while these bad leaders stand out, the overwhelming majority of our elders are very humble, very gentle, and very generous. 2020 was especially challenging for leaders in congregations, but throughout our talks with elders, we saw a shepherding spirit that showed through. While NO decision ever seemed to be the RIGHT decision for all, they led with compassion and as much wisdom as they could beg God for. I believe that is one reason that while many mainline denominational churches are REALLY floundering right now, many of our congregations are breaking forward!
4 - Our leaders are becoming more optimistic and less restrictive and controlling: Again, nothing scientific here and I’m not speaking for the whole church but it certainly feels like there is much more optimism than pessimism in the churches I am seeing. Churches are dreaming of what can be. Leaders are looking to move forward and aggressive to that end.
5 - Evangelism is on the upswing: Over the last 15 years of The Scoop Blog (our posting of churches looking for ministers), there have been three, count ‘em 3, churches who posted looking for a Personal Work or Minister of Evangelism. The good news is all three of those have come in the last 15 months. More and more churches who post are describing the new man that they are looking for as evangelistic, or in the community, or able to conduct one-on-one Bible studies. Even the relatively new “Connections Minister” role is denoting the desire to get the church back in the business of teaching lost people. This is all exciting and refreshing.
6 - More liberal churches are shrinking: I’ll state it clearly when a church says they have “restudied” instrumental music or women’s roles in the church and then announce they are changing what they have practiced for decades, they say they are making their decisions based on wanting to reach more people, but the decisions they are making are having the exact opposite effect. NOTE THIS: I have studied this extensively and have yet to find EVEN ONE church that experienced ANY significant new growth as a result of becoming more progressive on these and similar matters. They simply are not reaching more (people don’t come to church because of the music and if they did they’d find better music than yours), and they are running off people who will not be a part of IM churches or churches that go askew on the matter of leadership in worship.
7 - Churches who are traditionalists are shrinking, too: Churches that resist change seem to be on a rapid decline. That old saying “We’ve never done it that way before” is the reeks of decline and death. A church rooted in anti-change is in its essence no different than a church bent on change. Neither are grounded in what Schafer called “true truth.” They have both given way to the cultural “true for me” mentality. In these churches, you have a “truth and” mentality. They will admit that ties are not an essential, that there is no standard order of worship, that no translation is perfect, all the while REQUIRING those leading to wear a tie, the worship be in a certain rut-centered order, and only their approved translations be used. Change resistance is resulting in a faster decline than ever before. Thom Rainer said it well: “Cultural Christianity, however, is all but gone. So will be the churches who hold to non-essential traditions of the past.”
8 - Churches are taking longer to find ministers: I am not ready to say yet that there is a preacher shortage. Perhaps churches are just more cautious or perhaps the isolation from Covid has given leaders a perception they can and should/must take their time. Or maybe it is preachers who are slower to move, but while houses are NOT staying on the market longer, preaching roles are.
9 - More preachers seem to be exiting preaching than before: Whether it is fatigue from the past 18 months, fear that churches are less stable than before, or that we have developed a soft generation of preachers, there does seem to be a shift going on. I dare not be an alarmist but of all of the trends mentioned above, this one concerns me the most. We must teach our guys GOING in that this is work, it is hard work, it requires sacrifice, and commitment, and a willingness to “take” more than you can “give back.” We have to be sure they understand that there will be people who will be mean to them. That there will be elders who will not jump at every new suggestion you give. That there will be those who will actively oppose your efforts. That there will be people who do not like you for no decreeable reason. That, like it or not, you have to have really REALLY thick skin to be effective in the work of the Lord. The “abuse” preachers take is NOT MORE than before. So, it must be on our side and we must toughen up for this exciting adventure with God!