A Future Direction for the Church.

We are a few days away from our vision Sunday and as a community we are shifting to a slower pace, where we intentionally do a few things really well. The quote has been “Do Less, Better!” which doesn’t really translate to paper. Our goal has been with limited bandwidth for people, let’s make a concerted effort to focus on a couple of things and do them REALLY well.

We had a chance to hear from Carey Nieuwhof who shared a little on the current stare of the church and the moves he is seeing unfolding globally. Some of these give really good shape and language to what we have seen in a local context.

Carey noted that we have peaked with an attractional church model. That is a professional service, with an awesome band and a really crisp service has probably had its moment. There has been a shift culturally that these models don’t quite resonate with the next generation.

So here are 5 shifts that we have seen in the church;

1) The foyer has moved from in-church to online.

Most people now have their first encounter with church online. Make sure your digital presence is up-to-date including altering Google Maps so you are open! Most people visit you online before they visit you in person!

2) People long for Transcendent than immanent.

People come to church to find God, but often just leave with an encounter with people. Creating a space that moves towards an ENCOUNTER with the divine.

3) People are looking for an alternative to culture not an echo.

People want space, peace, a release from the hectic pace of life so don’t set yourself up to echo culture but to be an alternative.

4) Passion beats polish.

Is it possible for passionate authenticity to be a measure of church not a polished service.

So then Carey highlighted some places that the church can move towards as a response to these cultural shifts.

Move 1.

Elevate community and connection over content. In most current cultural contexts the experience of community and connection is really scare, so if we look to set ourselves up to be an alternative to culture we need to have deep community and deep connection.

Move 2.

Our churches should have both elements of the immanence and the transcendence of God. If we focus solely on a head experience of God we can end up with Spiritual Egotism. If we emphasise the heart experience of God we can land too far in spiritual immaturity. Together though it is possible to have an integrated faith acknowledging both a transcendent God and a deeply present God.

Move 3.

Create space and moments in your in-person experience. Could we bring back silence, confession and reflections. The chance to cultivate a spacious service is rare in community but should be regular in your service. Don’t just create downloadable experience, but craft moments that leave a person wanting to be in the room.

Move 4.

Create a healthy non-toxic culture. Leaders have to be healthy if you want your service to be healthy. Our goal is to cultivate spiritually healthy leadership culture with Emotionally and Spiritually healthy people.

Move 5.

Be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. You don’t engineer a revival, but you should also be strategic. A deep sensitivity to the Holy Spirit in critical. Our goal isn’t to revive some glory day from yesteryear but to learn from the past and live in the present.