What Will the Future of the Church Look Like?
Takeaways from Exponential's "Future Church Initiative"
I am taking a short break from writing about The Opportunity Funnel to talk about the future of the church.
Why? Well, I had the honor of presenting at The Future Church Initiative, convened by Exponential in Nashville, and it has me thinking even more than usual about the church and the future. Some of my readers are business leaders, but I imagine you will find something in this of interest. If not, check your inbox next week and skip this one.
The Future Church initiative featured 14 different projects that Todd Wilson, Exponential President, and CEO, says "...have at least one element [with] the potential to be a shaping factor in the future expressions of church that will be vital to healthy reproduction." So, these are not just trendy topics and wild ideas, they are church strategies that look to help the church multiply. As you may know, I have a keen interest in such things, so here's my take on what I saw there from the other presenters (a sort of "behind-the-scenes" look at the future of the church.)
You’ll also find a “TOUGH QUESTION” about each of these Future Chruch Initiatives that I hope you’ll discuss with me in the comments.
Ok let’s dive in… because at this event I gleaned that “the future of the church is disciple-making, diverse, digital, multivocational, micro, and justice.”
The future of the church is disciple-making
It seemed everyone presenting talked about disciple-making in one way, shape, or form. As one who believes most of the church has for too long neglected our discipleship responsibilities, this was super-encouraging to me. Doug Paul of the Disciple-Making Lab spoke on how they are helping churches create a unique and customized discipleship model which reflects each church's specific approach and DNA. They believe they can start to help most any church build something that is a catalyst for a 5th generation discipleship movement.
If the Future Church Initiative is any sign of what's coming, I think we'll hear a lot more about discipleship, and that's a very good thing.
TOUGH QUESTION: are church people really ready for these disciple-making expectations, after we’ve “discipled them” primarily through “pulpit discipleship” with 90-99% of our efforts in the last 3 generations?
The future of the church is diverse
Five presenters were chosen as "finalists" to receive a lot more funding than the rest of us. Two were white males, but the other three were women and a person of color. I think this was itself a sign that we want a more diverse set of people leading us in the future. Carrie Williams was one of those three. She leads The Truth Republic, an aggregator of tools that women can use to seize their fullest potential for the sake of the Gospel, their organization, and their circles of influence. These types of ministries will prepare us for the future that is coming because God seems to be in it.
Also in those top five were my friend Myron Pierce and Hannah Gronowski, both of whom I'll talk about below. However, I noticed that the teams and participants of almost all of the ministries were often more diverse and younger than what we're used to in the church. I was also one of the oldest presenters, if not the oldest.
If the Future Church Initiative is any sign of what's coming, I think we'll be more diverse, and that continued evolution of the church can't come soon enough for me.
TOUGH QUESTION: will church leaders holding on to their last decade of power backlash against this change, exhibiting suspicion of leaders younger or of darker skin than them? With they only embrace tokenism without platforming diverse voices of influence?
The future of the church is digital
Some exasperated by their pivot to online worship because of Covid are hoping that the past of the church is digital, not the future. However, many are seizing the day to be intentional online in innovative ways. Stephanie Leathe from Altar Live presented their online platform as such a tool, helping people move from just streaming one-way content to hosting interactive spaces to engage in community and transformative relationships.
Going even deeper, Matt Souza from GodSquad Church and Mark Lutz from Lux Digital Church both shared about reaching the gaming community. These ministries believe that the 3 billion gamers worldwide spending a combined total of 1.56 trillion hours a year at home playing might only be reached through their digital lives. These are not just pipe dreams where someone gets to "play games" for their job. They are building relationships and making disciples and using virtual bridges to change the actual physical lives of people. GodSquad Church is organized like a well-run physical church plant, already with staffing to lead into the future: 5 part-time, 2 full-time, and 2 volunteer staff.
If the Future Church Initiative features what is coming next in the church, then I think it will be more digital, not less.
TOUGH QUESTION: before Covid most leaders looked down their nose at digital ministry options, but then in a matter of days most every church in the world shifted to online worship services, where the leader’s sermon was central. As we overcome Covid, will those leaders return to being critical of primarily digital ministries, and thus reveal an inescapable hypocrisy?
The future of the church is multivocational
Not quite a majority, but close to half of those who presented have another stream of income other than their ministry or church network. Some (like myself) are entirely volunteer leaders, receiving no income from their ministry or church network. But a good number of others shared at some point that they were part-time or had some other "day job." What they shared was that not only was this a source of personal income to help support their ministry, but that those roles were also a place for building trusted relationships in their local community which become a bridge to minister and improve their community. I thought I’d be the only multivocational leader of this bunch, but I was definately not alone. If multivocational leaders are the vanguard of the most innovative changes in the church, a day is coming when this is more of the norm than the exception.
If the Future Church Initiative is a foretaste of what's coming, then more of us will be multivocational to enable more non-ordained people or those seeking alternative ministry sustainability getting into the game to launch the mission forward faster.
TOUGH QUESTION: For ages the “bi-vocational” pastor has been treated as a second-class ministry citizen, only reserved for churches that couldn’t support themselves. Will the broader church start to understand the great upsides of such ministries, where someone is called to multiple vocations at the same time, and embrace these sisters and brothers fully into the ministry fold?
The future of the church is micro
One of the pronounced trends of this window into the future church was the number of ministries that were using smaller spaces for their front-end discipleship and even their overall model. It seemed everyone was also using some form of cohorts for training, rather than large groups and events. A good number of the ministries were completely organized around microchurches or house churches, with anything else they did beyond them supporting those smaller spaces in their model.
This included the KC Underground, where Rob Wegner shared their vision for "a missionary on every street and a microchurch in every network of relationships that might change an entire city, with all its diversity." Rob recently came out with the book that is influencing a lot of this movement, called Starfish and the Spiring: Unleashing the Leadership Potential of Churches and Organizations.
These ministries featured also included The Syndicate from Boise, Idaho, a unique ministry led by the likes of Robert Frazier and Dusty Benne which has five unique micro-church collectives that have banded together to create more disciple-making networks and micro-church planting congregations. I have a great deal of affinity for the way they are doing their work transdenominationally there. We also heard from the "Church Project." Jason Shepperd, who leads this network of 50 decentralized house churches. He shared that their Sunday gathering functions as a "supportive, not central" part of their network, and all functions of pastoral leadership and community occur within the House Churches, led by non-vocational pastors. Another ministry I'll talk more about below I should make honorable mention of here is OCNWTR led by my friend and fellow Wesleyan, Ryan Delamater. While their ministry fits into multiple categories, it is fundamentally a micro-based ministry meeting in coffee shops for their US-based work.
Finally, my own reason for being chosen among many nominated applicants to present there was because of our One Multichurch Network. We are a network of fresh expressions, discovery Bible studies, microchurches, and house churches with a self-directed 90-minute online training we offer for free. Our network is also launching MICRO, a free online training event featuring small, simple, safe places to make disciples. Our aim is to equip people with simple steps to start a MICRO that fits their friends and is rewarding for the leader. We asked people to email StartAMicro@gmail.com so they could be invited into the self-directed training and the training event in the future. You can do that too now. Shoot us a message and you'll get an automated invite.
If the Future Church Initiative is a preview of what to anticipate, then the future will be small, simple, and safe; a.k.a.: micro.
TOUGH QUESTION: the church started out meeting house to house 2,000 years ago, but it didn’t take too many centuries for brick and mortar “churches” with a stage/chancel to become symbolic of the “church.” Is the church now ready to have their extra-biblical and non-early church norms challenged by the micro movement that eschews such norms? Will the micro movement still make space in their ecclesiology for the old wineskins, rather than seeking to burst them with new wine? (Matthew 9:17)
The future of the church is justice
The only trend more pronounced than micro at this event was the move to feature justice issues as central to the ministry impact. This might have been articulated best by Generation Distinct, led by Hannah Gronowski Barnett, author of the book by the same name. This ministry works with next-generation leaders (18-28-year-olds) to help them "discover the wrong they were born to make right, leading them to experience who Jesus really is." This is a great way to communicate their mission, and unleash young people to change the world. In the journey, they learn how the church can help them right these wrongs.
Myron Pierce, (author of Side Hustle Pastor) talked of how he seeks to see diverse, hope-filled churches launch in his community of Omaha and beyond. Critical to this effort is Shift, an entrepreneurial incubator designed to impact the inner-city by modeling and teaching people to gain an entrepreneurial mindset and start businesses. Myron's amazing personal testimony communicates a redemptive justice that results in a hope-filled footprint in the lives of the underdogs of his world. In addition, Joel Repic shared about the Greenhouse Network where he noted that it really comes down to working in "disinvested communities that feel cursed and left behind."
The work of OCNWTR (pronounced "oceanwater") might have previewed the most innovative model at the event. Ryan Delamater shared how their coffee-shop ministry launches out people from California on trips to other coastal countries where they do some surfing, then install a water-desalination and purification system in that country that subsequently helps start a new church. One of the best lines of the conference was when he summarized their work as "saltwater, clean water, and living water." He shared how water is a 1 billion person problem and the great commission is a 6 billion person problem, and OCNWTR works to combine the two into one innovative solution. Jason Shepherd had to follow Ryan’s mind-bending talk with low key vibes, and so he was compelled to begin his own presentation by saying, “Okay, now I have to follow ‘Dr. Water from MIT,’ so I’m just gonna read my stuff now.”
If the Future Church Initiative is a preview of what’s next, then we won’t consider matters of justice an “add on” or optional ministry, but we will make it central to not just mobilizing the next generation, but to all we do as the kingdom of God.
TOUGH QUESTION: Are church leaders ready to stop interrogating anyone who values justice as a ministry pillar, suspiciously wondering if their motives are coming from some source other than the Bible? Will they begin to realize their own limitations in exegesis and application of all Jesus and the Prophets taught us, instead of holding quasi-inquisitions of those who are in Hannah’s words, "discovering the wrong they were born to make right, leading them to experience who Jesus really is”?
This is what I learned watching these innovative leaders share about what God is up to. If their example is a forecast of the future, then we will be talking a lot more about making disciples, diverse ministry, digital engagement, multivocational leaders, microchurch models, and restorative justice. What do you think about what I saw there, and what might be missing you hope to see more of? Offer your thoughts by clicking here:
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Excellent synopsis David. I liked the tough questions, especially this one, "Are church leaders ready to stop interrogating anyone who values justice as a ministry pillar, suspiciously wondering if their motives are coming from some source other than the Bible? Will they begin to realize their own limitations in exegesis and application of all Jesus and the Prophets taught us, instead of holding quasi-iquisitions of those who are in Hannah’s words, "discovering the wrong they were born to make right, leading them to experience who Jesus really is”?"
Re: multivocational--If I were in charge of an undergraduate ministry prep program at a college/uni, I would partner with a community college and/or vocation training entity. First two years would consist of learning a skilled trade (electrical, plumbing, HVAC, construction, cutting hair, doing nails, etc) with some Bible courses online or in the evenings/weekends. Make it a five year program if necessary. I'd rather our pastors finish an undergrad degree with zero debt, the ability to hit a community in a trade, and work/launch/volunteer/cut teeth in a church. They could become tent makers domestically with street cred inside and outside the church.