Justin over at BeDeviant.com recently posted an entry titled What the Needs of Young Adults Will Mean For Your Church. It came on the heels of an entry where he asked what young people look for in a church. Justin summarizes what young people want from a church in one word: community.
He expands on this a bit by providing the following “five quick predictions” on what the church will look like once today’s young people find themselves in church leadership positions:
- Home groups, cell groups, mid-sized gatherings will move to the forefront as the primary evangelistic tool for churches.
- Large group gatherings will still have a place in the local church, but they will be seen as “icing on the cake,” instead of the cake itself.
- Because of the shift towards smaller communities, pastors will take on bi-vocational roles for A.) budgetary reasons, B.) evangelistic reasons.
- Denominational seminaries will become a thing of the past. Most theological learning will move online or become highly contextualized and internalized by the local church itself.
- “Sinner’s prayer” evangelism (i.e. “linear” evangelism) will give way to a more messy form of discipleship that includes dips and valleys; doubts and discussion.
This tiny list of prophesies speaks volumes. I wonder how many churches understand the shift that’s taking place even as we speak. You don’t have to look hard to realize that there is a new generation of eager young Christians just chomping at the bit to get their shot.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the word “catalyst” lately, and what it means to be one. What I’m finding is that the more people talk about what the church will look like at some undefined point in the future, the more I want it to happen now.
I want the shift to happen.
I’m getting tired of just talking about it though. I want to take action. The shift is already happening, but I think we can find ways to give it a push. I have some ideas for specific actions I can take to become a catalyst for change.
What ideas do you have?
