By Carey Nieuwhof
It’s not all gloom and doom. I’m an optimist.
You can always find the opportunity in every obstacle.
And yet, I get it. It’s easy to get discouraged about the future of the church.
While the world seems to be falling apart, so does the church.
Attendance in many places is shrinking, not growing. Even committed Christians are attending less often (here’s why). And young leaders aren’t exactly flocking into ministry.
And often we shoot ourselves in the foot, with everything from Pharisee-like self-righteousness to downright stupid things Christians do (here are 5).
There are some characteristics that will be true of all churches that grow in the future. The more closely you align with principles like these, the more likely it is you’ll reach more people.
I won’t include things like prayer and Scripture in the list because I hope they’re foundational. The five listed below are, well, less obvious.
As you think about the future and how you need to change as a church, here are five characteristics of opportunities you have that might really help you grow.
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The Unstuck Group
By Ryan Stigile
If your team lacks discipline, it’s only a matter of time before you get pulled off course.
If you’re a church leader, you likely have a vision for your ministry in 2020.
There’s something you passionately feel your team needs to accomplish—maybe you’d like to better minister to families. Maybe you’re hoping to start new small groups. You might even be considering the launch of a new campus.
Whatever that vision may be, I hope you’ll accomplish it. But I’m concerned that many church leaders will end the year disappointed.
On October 27, 2019, Skyler Phelps, Board Chair of Sheffield Place, was recognized by Blue KC and KCFX/Chiefs Radio Network as the Here For Good Hero for the Chiefs home game against the Green Bay Packers.
Sheffield Place opened its doors in February 1991 as a community response to the growing population of homeless mothers and their children in the Kansas City area. To date, Sheffield Place has assisted more than 1,200 families in making the difficult journey from homelessness to self-sufficiency. Empowering the families to heal from the severe, chronic and continuous trauma they have experienced is the first step in the process of self-sufficiency.
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Mill Creek Church Photography - located in Shawnee, Kansas, has completed construction for the renovation of most of the existing lobby space where the buildings connect. The renovation also included new staff office spaces and a new student ministry venue. “This new space will provide relevant ministry tools for children, students and staff.” commented Brian Rathsam, the Project Architect. Pearce Construction served as the general contractor.
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Lifesong Church opened its doors in 2006, first meeting in the Blackstone Valley Cinema de Lux, located in Millbury, Mass. As it grew, church leaders were looking to establish a more permanent location and presence in their community and reached out to architectural firm Mantel Teter in Kansas City, Mo., to help them transition to a permanent space.
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The Pantone Color Institute recently announced its 2019 Color of the Year, with Living Coral taking the honor.
“It is a guide that forecasts the popular colors in design,” says Amy Wax, an international color consultant. “The Color of the Year can also serve as inspiration to see what colors would be great to tie into décor and focal pieces of a church.”
Numerous factors are considered when selecting the Color of the Year. The goal is to capture “what’s in the year” and offer insights on how prevalent colors are shifting.
“We travel globally and research extensively as we pick up cues that emerge in seemingly disparate industries that can signal a direction for a given color family,” Pantone explains on its website. “As we cull through this information and find commonalities in color, we also give a lot of thought to how people select paint colors and which colors are most applicable for their needs while remaining mindful of the color trends of years past.”
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