6. Attendance will no longer drive engagement; engagement will drive attendance.
Currently, many churches try to get people to attend, hoping it drives engagement.
In the future, that will flip. The engaged will attend, in large measure because only the engaged will remain.
If you really think about this … engagement driving attendance is exactly what has fuelled the church at its best moments throughout history. It’s an exciting shift.
7. Simplified ministries will complement people’s lives, not compete with people’s lives.
For years, the assumption has been that the more a church grew, the more activity it would offer.
The challenge, of course, is that church can easily end up burning people out. In some cases, people end up with no life except church life. Some churches offer so many programs for families that families don’t even have a chance to be families.
The church at its best has always equipped people to live out their faith in the world. But you have to be in the world to influence the world.
Churches that focus their energies on the few things the church can uniquely do best will emerge as the most effective churches moving forward. Simplified churches will complement people’s witness, not compete with people’s witness.
8. Online church will supplement the journey but not become the journey.
There’s a big discussion right now around online church. I think in certain niches, online church might become the church for some who simply have no other access to church.
But there is something about human relationship that requires presence. Because the church at its fullest will always gather, online church will supplement the journey. I believe that online relationships are real relationships, but they are not the greatest relationships people can have.
Think of it like meeting someone online. You can have a fantastic relationship. But if you fall in love, you ultimately want to meet and spend your life together.
So it is with Jesus, people and the church.
9. Online church will become more of a front door than a back door.
There’s no question that today online church has become a back door for Christians who are done with attending church.
While online church is an amazing supplement for people who can’t get to a service, it’s still an off ramp for Christians whose commitment to faith is perhaps less than it might have been at an earlier point.
Within a few years, the dust will settle and a new role for online church and online ministry will emerge. Online church has the potential to become a massive front door for the curious, the unconvinced and those who want to know what Christianity is all about.
In the same way you purchase almost nothing without reading online reviews, or rarely visit a restaurant without checking it out online first, a church’s online presence will be a first home for people, which for many will lead to a personal connection with Christ and ultimately the gathered church.
