3 REASONS COOL CHURCH ISN’T ENOUGH
Decades ago as cool church started to take root among very large, rapidly growing churches, many other, smaller churches and church plants followed suit.
And for a season, it ‘worked.’
Getting some awesome lights, better sound, better music and a slightly more hip communicator grew churches.
Sure, some of the growth was transfer-growth, but a big percentage of what many churches experienced was not transfer-growth. People invited their friends and their friends came back.
So what’s changing?
But now most cities have a great selection of cool churches. Cities have dozens, and many towns have at least a few.
It’s no longer unusual to have a band in church. It’s not even that novel to have lights and great sound or to play all the cool songs.
And…in the process of all this imitation, three things happened:
1. CUTTING EDGE KEEPS CHANGING…FAST
What was novel isn’t novel for long anymore.
The rise of technology and social media means that you now hold access to pretty much anything you want in your hand whenever you want to.
You used to have to hire experts or do some exploring to find cool things. Sometimes you even had to travel. Now you just download an app, watch a video, stream a song or follow whatever trend you’re passionate about in the moment—whenever you want to. Instantly. Usually for free.
Consequently, there’s kind of a trend-fatigue or indifference happening. Trends are shorter, less interesting, and we’re all growing oh-so-bored with what’s novel.
Which means that it’s harder than ever for churches to be cutting edge because cutting edge keeps changing.
2. INDIFFERENCE TO CHURCH HAS GROWN
As this helpful Barna research points out, even in the U.S. people are increasingly indifferent to church. That’s certainly been true in Canada, Europe and in places like Australia and New Zealand for awhile.
So a decade ago having a cool church would have given you more traction than it does today.
If people aren’t into church, it doesn’t matter how cool, hip or trendy your church is, people won’t be that interested.
You behave this way. If you’re on a health kick, you’re not going to order the burger and fries, even if they are the best in town. And if you’re not on a healthy kick, the spinach, arugula, kale salad with tuna isn’t going to capture your imagination, no matter how healthy it is.
