“I’m not seeing a lot of evidence that we’ve gotten away from transactional Christianity. I will say this, though…the churches that are doing well are stressing the importance of relational community.”
“What are you doing in your groups? What are you doing to bring people into the smaller community of 5, 10, 15 or 20 so that they will connect with the larger community, which is typically the gathered worship service?”
“The ‘loner Christianity’ is definitely a reality. The first step I would take as a pastor is don’t heap guilt on them. When they come back, don’t make them feel badly because they were gone.”
“Regardless of the size of your church, I think you should have a digital pastor or a digital director. I think you should have someone who acts as the shepherd for those people.”
“There will be a number who have physical reasons, emotional reasons, a number of reasons why they are not ready to come into the physical church. And that’s why I’ve pleaded with many pastors, don’t shut down your digital venue.”
“People talk to you about prayer needs. And so if you can have a digital prayer card and say, ‘Send us your prayer requests and I will follow up,’ we’re finding that many of them are beginning to connect.”
“That is a pre-quarantine, during quarantine and post-quarantine reality: People have been hurt in churches.”
“The more you get your members to see church, local church and universal church, particularly local church, through proper ecclesiology of serving and being a part of the body of Christ, the more they will have positive experiences. It may not remove the pain of the past, but it can minimize the pain of the past for the glory of the present and the good for God.”
“Accountability is going to be, I think, one of the burgeoning issues of the local church in the future…because lack of accountability has been a key issue on the negative side in many churches.”
Mentioned in the Show
Acts 2
1 Corinthians 12
Matthew 9:37-38
Revelation 3
Church Answers
“I Am a Christian: Discovering What It Means to Follow Jesus Together with Fellow Believers” by Thom Rainer
“I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference” by Thom Rainer
“Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations” by Thom Rainer and Ed Stetzer
Follow Thom on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Eric Geiger: What the ‘Alarming’ State of Theology Report Means for the Church
The State of Theology report
