Carey Nieuwhof, lead pastor of Connexus Community Church, recently shared his thoughts on how the church will evolve over the next decade. Nieuwhof identified 11 traits that he believes will be common among those congregations that have a significant impact over the next ten years: The ability to say no Outsider focus Quick decision making Flexibility A willingness to embrace smaller to become bigger A quicker, lighter footprint Valuing online relationships as real Read More …
innovation
Build Great Things (#1110)
Eric Dye, editor-in-chief for ChurchMag and Finding Justice, recently applied the words of Google's CEO to the church. In his keynote address at I/O earlier this month, Larry Page said: "We should be building great things that don’t exist.” Dye, in turn suggests that the church must embrace these prophetic words as it seeks to innovate for a new era. So What? Imagine a church that seeks to build great things that don't yet exist. Imagine your church embracing Read More …
Pastor of Innovation (#1054)
When I was a seminary student, it was understood that the vast majority of students would go on to pastoral ministry in a parish setting. Most of these individuals would spend all of their years in ministry as solo pastors serving smaller congregations. In recent years, the expectations have shifted significantly. Only about half of all recent seminary graduates enter parish ministry. For those who do enter this form of ministry, increasing numbers serve in large, mega, Read More …
Future Church – More Innovative (#0705)
Church v.2020 - Ten Changes: #3 More Innovative – Less Predictable When compared with the American church of 2012, the future church (v.2020) will be markedly more innovative and significantly less predictable. This change will be evidenced in many ways, including: A move away from a model of risk aversion best known by the so-called seven last words of the church ("we never did it that way before") to a mentality of welcoming new possibilities and giving people permission Read More …
Different by Design (#0599)
Yesterday I realized that I had not upgraded to the newest release of Mozilla Firefox. On the upgrade page, I found a video that everyone should see (whether or not you ever have used or will use this browser). It is, without qualification, the best video I have seen in 2012. So What? Imagine if the idea captured within this video were to be applied to your local congregation. I transcribed the video, then gave the words a makeover for a new audience. I Read More …