"CHALLENGES THAT WILL AFFECT CHURCH LEADERSHIP IN 2024"

By Michael Gryboski, Mainstream Church Editor Wednesday, January 10, 2024, Getty Images / Exkalibur

A ministry resource center at a seminary in Washington, D.C., has named seven trends that are expected to impact church leadership in the new year.

The Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary published a report last week that discusses seven trends they think may have an impact on church leadership.

The first," Malaise of the Mainstream Movement, "states that" the typical mainstream congregation faces the need to adjust its expectations and model of ministry."

The Center's report states that mainstream denominations face a need to realign their institutional infrastructure, including everything from courts and church institutions to theological education and parachurch organizations, to match current circumstances.

According to the researchers, the second trend is "stable finances." Although there is a decline among congregation members, "a lot of evidence suggests that the financial condition of most congregations remains very strong."

According to the report, church "median income" in the United States will be "up nearly 42% from three years ago" by 2023. The Lake Institute on Faith and Giving was responsible for conducting the study.

Researchers at the Lewis Center think that monetary power comes from many things, such as the successful transition to online giving during the pandemic and strong giving from older members.

According to the Center, "the small, nimble, and highly personalized expression of the church seems increasingly to be the "green growth edge" of growth and development, while most Americans go to fairly large congregations.

The report states, "New Expressions, micro-churches, house churches, and small online communities have undeniable appeal today when so many people distrust institutions."

Many traditional churches focus the energies of their participants on sustaining the institutional structure of the church, but smaller communities can pay more attention to the maintenance of relationships and the spiritual growth of individuals.

According to the Center, the fourth trend is "expanding the role of lay leaders." The center says that many congregations increasingly rely on Laity for leadership for a variety of reasons, including the inability to support full-time ordained ministers.

The report states that in some sectors of the church, there are more lay people serving as pastors. For instance, in 2019 12 percent of United Methodist churches had unregistered lay pastors or accredited seminary graduates in degree or non-degree programs serving them.

The focus of the fifth trend is the "rise of the unchurched generation," which focuses on the rise of religiously unaffiliated Americans and their widely documented descendants 

It is often said that the Christian faith still exists after another generation. The report states that the children of today's Nones, unlike their parents, were raised with little or no connection to the church.

An entirely new evangelistic manual was needed to reach this growing group of unchurched young people, a generation removed from the practice of faith with little religious memory.

The sixth trend of the report is Sunday School, as well as the researchers' belief that the classical Christian education model may have "gone its own way" during the Internet age.

Both children and adults have become accustomed to a more interactive and engaging way of learning in our age of the internet. Researchers state that many churches no longer have the critical mass of young families needed to support a variety of age-level classrooms or classes.

Sunday school superintendents and directors of Christian education seek to engage families, try classes held less frequently or at different times, develop more intergenerational and ministry-related activities, and equip and motivate parents for faith education at home.

Finally, the report states that the seventh trend is "the need for new models of faith formation," noting that the old belief that "those who are in the pews on Sunday will be formed in faith through elements of worship, particularly preaching," faces challenges.

The researchers explain that the belief-formation approach through osmosis may always succeed or fail. "But the limitations are even more glaring today as church attendance becomes more sporadic, and many churches report that even the most faithful often attend only one or two Sundays a month."

The report states that the Messy Church Movement, which began in 2004 at an Anglican congregation in the United Kingdom, is one of the possible new ways to help the formation of faith.

Messy churches are usually conducted outside the traditional church environment and involve the congregation in performing various activities aimed at adults and children.

Messy Church USA states, "Messy Church allows people of all ages to belong to Christ together through their local church. This is a way of being a church that is perfect for families but friendly to all."

"It meets with local families at appropriate times and days and especially welcomes people who have never been members of the church before."

Thom S. Rainer, founder and CEO of the Answers church resource group, made a list called "9 dangerous fault lines for the church in 2024" on New Year's Eve.

These included ignoring pressing issues, having too much hassle and "busyness" in his schedule, obsessing over finding the "perfect" pastor, not having the "right evangelistic initiatives," outdated staff hiring practices, "doctrinal lapses," failing to deal with toxic members, delaying facility maintenance and repairs, and "lack of group priorities.".

Rainer writes, "One clear trend we see today is that healthier churches tend to focus more on groups, such as small groups, Sunday school classes, community groups, life groups, etc. Those who participate in groups tend to give more, attend worship more often, engage in service, and serve with joy."

One of these nine faults could cause a tsunami in 2024. I pray that the fault lines in your church are corrected before it is too late.

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News Sources : https://www.christianpost.com/news/seminary-lists-7-trends-impacting-church-leadership-in-2024.html