Compassion By Design

For those who are committed to building up the health and ministry capacity of the church, we have to look ahead to see where the church is going.  If we are building toward a healthier more vital future then at least a glimpse of that future road is critical.  Since we are building on a solid foundation that includes the authority of scripture and a rich history of faith life we can freely look ahead to see what forms will change, without compromising our foundation. 

Predictions about the future  of the American church are somewhat disconcerting, if we are just committed to preserving the current form of local church expression.  Several authors believe that we will see a decline of 50% market share by local churches by either 2025 or 2050.  I am not so concerned with form– I think history proves that the life of the church can be expressed in many forms.  I am concerned about the current health of the local church in America, concerned about its flexibility and its capacity to change.  So on this basis, I am going to present over my next several entries several elements of “future church” form as I see them currently developing.

next entry– values of the emerging generation and healthy churches

Check out the new needs assessment process for new churches http://www.compassionbydesign.org/church-planting.html