{"id":30642,"date":"2014-12-04T02:00:16","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T09:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.churchvolunteercentral.com\/?p=30642"},"modified":"2014-12-04T02:00:16","modified_gmt":"2014-12-04T09:00:16","slug":"hopes-for-a-church-turnaround","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/","title":{"rendered":"Hopes For A Church Turnaround"},"content":{"rendered":"

What gives the American church hope for the future? In spite of declining trends, participants at the recent Future of the Church summit<\/a>, held at Group Publishing, identified some clear strengths and opportunities for the church in North America.<\/p>\n

MISSION<\/strong>
\nThe stand-out strength, according to the participants, is the church\u2019s central and unique mission. Perhaps that mission is best summarized in Jesus\u2019 great commandments: love God, and love others.<\/p>\n

Though the mission may seem obvious, it can often get lost or obscured. Summit participants saw a graphic example of that loss as they watched the new documentary When God Left the Building<\/em>.<\/a> The film shows some church leaders and members who cannot remember or agree upon their church\u2019s true mission. One leader named their church\u2019s annual pick-up of dead computers throughout the community as the congregation\u2019s hallmark.<\/p>\n

COMMUNITY<\/strong>
\nAs the summit participants continued their SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), they identified a couple of strong opportunities awaiting the church. The first centered on the church\u2019s ability to offer true community\u2014a sense of belonging and togetherness.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s people do indeed yearn for community. Many churches believe they already deliver community. But the population may not always agree. For example, today\u2019s millennials place a heightened value on community, but they\u2019re fleeing the church in record numbers. They say their needs for community are being better met elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The public knows that authentic community does not come easily with the familiar, tired attempts by many churches:<\/p>\n

\u2022Toothy greeters.<\/strong> Nobody feels real friendship from someone whose job it is to be friendly.
\n\u2022Meet-and-greet time<\/strong>. Most people, members and visitors alike, loathe it. It\u2019s forced and artificial.
\n\u2022Classes and small groups.<\/strong> Yes, relationships sometimes form here. But compartmentalizing community to this other hour tends to emphasize how little community is encouraged during the Sunday morning main event.<\/p>\n

At the summit, sociologist Josh Packard said, \u201cChurches are really good at doing things that signal \u2018welcome.\u2019 But once people are in the door, they quit caring about them.\u201d He said the church must be truly relational. To do so will lead to the church being \u201cfundamentally different from what we know now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another summit speaker, Edwin Lacy, described his rural church\u2019s effective work at forming community. For the weekly worship service, members sit in a circle—in rocking chairs. \u201cYou don\u2019t know anybody by the back of their head,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Community forms in an atmosphere of authentic acceptance and unconditional love. If churches can figure out how to offer true community, they\u2019ll be magnetic.<\/p>\n

FEARLESS CONVERSATION<\/strong>
\nIn our book, Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore<\/em><\/a>, we describe how many people avoid church because they view it as a one-way communication set-up. They want to participate, ask questions, and discuss. They want fearless conversation, which is the other major opportunity identified by summit participants.<\/p>\n

Sociologist Packard said, \u201cWhat people get at church is someone talking at them. But they want a conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard Sweet urged pastors to wander into the Sunday morning congregation and engage the people in interactive preaching. He alleged it is the \u201cheight of arrogance\u201d to believe that \u201cGod has given me a sermon to give to you, but you don\u2019t have your own \u2018sermon\u2019 to throw on the table.\u201d He said churches need to embrace the shift from performance to participation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFearless\u201d also connotes the willingness to tackle any subject, even those that seem dangerous, or for which we may not have easy answers. But it\u2019s those thorny issues that people want\u2013and need\u2013to explore.<\/p>\n

During the entire summit we modeled how the fearless conversation format can work to engage and involve every person. We frequently invited questions, and provided questions for participants to discuss in pairs, allowing everyone to dive deeply into often-difficult topics. Fearless conversation works—with any size crowd. And it presents a powerful opportunity for the church to personally connect with today\u2019s people.<\/p>\n

Unique mission, biblical community, and fearless conversation may be the ingredients needed for the future of the church.<\/p>\n

Join us for next year’s summit scheduled for October 21-23, 2015<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

[Editor’s Note: \u00a0Adapted from Thom’s blog, Holy Soup<\/em><\/a>.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What gives the American church hope for the future? In spite of declining trends, participants at the recent Future of the Church summit, held at Group Publishing, identified some clear strengths and opportunities for the church in North America. MISSION The stand-out strength, according to the participants, is the church\u2019s central and unique mission. Perhaps that mission is best summarized […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":30643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[501,502,503,141,504,505],"class_list":["post-30642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lead","tag-future-of-the-church","tag-hope","tag-hope-for-the-future","tag-leadership","tag-mission","tag-summit"],"yoast_head":"\nHopes For A Church Turnaround - Group Children's Ministry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What gives the American church hope for the future? In spite of declining trends, participants at the recent Future of the Church summit, held at Group\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hopes For A Church Turnaround - Group Children's Ministry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What gives the American church hope for the future? In spite of declining trends, participants at the recent Future of the Church summit, held at Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Group Children's Ministry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GroupChildrensMinistry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-04T09:00:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thom Schultz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@groupkidmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@groupkidmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Thom Schultz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/\",\"name\":\"Hopes For A Church Turnaround - Group Children's Ministry\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-04T09:00:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-12-04T09:00:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/9409e00156e43e6960abdfb8102c77cc\"},\"description\":\"What gives the American church hope for the future? In spite of declining trends, participants at the recent Future of the Church summit, held at Group\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hopes For A Church Turnaround\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/\",\"name\":\"Group Children's Ministry\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/9409e00156e43e6960abdfb8102c77cc\",\"name\":\"Thom Schultz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dedfb628b3bb843c417905a78bc2ca8e662a0ca34c8532b6c463fc66f6e4e7ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dedfb628b3bb843c417905a78bc2ca8e662a0ca34c8532b6c463fc66f6e4e7ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Thom Schultz\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/author\/thom-schultz\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hopes For A Church Turnaround - Group Children's Ministry","description":"What gives the American church hope for the future? In spite of declining trends, participants at the recent Future of the Church summit, held at Group","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hopes For A Church Turnaround - Group Children's Ministry","og_description":"What gives the American church hope for the future? In spite of declining trends, participants at the recent Future of the Church summit, held at Group","og_url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/","og_site_name":"Group Children's Ministry","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GroupChildrensMinistry","article_published_time":"2014-12-04T09:00:16+00:00","author":"Thom Schultz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@groupkidmin","twitter_site":"@groupkidmin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Thom Schultz","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/","url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/","name":"Hopes For A Church Turnaround - Group Children's Ministry","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2014-12-04T09:00:16+00:00","dateModified":"2014-12-04T09:00:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/9409e00156e43e6960abdfb8102c77cc"},"description":"What gives the American church hope for the future? In spite of declining trends, participants at the recent Future of the Church summit, held at Group","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/lead\/hopes-for-a-church-turnaround\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hopes For A Church Turnaround"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/","name":"Group Children's Ministry","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/9409e00156e43e6960abdfb8102c77cc","name":"Thom Schultz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dedfb628b3bb843c417905a78bc2ca8e662a0ca34c8532b6c463fc66f6e4e7ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dedfb628b3bb843c417905a78bc2ca8e662a0ca34c8532b6c463fc66f6e4e7ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Thom Schultz"},"url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/author\/thom-schultz\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}