Will We See Change?
Jonathan and I were talking this morning about church - kind of like the normal conversations we have! We talked about where it is all going, what change is happening etc. We know that small change is happening, there is a shift. However, we contemplated if we would really see a change in our lifetime - as in major shift of thinking and doing, or would it more likely be something which our children (who are currently 8 and 6) or grandchildren will end up seeing? What do you think?
change of thinking, church, emergentabout
Posted on February 12, 2008
Posted by lynhallewell
This is a good question. My observation is that the pace of change is accelerating. While I think it may take into my children’s mid-life (they are 15-26 years) to see most of the affects of the change, the next ten years will see dramatic changes.
In North America, at least, there are some very interesting trends. 80% of the financial support for the church comes from people over 55 years, less than 30% of the most recent adult generation attends church which is half the level of their grandparents, etc. Moreover, what Christianity looks like will be defined more and more by those followers of Jesus who live outside North America and Europe as the population of followers of Jesus shifts to other parts of the world.
These demographics will have profound impacts on the church over the next few decades.
i don’t know, Lyn. I want to hope for that change, but I’m pretty pessimistic about the timing right now.
hi lyn, i think we are seeing change and i think it will continue to gather pace. I also think we’ll see continuity as well - which is no bad thing.