The Future - What will it look like?

About a month ago, I spoke at VISION 2020 LEADERSHIP - A TIME TO SEE THE FUTURE. Rev. Tommy Reid, pastor of The TAB in Orchard Park, NY asked me to spend time with their pastors, elders and leaders.

We focused on, What Will The Church Look Like in 2020?

I wish I would have had this video.
Our world is changing!



The landscape in America (indeed our world) has changed. Christendom (in America) no longer exists.
Some of the key points were...
I.. People in leadership positions face several challenges. 1) FOCUSING ON THE WRONG ISSUES (trying to fight society – fight reality) 2) NOT RECOGNIZING THE CHANGES AROUND THEM (sometimes denying them) and 3) trying to apply the wrong “fix”.

Every church needs transformation.

Those that aren’t changed DIE.

But without a clear understanding of the nature of change, the chances of growing a healthy church are diminished.

II. Last to see the shift
People insulated within any paradigm (group / institution) typically are the last to see the shift and least able to recognize strategies that are not going to work.

III. DO - DELIVER - DECLARE

How we DO church, how we DELIVER church, and how we DECLARE the message.

Some people have observed a five hundred year cycle in western history—a period of upheaval followed by a period of settling down, then codification, and then upheaval again because we do not like to be codified. So, about every five hundred years the church feels compelled to have a giant rummage sale, and we’re in one of those periods now.

HERE’S THE KEY….The emerging generation has a different STYLE, worldview and priorities. They have different ways of communicating.

Knowledge based Organizations will morph into highly distributed anytime networks.

It calls into question the future role of large facilities, high technological overhead and an emphasis on an insulated professional corps for business, government and ministry.

We are watching the leveling of the “playing field.”

ACTION:

1. Develop a strategic plan.

2. We need Men of Isachaar who “discern” the times.

“Exegete the environment, exegete the times. Discover what it taking place now. Look at future trends, major forces shaping society/our environment.

3. We need some people who understand the “Gretzky Factor.”

4. Prepare for contingencies.