What will the church look like in 10 years?

I am not a prophet nor the son of a prophet. I have no crystal ball that enables me to predict the future. However, I can see some things that are happening, and I can read what others are saying about the future church. What I have listed here is a combination of my own thoughts and those of others.

We do know that much has changed in ministry in the past 10 years, and it is likely that more change is coming. We can ignore these changes at our own peril or we can begin to discuss how we can address them in ways that will enhance our ministries. These are the kinds of things church leaders need to be discussing now or face the danger of trying to do ministry in the future in a world that no longer exists.

Here are 12 trends that I believe will impact the church in the next 10 years.

1. In 10 years from now the Builder Generation will be gone from our churches. This will impact churches financially and in its ability to find volunteers to serve.
2. Denominational loyalty will be even less than it is today. As people move from denomination to denomination they will bring old beliefs with them which can cause conflict in the church.
3. Fewer people will have a home church. They will attend various churches to satisfy different needs in their lives.
4. Senior adult ministry will change as Boomers will be more interested in going on mission trips than riding the church bus to some activity.
5. The churches that grow will have excellent discipleship ministries.
6. Churches will be forced to maximize the use of their buildings.
7. The Great Commission will remain the primary mission of the church and will be accomplished more through the building of relationships with unchurched people.
8. Pastoral leadership will be more transformational as pastors take seriously the mandate of Ephesians 4 to train others to do the work of ministry.
9. Homogeneous churches will not effectively reach their communities as most communities will include growing numbers of minorities and immigrants.
10. Mid-size churches will experience a squeeze as more church members will require more from their churches and will begin to leave for larger churches that will meet those requirements.
11. Churches will face challenges unknown to previous generations of churches especially in the areas of sexuality, political divisions and the postmodern mindset.
12. Many churches will struggle to find pastoral leadership.

It's safe to say that churches that try to do business as usual over the next 10 years will find themselves struggling to effectively minister. The history of the church is to always be a few years, sometimes decades, behind the changes that take place in our culture. That's why I suggest that church leaders begin to discuss these church trends now so we can try to be ahead of the changes that are occurring.

One thing we must remember is that none of these trends caught God by surprise. We might be surprised by what is happening in the church, but He is not. We also need to remember that this is His church, and He promised the gates of hell could not stand against it. Let's not be timid in the face of the changes we are facing but let us boldly seek wisdom from God how each of our churches can best respond to the coming changes.