Ten Major Trends Affecting The Church (from 1986!)

Orginally published on Monday, November 26, 2007 at 6:15 AM
by Todd Rhoades

I made an interesting discovery recently of a book on church trends written back in 1986 by Howard Snyder and Daniel Runyon titled “Foresight: 10 Major Trends That Will Dramatically Affect the Future of Christians and the Church”. I thought it might be fun to see how their predictions are coming true some twenty-one years after the writing. See what you think from their synopsis:

1. From regional churches to world Church.
We shall likely see a world church emerge that is much more diverse ethnically and culturally; exhibits a greater mutual respect for the leadership, styles, ministries, arid traditions of other Christian believers; is increasingly urban; and ministers more intentionally to the poor, oppressed, and suffering.

2. From scattered growth to broad revival.
Many people anticipate a deep and genuine movement of renewal centered in a “third wave” of charismatic renewal, renewal in mainline denominations, resurgence of the Roman Catholic Church, and new dialogue among Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians. The growth of house churches and of “power evangelism” churches may be part of a new wave of revival.

3. From Communist China to Christian China.
The resurgence of Chinese Christianity is likely to impact world Christianity in several ways. The Chinese church may provide sources of major new vitality, leadership, and structural forms for the church worldwide. Chinese Christianity will also enrich the theology and self-understanding of the world church.

4. From institutional tradition to kingdom theology.
A world church touched by renewal will require a global theology. Such a theology seems to be coalescing around themes of the reign or rule of God, stressing Cod’s sovereign direction, despite and through human agency, in the course of world history. The kingdom theme is receiving increasing attention in conferences, journals, and book publishing. Such a theology has wide-ranging implications for all areas of the church’s life, including worship, the church’s internal community life, its witness through evangelism and justice ministries, and its relationship to political powers.

5. From clergy/laity to community of ministers.
A new model of pastoral leadership appears to be emerging, which will produce a very different kind of church in the future. The New Testament pattern of each congregation being led by a team of spiritually mature leaders is receiving new emphasis. A long-term trend toward plural leadership and the New Testament “equipping” model of pastoring may be underway, especially outside the United States.

6. From male leadership to male-female partnership.
The definition of the pastoral role will probably become broader and more flexible as women bring more variety, fresh ideas, differing perspectives, and a broader range of leadership styles into church leadership.The emphasis on community, informality, and nurture in the church will be enhanced.  Theologically and conceptually, more women in church leadership with increase the tendency toward organic and ecological models of the world and the church.

7. From secularization to religious relativism.
The church has always faced the problem of how to be in the world yet not of it. But secularization comes in waves. Today the church faces a tidal wave, with many Christians in North America and Western Europe accommodating to values shaped more by the world than by biblical faith. Surveys show little difference between the views and behaviors of those who claim to be committed Christians and those who don’t.

8. From nuclear family to family diversity.
The traditional North American church has been ambushed by cultural diversity, especially in family lifestyles. By and large, white Protestant churches still assume the importance of the nuclear family (two parents, two or more children), when in fact very often that’s not the primary clientele they deal with, especially in cities. The challenge for the church will be to minister to this diversity without compromising the gospel.

9. From church/state separation to Christian political activism.
As Christian political involvement expands to include far reaching issues such as foreign polity and the earth’s resources, a crucial question is whether or not Christians can distinguish between kingdom priorities and narrowly nationalistic interests. Will tomorrow’s Christians be able to see, and persuade others to see, that the priorities of God’s kingdom are ultimately more in one’s own national interests than are narrower self-serving aims?

10. From safe planet to threatened planet.
Three major world realities are shaping a new and volatile situation for the church. They are so basic and potentially dangerous that together they constitute a world of mega-dangers for all earth’s peoples. These realities are (1) the widening gap between rich and poor, (2} our threatened ecosphere, and (3) the dangers of nuclear armaments. From a Christian standpoint, these issues caution us against triumphalism or an easy optimism. Human sin is still with us, nut only in each individual and group, but cumulatively, clogging the structures of our social and environmental systems. As we move into the twenty-first century, the world is one family at war with itself and threatening to poison or explode its own home.
You can read more about their book (which is, not surprisingly, out of print) here.

You can find more information about this book here...

What do you think?  Were they accurate at all?

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Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.

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