Evangelicalism as a political block may wane in influence, but I seem to recall that God PROMISED to build his church. I see no biblical ecclesiology in this guy’s rant

While he gives us some food for thought, I think that much of what he is saying is based on assumptions not on fact.  Some of what he is saying may be true of individual evangelical churches, but I don’t think that it will be true of evangelicalism as a whole. 

Concerning the political influence, many young evangelicals have begun to separate themselves from the staunch conservative politics of their parents generation.  They are moving away from James Dobson and Pat Robertson and are reading Donald Miller and Mark Driscoll.  I think the evangelical church will look quite different in the next 20 years but it will by no means be dead.

To assume that young churches have a questionable future is a major assumption.  They may not have the financial backing of old established mainline churches, but these newer large churches in major cities are now driving the Christian culture in large part, I think.

Yes some of the mega churches out of the church growth movement will plateau and struggle to pass on the leadership baton (i.e. Saddleback & Willow Creek), but as a movement evangelicalism is much bigger than its biggest churches.

I will end with this thought.  Could it be that the future of the evangelical church will not even be in America?  What about a global perspective?  Is the church not growing more rapidly abroad than in the US?  I think his thoughts are very limited to the scope of evangelicalism in the US and is ignoring the growth and strength of the global evangelical movement.

I believe that most of the points he hit were right on.  Lack of doctrine and orthodoxy, no Christian education, and models of only, “doing good,” are the big ones I see coming this way in American evangelicalism. 

I also disagree with the three-church model he listed above, but not for the other reasons as the posters.  I see more like five different types of churches:

1.  Purpose-driven, consumer-driven, seeker-sensitive megachurches.  (There were other adjectives I chose to omit from how else I would describe them, too.) Examples include Saddleback, Willow Creek, Lakewood.

2.  Old churches that are dying out.  Examples include neighborhood churches where white hair and bald heads are the norm and the congregation dwindles over time.

3.  Emergent, unorthodox, and Christian universalist churches.  Examples include Solomon’s Porch, Metropolitan churches, Mars Hill (Bell), and anywhere Tony Jones or Brian McLaren may go.

4.  Home-based churches.  These are the ones where people cannot find good, Gospel-based preaching anywhere else, and take it home.

5.  Home-based churches II.  These are the ones that get big enough to have their own building, possible denominational backing, and stick with the faith.  This, and other home-based ones are where evangelicalism will survive.

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CS

yes, I agree. Actually I believe Evangelicalism MUST die.

In particular the Church Growth model and the Emergent MOVEMENT. My gosh, why don’t the Emergent people just go to a Unitarian congregation already… it’s practically the same thing!

The Church growth model requires MASSIVE amounts of

A) Personality - The REAL “P” in PDC
B) Money… light shows ain’t cheap !!
C) Decaying Denominational churches nearby with congregants looking for a reason to leave.
D) http://sermons.com/
E) An educated white collar suburban demographic

To say that you target the unchurched and then spend millions on a budget, with a HUGE chunk of that going to salaries. This is the exact hang-up that most “unchurched” people have in the first place, “They want my money so Pastor Bob can live good in the Burbs”. It’s laughable. Perhaps this is why most PDC/Seeker/ Church Growth Churches don’t actually attract many “seekers” just people who are bored with their old churches.

Shawn:

“I can also point to 100’s of so-called mega churches that do not fit your description. Doctrine teaching, gospel preaching, community building churches who are multiplying themselves all over the country.”

I’d have to lump those, and yours, likely into my fifth category of churches.  Some can grow to huge sizes, following biblical standards, and maintain their adherence to the Gospel.  I can think of some megachurches, too, like John MacArthur’s and John Piper’s that have done well and teach doctrine and theology well.

I’m not coming down on all megachurches, by the way.  Only those that follow the pragmatic, sex series, life change nonsense.

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CS

That’s good, it’s very helpful to me