Last week Guy Kawasaki directed his readers to a piece called 5 Ways to Create a Future-minded Non-profit. The timing was a great read for me as I get more deeply involved in working with the Center for Church Communication, a non-profit group that “helps the Church matter”.
For me, reading the article allows easy application for ministry trends and the importance of leaders strategically resisting attrition, lack of innovation, failure to change, misplaced values, etc.
Here what the 5 trends look like when applied to the Church:
Shifting demographics. With new generations dreaming of their place at the table, churches must learn to share leadership with younger congregants. Top-down leadership gets rejected by next generation believers in favor of team dynamics. Thus, it’s critical to allow baby boomers to step sideways and share leadership opportunities at every level of church operations.
Technological advances. Social-media technologies provide churches the opportunity to gain greater exposure, but they also require church leadership to be comfortable giving more people a chance to speak out. And we must accept the reality that conversation is going on whether or not we’re participating in it. We’ve known for quite some time that the broadcast model is dead – dialog over monologue, conversation over one person megaphoning, etc. The perceived threat of opening up the backchannel is now a moot concern – since most people have access to cell phone browsers in their pockets.
New ways to collaborate. With the advent of new technologies, churches (and parachurch organizations) can just as easily work with an individual located across the country (or world) as they can through their local parish or church. And today, individuals would rather connect with those they share values with rather than those who are simply geographically close. Furthermore, these connections often morph into movements, networks, alliances, etc. (formerly known as denominations). Collaboration itself is seen as a fundamental value, so isolation / independence is viewed as a dead end.
Greater interest in service. There’s no doubt about it, the next generation speaks the language of volunteerism, but churches need to keep in mind that people have many different reasons for serving and ought to tailor their opportunities to individuals’ interests, gifts & talents. In fact, if your church ministry philosophy is straight, rather than have people to get the jobs done, you have “jobs” to get the people done. Serving is the key to each individual discovering their individual gifts & calling in God, so the fact that it’s en vogue right now to do so is a sure fire win.
Blurred lines between nonprofit and for-profit. There’s a greater emphasis on corporate social responsibility & justice and the emergence of organizations whose primary aim is to “do good”. These groups are challenging the Church’s postmodern identity. Formerly, it was the church who was to care about society. But the Church fell down on it’s responsibilities in many people’s eyes, creating opportunity for other organizations to rise and take on some of the responsibilities that might have been the Church’s. And, social justice & global environmental concerns aren’t just for rock stars anymore. Masses of conscencious people believe these are stewardship issues. Churches now have opportunities for new partnerships with these groups and can link with everything from recycling organizations to social services. In fact, for many young people, feeding & clothing the planet, eradicating stupid poverty, ending the slave trade, etc. are considered the outward works of their faith.
Understanding these trends can greatly benefit the Church at large. And, can often explain why rather than build a multi-million dollar building, young people are more given to using free technology to facilitate their ministry endeavours, networking and collaborating (even globally if necessary), tithing their time and working to improve the common good, rather than just the good of their own church facility or members.
13 RT’s and no comments. sad.
i’ll be the first.
Great post, Cynthia!
In your travels/consulting, which of the 5 will be the hardest for the churches you interact with to embrace in 2010?
Drew, not sure what Cynthia’s answer would be. Here’s my gut reaction: I think the first one would be the most challenging for churches, the one labeled “shifting demographics” and would have been better described as “shifting leadership.” Top-down leadership is a form of control, and by inference, power, and that’s the hardest thing to give up, give away, and to truly open-handedly share with the masses.
@human3rror – thanks! you will ninja me.
Drew, I think dj’s comments here are great; shifting leadership is a better term. (I forced myself to stick to the format of the original source). And most importantly, I see the trends as sort of an overlapping package deal, each one influenced by and intersecting the others so it may be impossible to isolate any one.
And I would clarify – “top down” leadership is not always controlling – yet it is usually perceived as such – which is reflected in the trend. In fact, headship, if functioning correctly, releases rather than restricts, empowers rather than dominates, etc.
I always think of the Exodus model (Ex 18:21 – 27) and spreading leadership out only means “multiplying” it, not eliminating it. It’s easy for people to jump to the concept of “leaderless” when dealing with the new paradigms since in internet terms were talking about decentralization here, but leaders are more necessary than ever – those who use their leadership to influence to disciple & release others.
More?
I would add the role of women in the church extending beyond traditionally female roles as a trend/challenge for the church. This, as you point out, likely overlaps with the changing demographics, but will require some rethinking and shifting paradigms. This is particularly true of organizations that embrace team-based leadership models, since women have been leading laterally or by influence rather than title for decades and can bring much to the table in transitioning from authoritative leadership structures.
Cynthia, this is spot on. This is a common misunderstanding that you have addressed very well.
“I always think of the Exodus model (Ex 18:21 – 27) and spreading leadership out only means “multiplying” it, not eliminating it. It’s easy for people to jump to the concept of “leaderless” when dealing with the new paradigms since in internet terms were talking about decentralization here, but leaders are more necessary than ever – those who use their leadership to influence to disciple & release others.”
Joan – great observation “since women have been leading laterally or by influence rather than title for decades”
Michael – I can always tell by the structure & language used in small groups ministry development whether there’s a clear understanding of the point or not…. for example, is a critical goal to identify & train an apprentice leader, or is there a dead end leadership model, operating endlessly with one key leader or lead couple. Instead of saying “our group split” (indicating each lost something) they say “our group multiplied” which should have been the goal all along, to be fruitful and multiply, etc. Glad you appreciate the observation.
I would agree with the statements about the next generations rejection of top down leadership as well as the need for conversational communication verses first person megaphoning. We have found that churches that don’t embrace social mediums, i.e. website, facebook and the like are finding it tougher to reach this generation, and this current culture. It is important for churches to take advantage of the vast audience created by the new forms of communications as well as the cost effectiveness of these vehicles.
axessnetwork.com was designed to help churches in our modern society better understand and embrace the new communication mediums that are available to help us all in our ultimate goal…spreading the Gospel.
Thanks for the great article. Very important for churches to get on board!
Cynthia – great post & a relevant look at how the younger generations are leading, collaborating & serving. It has always amazed me when I meet church leaders who fear public conversation (social media), small groups etc. because the gospel may be compromised in their eyes. Christ himself only spent 3 years with his disciples & sent them out to disciple others. Where is their trust in the truth that God will not let his word return void? I whole-heartily agree that the conversation is going on whether or not they know of it. Furthermore, for those who don’t get their feet wet in the social sphere & persist to continue “control” over the message, I feel they will stagnate the growth & equipping of their church members & never have the opportunity to even learn where to begin the individual discipleship. For the small or dying churches, this could be the greatest obstacle they will need to overcome. And interestingly enough, the one that requires them to put the most trust in God to help them raise up the next generation of leaders/disciples/servants.
Excellent article–just reposted on my blog! Thanks for the great thoughts!
Josh, Rachel, & Margaret! encouraging all. Thanks for the feedback, conversion and re-posting.
Cynthia,
Good thoughts. Now what? From my limited vantage point I see agreement with these trends by many in the church, but very little movement toward adjusting to deal with them. More and more next generation folks seems to be walking out on some of the organizations (denominations) in favor of non-specific organizational structures that embrace these trends. The orgs seem to offer great lip service to these trends but very little action and those that want/need action are moving on. Not necessarily bad for the global church but some great orgs are getting gray and irrelevant.
Love to hear your thoughts.
Great post.
Cynthia,
You are definitely right about using social media and the internet to reach people. Though you can not underestimate the effectiveness of having a great church website. This can easily eclipse the effectiveness of social media when you get your church members to actively use it. It also adds a great face to your church for new members!
Thanks
Nathan
Tulsa Podiatrist