Jesus left us a mission to love our neighbour and make disciples. And the church is the main way to fulfil this mission.

But what will an effective missional church look like in twenty-first century western culture?

Join me as I try to blend the ideal and the realistic to imagine the church of the future.

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Relevant communication

Like all good teachers, Jesus and Paul both adapted their message and style to their audience. Jesus spoke very differently to the religious leaders in Jerusalem to how he spoke to Galilean farmers. Likewise Paul spoke differently in the Jewish synagogue, to the Athenian philosophers and to Roman governors.

If the postmodern western church is to make disciples, we need to communicate in relevant ways both inside and outside the church. Our services will need to be relevant to the lives and concerns of twenty-first century people and show how the kingdom of God meets those concerns.

Times have changed

It is an obvious truism that the world is changing fast, perhaps faster than ever before.

A century ago, there was no television or internet, no mobile phones, no computers. Very few people owned cars, and air travel was just in its infancy. Just about every electric-powered device we take for granted today was yet to be developed. Many diseases (e.g. measles, mumps, polio, smallpox), rampant back then, have now been controlled.

Socially, change has also been rapid. There is much more mixing of races and cultures these days than there used to be in most countries. Gender variation and neurodiversity are now recognised. Larger cities are now home to a “kaleidoscope of urban tribes and micro-cultures“, which means there are many cultural barriers between conventional church and the surrounding population.

Not so long ago, most people’s lives were fairly predictable, but now people are more mobile in their jobs, their homes, even their countries, their relationships …. and their churches and their faith.

Many people have little spare time. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening in many western countries. Many don’t have job security so they may need several jobs to afford a home. And this takes time.

Education and information is so much more readily available. So much so that many Christians don’t feel a strong “need” to attend church. After all, podcasts are available from better speakers than they are likely to find at their local church. (No slight on local preachers, it’s just that some of the best speakers in the world can be readily found online.)

Change and the church

Many of the church forms we know today, especially in the Catholic Church (e.g. the shape of church buildings, the church calendar, ordination, baptism, marriage and burial rites, forms of the Eucharist, etc) were established by the sixth century.

Of course there has been change since then, but probably not keeping up with the change in the world. (Using guitars and drums in church worship is hardly a major innovation!)

Sermonising remains the main form of teaching despite it being shown to be somewhat ineffective. And now, due to online information, it is possible for some in the congregation to be as theologically educated as their pastors. (I have seen it happen!)

People are not always able or willing to sit passively in pews (or comfortable seats) at a fixed time on Sunday morning.

If we were starting again now, would we do what we are currently doing?

So let’s imagine together what might be best.

Flexibility is the key!

With so many social changes in the past few decades, and with a seemingly accelerating pace of change, fixed forms, structures and traditions can easily become a dead weight.

I am seeing twenty-first century Christians having eyes wide open to the culture we are surrounded by, open to change and flexible in our approach.

Flexible church structure

Churches come in all sizes, from a group of half a dozen meeting in a home or cafe, to megachurches where thousands meet in several services per Sunday in several locations. The average (median) number of people in attendance is 65 in the USA, 24 in the UK and 50 in Australia. So most churches are small, but there are a few very large churches.

There are advantages in both big and small. Small is more personal and flexible, but large is more able to provide services such as children’s and youth groups, and social welfare.

A growing number of churches are doing both, and this “mixed economy” style of church seems to be the way of the future. What might it look like?

I can see larger churches continuing their Sunday services while also sponsoring microchurches or missional communities to provide choice in style and time of meeting.

These won’t be small groups controlled by the church, often studying the topic of Sunday’s sermon, but each group will be free to develop their own ministries and programs, while remaining under the care of the sponsoring church.

There are various ways this can be done – micro-churches can be set up to focus on outreach to the “unchurched” or on serving a segment of the local community. Or again, why not do both? All can be discipleship groups.

Of course independent micro-churches will continue to exist, and likely grow in number in parallel to this growth in church-supported groups.

Flexible church services

Many churches have almost exactly the same form of service every week.

• One form is the “hymn sandwich” – 4 or 5 songs, interspersed with prayers, readings and the sermon. This form can be used in informal or more liturgical services.
• These days more often it seems to be a few songs to start, then announcements, prayer and a Bible reading, then a sermon, and then a few songs to finish up. Extend the worship a little if it is a charismatic or Pentecostal church.
• A few churches try something different, e.g. dinner church (a service around a meal) or “messy church” which may involve children, craft activities or other involvement.

Each of these forms has its advantages, and keeping the same form reduces the time taken to organise. But each one can stifle creativity and exclude people who relate to God in a different way.

So why not have some variation?

Imagine being part of a church where each week you may participate in a different type of meeting, each one with different aims. It could be any of the following:

• A “magazine service“, which includes many shorter elements (5-10 minutes each) – testimonies, reports from ministry teams, short talks on special subjects (e.g. apologetics, faith sharing, current public issues, Bible teaching) by different church members, worship, discussion, guided reflection, opportunities for prayer ministry, etc.
• “Stations church“, where the congregation has the option of visiting a number of “stations” around the church where they are led in a different spiritual activities and disciplines – guided meditation or reflection, lectio divina Bible reading, intercessary prayer, prayers of confession, song, silence, etc. People may visit all the different stations or just the ones they are drawn to. We have found this form very helpful.
• Dinner church – a more liturgical or discussion oriented service around a meal. Of course include communion.

• Outdoor church – time to sit in nature, be led in a time of silent reflection, share communion, and whatever else seems helpful. We have found this form of meeting to be very well received.
• Worship and prayer ministry – a time to build devotion to God and encourage people to receive guidance, healing and encouragement from the Holy Spirit.
• A service built around teaching and understanding – not via a sermon, but by guided learning. Might include apologetics.
• Discussion and sharing in groups. This could comprise most of the time together, or could be a smaller element in a service. Either way, it encourages active learning rather than passive observation.

There are also many ways to keep people involved and active in church services:

• Quick discussion of a topic in groups of 2 or 3 before a talk, or quick review among 2 or 3 of what has been learnt after a talk have both been found helpful in recall and learning.
• Even more helpful can be stopping a talk in the middle to (i) reinforce what has been said so far, or (ii) get feedback and to assess understanding, and then adjust what will be said next.
• Creative expression:
  • I know of a church where participants were invited to write a modern Psalm expressing their positive or negative feelings towards God at that time (just as the Biblical Psalms do). These were then shared.
  • Artwork or music expressing a response to God or to a talk.

Many of these types of services can be mixed and matched. One could become a staple, with others used occasionally, or a church could move through a cycle of all of them.

Most of these activities can be experienced in a micro-church as much as in regular church. In fact, that is the way I have experienced many of them.

The important thing is flexibility to meet the needs of the people in a way that is most helpful. And to keep everyone interested, active and involved.

Flexible ministry

Too many pastors and clergy today are suffering burnout, overwork and stress. Many are leaving ministry as a result. And no wonder. They have taken on an impossible role or having gifts of teaching, pastoral care, worship leading, evangelism, management and strategic planning. Some jealously guard their exclusive roles. Many congregationaql members are happy to outsource their spiritual growth and activism to them. But too often it is unsustainable.

In the book of Acts (e.g. 14:23, 21:18) Paul appointed elders in the churches that he founded, and every time elders are mentioned in Acts, it is plural. Leadership was shared. Yet somehow since then, most churches have focused leadership on a select class of people, call them clergy, ministers, Archbishops, pastors, priests, Popes or whatever.

There is no doubt we need leaders with special gifts and tasks, and in these busy times many of them doubtless need to be paid for their time and work. But we recognise that specialist training and ministries can take that person out of daily contact with the wider world.

So in the future church, I dare to imagine a time when the clergy-laity distinction is a thing of the past. Churches will be led by elders with a range of gifts, responsibilities and work arrangements. Some will be paid to work in the church, but most will work in the world and so better understand life for “normal people” in a way that clergy may not. A special caste will no longer tell the rest of us what we should believe and do, but we will all encourage and share our gifts with each other under the care of our elders.

Flexible dogma

Doctrine is important but doctrine can be divisive.

You’ve probably heard the story of a man who dies and is welcomed at the pearly gates by St Peter, who shows him around all the facilities. They walk past a high wall and the man asks: “What’s behind that wall?” Peter replies, “That’s the [names a denomination]. They think they’re the only ones here.”

So how do we hold to things that are important while not dividing from those who we’ll spend eternity with?

I dream of a church which tries to follow Paul’s advice in Romans 14, where he allows different ideas on important but not core issues.

We all have a fair idea on what is really core – matters like the kingdom of God, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the importance of repentance and faith, and the love and grace of God. Those are matters which we will rightly want to hold to.

But maybe the church of the future will allow more freedom on less essential matters which cause denominations to divide – baptism, atonement theories, spiritual gifts, ways of interpreting and applying the Bible, the Eucharist, and more.

If we can agree on the core, and if we can serve together in the mission Jesus has left us, why do we need to argue about the other matters? We can each hold to what we believe, as Paul suggests, while leaving each other to be guided by the Spirit.

Perhaps the future church might even be able to accept different interpretations on matters like divorce, the equality of women, gender identity, and give ourselves, and those who we differ from, space to be guided by the Spirit into truth, whatever that may turn out to be?

Is not the mission of Jesus important enough to make that “sacrifice” worthwhile?

Holistic ministry to make disciples

Some churches seem to focus on teaching, others on worship. Still others on a sense of community, or on serving in the wider community. Some churches manage to address several of these.

All of these may be (should be) vehicles for disciple-making, both outside the church, and inside it. I hope the church of the future will address all of them – word, Spirit, action & community.

Word

Christianity is definitely a verbal religion. We have our written scriptures. Our evangelism and teaching require, among other things, information to be given in words.

So words will be an important part of our church meetings, but some ways of using words are better than others.

I imagine a future church where there is less doctrinal instruction by clergy, who spend more time teaching their congregations how to read, understand and obey the scriptures themselves. This church would this fulfil Jeremiah’s prophecy (31:34): “No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me”.

Can you imagine a church where there are only long talks if the speaker is gifted, is speaking on an important topic, and they are giving a one-off talk. Otherwise, communication is in shorter segments and involves active participation by the hearers.

I hope in the future the church won’t value abstract Bible knowledge as much as it values Spirit-led sharing of important Biblical principles that help everyone live in a way more consistent with the kingdom of God. Where people are doers of the word and not just hearers (James 1:22).

I also like to imagine that the church gives people better reasons to believe and justification for continuing belief (i.e. apologetics). Arguments against Christian belief have grown stronger and more vehement in recent years, and believers need a firm foundation to stand on. This requires apologetics based on a willingness to follow wherever truth may lead, whereas now apologetics is too often based on defending dogma rather than honestly seeking truth.

And dare I imagine a future church whose public pronouncements in evangelism or social commentary are wise, graceful, gentle and respectful (Colossians 4:6, 1 Peter 3:15).

Spirit

The Holy Spirit, according to Trinitarian theology, is the third person of the Godhead. He is easily the most misunderstood of the Trinity – many churches almost ignore him, while some others (I think) overemphasise his role with us.

The Bible says the Spirit guides, empowers and comforts us. He convicts people of their need for forgiveness and leads them to Jesus. He gives gifts to bless the church and carry out our mission. It is a no-brainer that we should be seeking these blessings.

But it seems that God mostly respects our choices. Jesus wanted to gather Jerusalem to him, but they wouldn’t let him (Matthew 23:37). If we want forgiveness, we should repent. God sometimes waits to act until we pray.

So I see a future church which actively seeks the Spirit’s blessings, for individuals and for the church. This would be fully encouraged in its teaching, and church meetings would be structured to give the Spirit opportunity to act in peoples’s lives.

Worship and teaching would consistently be followed by reflection, opportunities for prayer and encouragement for Christians to invite the Spirit. The Spirit’s action wouldn’t be circumscribed nor defined in advance as sometimes happens in Pentecostal theology.

If the more supernatural gifts of the Spirit are given to a church, its evangelism and discipleship would be guided and more effective.

Action

Christianity is also a active faith. Jesus expects his followers to be active in caring for those who are suffering (Matthew 25:31-46), to love our neighbours in practical ways, even to love our enemies. His brother, James, tells us that without this action, our faith is dead (James 2:14-26).

Somehow, parts of the modern western church have downplayed these expectations, making the spiritual (evangelism, worship, etc) more important than good deeds. But that wasn’t the way Jesus saw it. If we love him, he said, we’ll follow his teachings on this (John 14:15).

So I imagine a future church that lives out these teachings of care for those in need. A church known for its love (John 13:35). A church that gives similar priority to action as it does to word and Spirit.

The church doesn’t always have a good reputation in the world these days, often for good reason. So it is interesting that Jesus said that doing good works would lead people to see God (Matthew 5:14-16). This is borne out in Australia where probably the most respected church is the Salvation Army, because it is known to care for people in need, social outcasts, addicts and criminals.

In the future church I see, our action in the world, both evangelism and care, will be holistic and all based on love.

Community

It is said that western countries are experiencing a loneliness epidemic. In most of these countries, more than a quarter of all households are single person, which makes it more likely to be lonely. Increased working from home, relationship breakdowns, unemployment and spending too much time on screens can also lead to loneliness.

The church is a community that can reduce social isolation and provide peer groups and mentors for lonely and alienated people.

But it isn’t only the lonely. We all benefit from fellowship and the mission of Jesus is enhanced when work together in unity and caring relationships.

I imagine the church of the future working harder to build relationships within the church and offering unjudging friendship to those outside the church who are keen to be included. As the saying goes, first they belong, then they believe.

Making disciples

So I see a future church which gives emphasis to word, spirit, action and community doing more effective and sensitive evangelism and disciple-making.

Transition to the future

Cultural change is often a slow process. People move at different speeds. We can’t always run with the early adopters, but we can’t always wait for the laggards. So if the future church is to be realised, we will need sensitive change management.

Change to the future church will be gradual, in small steps, with flexibility about process and timing. People will be consulted, listened to and the actions and reasons explained.

I can imagine a church which begins by having one of the alternative types of service as a one off. Later it can be repeated or a different alternative tried out. A traditional service can continue for those who want that, while gradual change occurs at another service where people are most likely to be receptive. Or perhaps a new service begun with early adopters.

Some approaches will be more successful than others. But with patience and care, many different styles of meeting can be tried.

Particular sensitivity may be required to establish services and patterns that are quite different to the current ethos of the church. People used to liturgical services may not find dinner church easy at first. Evangelicals may be suspicious about inviting the Holy Spirit to fill them.

But I believe there are always ways to move gradually into new ways. Small unthreatening steps.

Read more

Urban tribes and the church
I was walking in the inner city and observing the people who lived there …. and wondering how the church could ever reach out to them. Our cities these days are filled with many different urban “tribes”.

A fresh way to be the church
The church is losing ground in western societies and our outreach methods aren’t very effective. But what if we followed Jesus’ radical teachings about how to share him with others?

Sermons: not a good way to teach and make disciples
Communication in the church is more than speaking – we want listeners who will act on what they hear. Sermons don’t lead to the outcomes we want, but leave most people passive.

A church more like Jesus
What can we learn from how Jesus expressed the gospel, how he taught and communicated, and how he treated people? How can we make our churches more like that?

Why discussion is important
Discussion may be seen as an optional extra, but educators have found that it has a crucial and essential role in remembering, learning and acting on information.

Church in a Circle
Practical ideas on how to encourage and allow people to be more actively involved in church services, and so grow more as disciples.

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Main graphic: Woman with telescope (Pixabay), church (Nathalie De Boever) combined by unkleE. Other photos by fauxels (dinner) and Rawpixel (people on phones).