The Future of the Church

The institutional church, as we know it, is dying. If you talk with almost any church growth leader, they will tell you this.Today’s Church is incapable of responding to the present moral crisis. It must reinvent itself or face virtual oblivion my mid-21st century.George Barna, The Second Coming of the ChurchIn the face of these waves of change, the institutional church in America has two options. Either it will go about its business as usual—and be swallowed up by obsolescence and die by default. Or the church will choose to die—and thus find life. Mike Regele (co-founder and president of Percept Group, Inc.), and Mark Schulz, Death of the ChurchThe current church culture in North America is on life support. It is living off the work, money, and energy of previous generations from a previous world order.Reggie McNeal, The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church.This doesn’t mean the church is dead, it is just that the “institutional” church, as we know it, is essentially non-functional. When Reggie McNeal came through Portland a few years ago, he shared with us that only 10% of the Millennials are in church (institutional church) on a Sunday. It’s not that the Millennials don’t have a faith, it is just that the institutional church has failed them and their spiritual needs are met outside of this instituion. A Millennial doesn’t join an organization, he or she joins a vision, a passion, a dream. And the institution they see has none.What does this mean for the future of the Church. How can the Church recover its mission?The mission of the Church was given by Christ to his followers in Matthew just before He left us:And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matt 28:18-20 NKJVJesus also left the Holy Spirit to give us the power to claim authority in the name of Jesus. Unfortunately, most of us have lost something that is very important. We have lost much of the vision of what God is doing here, and with it the passion to carry that forward. We aren’t desprite enough.Fortunately, God is still at work. Massive spiritual awakenings are already occurring at cities and even regions all over the world. Christian leaders such as George Otis, Jr.. Peter Wagner, and others are trying to document these, now in hundreds of cities (and even regions) around the word.See Beyond Illusion: Leading from Reality - just out – for more.