{"id":31668,"date":"2022-09-10T15:39:27","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-church-trends-to-watch-in-2020\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:39:27","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:39:27","slug":"3-church-trends-to-watch-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-church-trends-to-watch-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Church Trends to Watch in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
Akira Hojo photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Joy Allmond<\/em><\/p>\n

What groups of churches will grow? Which ones are on the decline? What general practices will the church see more or less of?<\/p>\n

Josh King and Sam Rainer, two of the EST. Church podcast hosts, discussed trends they see in established churches. Here are three predictions they have for 2020.<\/p>\n

1. There will be a deeper focus on the rural church. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cThe rural church is getting a lot more attention right now,\u201d says King, lead pastor of Second Baptist Church in Conway, Arkansas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a push toward trying to figure out what will happened to the rural churches as smaller communities change as commerce\u2014like the shift to online shopping versus storefronts\u2014might impact them.\u201d<\/p>\n

King believes this can actually be a positive movement for the rural church.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI predict more and more of these smaller churches will come together and form one church or a network of churches,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd because I believe the smaller churches will struggle, this will force them to rethink how they come together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rainer, pastor of West Bradenton Baptist Church in Bradenton, Florida, is also hopeful for rural and smaller churches, adding that he believes the megachurch movement \u201chas all but waned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re going to see a reinvigoration of the smaller neighborhood or rural church beginning,\u201d he says, but explains it will take time.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t expect a mass wave of church health to sweep the nation, but expect to see a renewed focus on the smaller or rural church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Rainer says, there\u2019s work ahead for these churches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to grasp this movement because it\u2019s not a forgone conclusion we\u2019ll do it right and do it well,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s positive and needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. More congregations will adopt a \u2018family of churches\u2019 model. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

As smaller churches begin to see a renewed focus, they\u2019ll still struggle along the way and perhaps depend on one another.<\/p>\n

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This, King says, can lead to adopting a healthy \u201cfamily of churches\u201d model\u2014a situation that promotes church autonomy while sharing resources that smaller churches can\u2019t afford or justify financing, but that can be shared with other nearby churches.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, lots of churches could use graphic designers or accountants, but don\u2019t have the budget or need for a full-time person to fill this role,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cA band of smaller churches can bring their resources together and share the cost and the time of the individuals doing this work.\u201d<\/p>\n

This, he says, gives small churches the benefits of a multisite church, but continues their autonomy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it\u2019s shared resources or combining assets, this model can be a win for the church,\u201d adds King.<\/p>\n

3. Video venues will decline. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

While multisite models are still expected to continue, both King and Rainer believe there will be a decline in video venues\u2014a format in which there is a live feed or pre-recorded message shown from a screen into a worship center.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll see this in larger churches in general,\u201d says King. \u201cThey\u2019ve moved away from video venues. Now, it\u2019s usually campus pastor is preaching live.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says not only is this a helpful move for building a stronger community among church leaders and church members; it provides more development opportunities for others in the church who teach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis gives a campus pastor a real opportunity to pour into other communicators in the church and build up their skill sets.\u201d<\/p>\n

JOY ALLMOND (@joyallmond)<\/strong> is managing editor for<\/em> Facts & Trends.<\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Akira Hojo photo – Unsplash By Joy Allmond What groups of churches will grow? Which ones are on the decline? What general practices will the church see more or less of? Josh King and Sam Rainer, two of the EST. Church podcast hosts, discussed trends they see in established churches. Here are three predictions they … Continue reading “3 Church Trends to Watch in 2020”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31668\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}