I am not a prophet.
Please don’t stone me if I get one of these ten traits wrong.
And while there is a good bit of subjectivity in this article, I think I am basing my projections on clear and evident trends.
So, what if we could look into the future ten years from now, and see the characteristics of the healthiest churches in America? Would you be willing to make changes now? Take a look.
- They have the same pastor they did ten years ago. Pastors, the greenest grass may be the church you serve right now. Church members, quit nitpicking and complaining to pastors so much that they can’t wait to leave.
- The pastor, staff, and church members have a decade of calling to the local community. They are not just called to the church; they are called to the community the church is intended to serve. They would have loved and served the community for ten years.
- The church will be as diverse as the community. Look at your demographics now and the projected demographics ten years from now. How diverse is your church?
- The church will have responded to its international mission field in its own backyard for ten years. The world is coming to America. What is your church doing to reach different people groups in your community? Try sponsoring an ESL (English as a Second Language) class. Watch the world come to you.
- The church will have had a consistent and strategic outward focus for a decade. The leadership of the church consistently and persistently leads the congregation in outwardly focused ministries and evangelism.
- All new members the past ten years will have attended a new members’ class. They will thus not only have information about the church; they will have heard expectations of how they are to serve, minister, and give in the church.
- The church will have seen the cultural changes of the decade as opportunities rather than threats. Rather than ranting every time culture takes a shift away from Christianity, these churches will have used the changes as opportunities to share the gospel and minister.
- At least 80 percent of the worship attendance will have moved to a small group over the decade. For ten years, leadership in the church will have been highly intentional about moving people to small groups. As a result, assimilation will be at an all-time high.
- At least 50 percent of the attendance will have invited at least four people to church each year. Over ten years, a church of 200 in attendance will thus have invited 4,000 people or families to church.
- Every year for ten years these churches will have become more joyous and fun. Church bullies, curmudgeons, control freaks, and critics will not like these churches. The people will just be too happy for their tastes.
Ten years may seem like a long time to some. But it’s really the blink of an eye.
What will your church look like in ten years?
Let me hear from you.
Posted on July 11, 2016
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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77 Comments
It saddens me to read all this negativity. I can’t find anywhere in the New Testament that we are told to change with the times. We are told to be faithful and follow Christ. How can we improve and enhance this mission is always relevant but to change just because something new or different shows up is not always useful.
Dr. Rainer, Great observations! I think we can also take some of the traits and principles from Jesus assessment of the seven churches in Revelation 1&2.
Dr. Rainer, I just read your book, “Autopsy of a Deceased Church” and I found it enormously helpful. I am a 54 year old female in a church of 70-90 year olds. I have tried very hard to serve and to ask lots of “thinking questions” while striving to remain patient and not be critical; however, lately I am very, very discouraged by the inward focus and the lack of desire to volunteer inside the church and to reach out to the community. I am also a seminary student at Fuller. What advice would you give someone like me? Thank you.
We are desiring to train national pastors and missionaries who speak Spanish. How could I obtain permission to translate your articles here on your website and distribute them to the Spanish speaking community around the world?
Our desire in 2017 is to host a church leadership type conference equipping pastors and missionaries with these tips and many more of how they can better organize themselves in their presentation and outreach within their communities.
Dr. Rainer,
Overall, great list! My question for you, do you think churches 10 years from now should be prioritizing a stream-lined process to mobilize and send out long-term international workers? Just curious if you think that would also be a signal of church health. Thanks!
Like a surgeon excises a tissue sample. leaving the diagnosis to the pathology team, these podcasts always open the issue and force me into scripture to find the real application and solution for my church. May these things cause us to go deep, men and women!
Thank you so much, Mark.
Of course being a Bible Teaching, Bible Preaching, Spirit filled church is a given. Come on. This list was intended as a list of practical of goals to think about. Some of you folks need to stop thinking of yourselves as the most spiritual person in the room.
Sorry if this comes across as harsh, but be glad that I didn’t say what I really wanted to say, that some of you remind me of the way the religious leaders criticized Jesus.
Bravo!
That cuts both ways, David. Some comments I see seem to emphasize the idea that we need to go whole hog in “modernizing” the church–and sound just as “holier-than-thou” as is being attributed to more old-school Christians. Both sides suffer from “mote-and-beam” syndrome. I think we need to have a more nuanced approach.
Not all change is bad; not all change is good. We need to weigh all of it against the Scriptures and be selective about what we add and what we retain. Not all that is “modern” is good; not all that is “old fashioned” is bad–and vice versa.
Morally, the world is sinking farther and farther the closer we get to the Lord’s coming. It is reflected in culture. We do not need to sink with the world; we should be trying to lift the world up. This will entail some changes in our approaches. Those changes need not be a wholesale swap of old for new, assuming new is better.
That is the crux of what I was trying to say earlier (and I apologize if I came across too negatively). We should be focused on being acceptable to God, not to the world. Yet we should continually seek ways to reach the world with the full message of Jesus Christ.
Dr. Rainer your insight is exceptional in giving pastors a tool to evaluate their last 10 years and plan for the next 10. I would but add an 11th mark that may be “understood” for some but I feel must be seen. (11) Membership growth is at least 25-50% from new Christians not attrition.
I like it! Thank you.
Pretty sad when talking about a “healthy” church with no mention of Jesus.
See Dr. Rainer’s reply to Josh Phillips.
Maybe don’t nitpick and complain to the author of the article so much that he closes the comments or can’t wait to stop writing? 😉
#11 – They will have planted 3 churches (1 every 3 years) that all have it in their DNA to plant new churches at a similar pace: 1 new work every 3 years.
Maybe part of the push back some are giving is in the definition of healthy?
I definitely agree this list will probably produce numerically growing churches.
Those churches may or may not be healthy.
And could we add an 11th trait? While in total agreement we tithing units can be downright nasty to deal with, we have in nearly 50 years dealt only 3 times, to my memory, with abusive pastors. Those 3 wrought great spiritual damage to many people. Can we, while weeding out the hard to get along with sheep, send them off with the hard to get along with shepherds also?