Another sign of the declining loyalty to a single local church will be the increasing prevalence of crowdsourcing spirituality in the church. If you are unfamiliar with crowdsourcing, it is the process of putting a problem before many sources (a crowd) to find a good solution.
In 2010, we will see more people crowdsourcing their spirituality to many churches. In a practical sense, this means there will be more people who are visiting many churches not because they are "church shopping," but because they want to use services of many churches. They have each of their spiritual needs fulfilled by whatever church they think does the best job.
How does this relate to people's need for community in the church? I think that as the trend continues and gains momentum, we will see small groups that may be primarily associated with one church nevertheless use another church for some services. For instance, a small groups of parents who attend Church A on Sunday morning may all decide to bring their children to Church B on Wednesday night.
The key for churches will be in making sure people can accurately determine what will help them grow spiritually. If a pastor truly cares for the people in his church, he should want them participating in ministries that help them grow, even if they are at the church down the street. The danger is that people may not self select things that really do help them grow, and for that the church needs strong leaders with personal connections to the people.
Comments
Post new comment