Future of the Church Poll Results

August 19, 2008 by Joshua Cody

The future of the church. It’s a huge topic, and it’s one we need to be ready for. But what is that future?

Well, 37% of you think multi-site churches are the future. More sites, more impact, yeah? Probably the convenience, pooled resources and leadership of multi-site churches lead you to this conclusion (and maybe The Multi-Site Church Revolution). And another 18% of you are looking the opposite direction. Mini-churches are the future in your eyes.

11% of you think there’s no change in store. It’s 379 more years of the same thing — some mega-churches, some mini-churches, some middle-churches. 9% of you think McChurches are the future. $1 double cheeseburgers for visitors and McSermons for everyone.

And the lonely group of you are the 3% who thing mega-churches will multiply thousand-fold to become giga-churches. Just imagine, showing up to find 20,000,000 friends for the 9:30 a.m. service. Hopefully, we will also see a revolution in church architecture and parking lot infrastructure.

There’s another 21% of you out there who say “something else.” So what is that something else? House churches? Internet churches? Twitter churches?

Click through your RSS reader to let us know what your “something else” is, and to give us feedback on this week’s question–what is your vote for the worst church marketing move of late?

Jeremy
August 19, 2008

I said something else. My “something” is pilgrim churches. No property, no ‘church home’ – a pilgrim church visits other churches for worship (tithing to their offering plates, of course), and maintains an internal small group network and church blog(s). I believe many people like to experiment and wander, as well as stay connected, and this meets both needs.

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Luke
August 19, 2008

There wasn’t an “all of the above” option. I’m hoping that the future of churches will be the realization that one church can’t be all things to all people. I was saved in a mega-church, I went to an old traditional church and was rooted in Biblical teaching. I now work in a church plant working to innovate the Gospel into people’s lives.
Each of those churches was perfect for my life stage. If they all had jumped on the bandwagon of what the other churches were doing I wouldn’t have had the same options or experiences.
I think we short-sheet ourselves if we try and guess what the next trend in church organization will be. I guarantee as soon as we’ve figured it out it’s already started changing.

Kyle
August 19, 2008

I like what luke said. The more I learn about Jesus, the more I see denominations and church styles as preferences and cultures.
Every body has been tasked with an infinite charge : to be Jesus to the world. Different people prioritize aspects of that differently. I come from a tradition that preaches to be “Christians Only, but not the only christians”
I happen to enjoy my intellectual, folk rock, non denom church I go to here in Nashville. But I don’t think it would work or be as successful in other places. Nor do I expect it to grow into a movement or that there will be many more like it.

Paul Carlson
August 21, 2008

I said “something else,” but I don’t know what that means exactly… most of my friends who aren’t going to a church have told me that they’d go to a church that actually did acts of service in the community, instead of a weekly worship service. Or, if a church gave their $2 mil for a new building away to Africa, local missions, or some other social cause, instead of spending it on “themselves.” My general sense of things is that a growing number of people are tired of the typical. I think in order to stay relevant, the Church will need to become less typical. How that plays out in my community or any other church’s community, I don’t know yet.