The End

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The End
Breaking Through Growth Barriers
THE CHURCH 2006
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People Want to Make a Difference! So Whats
The Problem?
Barrier 1 Its a Leadership Thing!

• Leaders become Comfortable.
• Leaders are busy and tired.
• Leaders lack Vision!

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THE GOOD NEWS

• GOD ALWAYS RAISES UP A
• REMNANT OF HIS PEOPLE WHO WILL DO HIS WILL.
• (But sometimes they kill the prophets first!)

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Barrier 2 Expectations
What are the expectations of people who join the
church?
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Some churches grow disciples by accident!
Barrier 3 Lack of Vision
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Vision and purpose grow out of our values,
preferred and actual values.
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DISCOVERY OF VISION
Where have we been? How has God worked in our
past? What are the ministry milestones that have
shaped us into the leaders we are today? Where
are we going? Where is God leading in the
future? What am I going to do about the future?
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Barrier 4Lack of an IntentionalGrowth
Strategy. A PLAN!
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Multiple Entry Points

• Worship
• Sunday School
• Side Door
• The More the Better

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A growing church mustattract and conserve.

• Attendees must stick
• Become effective participants
• Requires effective ASSIMILATION

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Adult Sunday School classes are not small
groups.

• Issue of closed groups.
• The issue of expectations.
• The issue of time.

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Barrier 5 Multiplication of leaders
Developing Leaders Requires Good Ministry
Models
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Barrier 6 Disconnect with Community.
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How about the millennials?
Who are they?
The first graduated from High School in 2000.
They are the children of the boomers.
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How about the millennials?
Who are they?
What do we know about them?
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Millennials are differentQuotes from
Millennials Rising, by Howe and Strauss.

• They want well paying jobs 81
• Good relationships with parents 77
• Getting married 57
• Having children 38
• Owning a business 28
• They reject the too cool to care credo of
  Generation X. They are optimistic and hold
  traditional values. They care. They want to make
  a difference. They will redefine what it means to
  be young.

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Millennials

• Their world is multi-racial and small.
• Its a CNN world taken to the next level.
• Family takes on new meaning for many.
• Religion is a composite of their culture.
• 9-11 to them is what the Cuban missile crisis was
  to boomers.
• Technology connects them and disconnects them.
• They interact with technology.
• Learning is not always linear.
• They are a highly visual generation.
• They value relationships.

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Trends Beyond 2000 (Popcorn)

• Cocooning
• Fantasy Adventure
• Egonomics
• Cashing Out
• Staying Alive
• The Vigilante Consumer
• Save Our Society

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Some Fun Stuff off the InternetTrends in
Religion

• Increase of pluralism in society.
• Interfaith contact will increase.
• Increase of woman pastors.
• Spiritual but not religious in U.S.
• Growth of militant fundamentalism.
• Shift to non-white Christianity.
• Rising growth rate of Islam.

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More stuff off of the Net

• Aging of Western populations.
• Rise of Postmodernity in Western Society.
• Technological growth Medical/nanotechnology,
  engineering, artificial intelligence.
• Increasingly people are going to the Internet for
  religious resources.
• Generation gap in church continues.
• Religious Individualism increases.
• Influence of third-world Christianity.
• Longevity of human life increases.

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Gallup Three Areas to Consider

• Spiritualitysurged
• Support of organized religionFlat but
  different. Small groups increasing.
• Deep Transforming Faith Gaps.
• Ethics gap.
• Knowledge gap.
• Believers and belongers.

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The Future Sunday School?

• Shift to emphasis on relationship. (High touch)
• Bible study vs. Sunday school.
• Place and time will change including internet.
• Diversity. Diversity. Diversity.
• Conformity. Conformity. Conformity.
• Close external community connection.
• Does it make a difference?
• Marketing Relational touch points.
• Quality demanded.
• A shift in leadership base. High expectations.

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Future Sunday School ?
Bill Alphin The Virginia Baptist Mission
Board 800.ALL.BGAV Bill.alphin_at_vbmb.org 4/20/06