In the Fall of 2022, GACX conducted a survey with 282 global church planters to learn more about their habits, beliefs, and plans for the future of church planting. The 50-question survey explored the state of church planting by zeroing… Read More »What are “Very Successful” Church Planters doing differently?
Why Are Christian Leaders Overlooking Tech? Christian leaders affirm technology’s importance, but often fail to see it as a gap deserving further research. If you ask the average missional leader what the biggest influence will be on the Great Commission… Read More »The Technology Gap
There are good reasons to be skeptical about cryptocurrency. For one, it’s debatable whether “currency” is even accurate. And in fact, consensus seems to be leaning more towards calling it a financial “security,” or more generally a “digital asset.” But it depends on who you ask, and probably on how you define “money.” None of which is as simple as it seems.
Since the coronavirus forced worship services to move online, nearly a third of church-goers have stopped attending church, according to new Barna research. Among millennials, it’s even higher: Half of those who used to go to church have stopped since the pandemic started. It is not clear why. But when attendance plummets, we need to stop, reflect, and answer that question.
The church needs to be thinking outside the sanctuary, not only in the near term during COVID, but long after. Many church leaders are more than ready to welcome people back into sanctuaries, to see faces, shake hands, offer hugs. But that focus may risk distracting some leaders from considering what their hybrid churches will need over the coming year. So what should we spend our time doing?
Church went online in unprecedented numbers in the past few weeks, as thousands of priests, ministers, reverends, and preachers across the United States sought to carry on their Sunday services in some form. So what will happen as the state-imposed sheltering in place loosens and churches begin to reopen their doors? We can find clues by looking back to 2007—the year Amazon introduced the Kindle ebook reader. Many commentators wondered whether print books would survive.
Does it make sense to give up devices and social media like this? C.S. Lewis actually had something to say about this. Lewis, of course, never dreamed of anything like Facebook or even the internet. But we aren’t the first generation to notice technology changing our habits and lifestyles. Lewis once received a letter from a gentleman asking his advice about “motoring.” Here’s what Lewis had to say in a letter from 1956…
Of the 150 or so acres making up Willow Creek Community Church’s main campus, a full 8 acres are devoted to buildings. Parking lots cover more than 28. That ratio demonstrates just how important cars are to most churches today.
Every technological innovation has benefits and consequences. The benefits convince us to adopt it. But the consequences often come to light only later. For technologists, Deuteronomy 22:8 commends itself. It offers a principle that can guide ethical innovation.
Video venues are perhaps the clearest example of how technology is changing church. As these video campuses have spread churches out, another shift is going on—one that is no longer spatial, but psychological.