see more of Todd's thoughts at:

Dave Travis is my friend (and my boss at Leadership Network). Together, we have the amazing opportunity to work with some of the best church leaders all across the country. One benefit of working one-on-one with literally hundreds of churches is that we are able to see the trends as they are happening. What is working in churches? What is not? We're constantly on the look-out for the things that are changing, transitioning, and morphing in the church world.

Recently, Dave sat down and wrote down some of his thoughts about what IS changing. Today, I thought I'd share some of what he's seeing. See if it matches what you are observing in your ministry and church circles:

• The rise of multi-site churches – multi site changes everything, as we say.
• Social media penetration – I read that 85% of Americans aged 18-29 logged onto at least one social media site in August 2009. That’s one month—not year to date. Widespread adoption of this communication medium changed how we perceive leadership, so it changes churches.
• Internet campuses – They’re here and they are about to be “in a box,” so any size church can have one if it wants. For some, this will be a fad but for others this is going to be a big part of their outreach strategy going forward.
• Growth of teaching teams – This is a big, accepted change from when I joined Leadership Network almost 15 years ago. It’s almost like everyone wants to do it now, while they may not know quite how to do it.
• New church development by young adults - Some say people in their 20’s and 30’s are not going to church. They are. They’re just not going to existing churches. They’re flooding some new churches.
• Online giving – this number continues to rise, and some churches in Europe tell me that they get 80% of their giving electronically. Automatic draft is the most common way of electronic giving, and probably the most consistent way to get the funds.
• The iPhone revolution – Probably more accurately called the smartphone revolution, with others now coming on market. How we communicate in the future will in large part be driven by our hand held devices. Pay attention to that.
• Availability of appreciated stock – So what does that matter? Lots of gifts in the past came through that type of giving. When it ain’t around no more its hard to build an extravagant building. Might be a good thing.
• Availability of home equity – Not as much home equity to draw on as there used to be. Folks are forced to be more fiscally responsible. My guess is that it might have some short term affects on churches in subtle ways.
• More thinking about church beyond the walls – In Leadership Network language that means “Externally Focused Churches” being the best church for your community. (We have lots on this one.)
• More multi-racial churches – (though perhaps not multi-cultural churches). We have been tracking these numbers for some time. Committees and teams (and their consultants) may have different assumptions within their own team to be worked through.
• Mobility of Americans – I recently read that Americans are not moving as much as they used to. I attribute mobility factors as a big reason for megachurch attraction. If people aren’t moving at least 10 miles away as much, they tend to stay in their same patterns.
• The book/magazine/church conference business – Anything in print seems to be suffering, so there is a big restructuring going on in that industry. In the church conference business, there are going to be a few winners, a few that can survive and a lot that go under. We are seeing a restructuring there as well.

These are some of the things that have been changing and will continue to change. What would you add to the list? Send me your thoughts at trhoades@mondaymorninginsight.com.

Have a great week!

Todd

Todd Rhoades is the editor/head writer for MondayMorningInsight.com. He's also the founder of ChurchStaffing.com, a contributor to Rev! Magazine, and currently works with Leadership Network to help identify, connect, and help high-capacity Christian leaders to multiply their impact. Todd lives in Bryan, Ohio, with his wife and four children.