January 06, 2025

Five Predictions We Got Wrong about the Future of the Church

27 minutes

This time of year, many commentators and researchers prognosticate about the future of the church. Thom and Sam take a different approach in this episode. While many of their predictions from previous decades have turned out to be correct, not all of them did. They look back and evaluate a few predictions they got wrong from years ago.

Sunday school would not survive the turn of the Millennium (Thom in the early 1990s).

Multi-ethnic churches would become the fastest-growing (Sam in the early 2010s).

The multi-site administrator would become an important church staff position (Sam in 2010).

Evangelism will return to its rightful place of importance and priority (Thom in the mid-2010s).

A recession will negatively impact church giving (Sam and Thom during the pandemic).

Resources:

Upward Sports

My Church Staff

Church Growth Services: Get your free campaign capacity analysis!

“The Book of Church Growth: History, Theology, and Principles” by Thom S. Rainer (affiliate link)

“Why Conservative Churches Are Growing” by Dean Kelley (affiliate link)

FREE Research Report! New Surprising Insights

Church Answers Central

The Everything Church Resource Directory

The Hope Initiative

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By Thom Rainer

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