I recently shared my annual trends report for churches as we head into 2022. In this article, I look at seven church practices that may emerge into major trends. With each church practice, I provide you with a link or an example if you desire to dig more deeply. Some of these resources are provided by partners we have invited to join us at Church Answers.
1. Is small group curriculum on a rebound? This practice is led largely by the huge response we see taking place with the Rooted curriculum. Will this rebound expand into other curriculum lines, or is it largely about Rooted?
2. Evangelism training seems to be growing. Though we see many different evangelism tools, the one we hear mentioned the most frequently is Three Circles.
3. Texting for both internal and external communication in churches may reach an inflection point of growth. The leader for this resource seems to be Text In Church.
4. Local churches will receive more resources directly from publishers. Publishing houses will be working more directly with churches. Church Answers and Tyndale Publishing House have entered into a partnership to resource congregations directly.
5. Community research tools are growing to the point that it’s approaching an inflection point. It seems like it will soon be a common practice for churches to get a demographic/psychographic report every year. The Know Your Community report at Church Answers is our fastest-growing tool.
6. More churches will use a hybrid approach to generosity and stewardship. We are following the work closely of Church Growth Services in this area where the company provides the resources for congregations to do stewardship and fund-raising efforts themselves.
7. The entire nature of building and remodeling church facilities is shifting. There is so much here to unpack. We have been working with the design/build firm, Brown Church Development Group. For example, we see more requests to downsize worship centers and increase the size of foyers and welcome areas.
Again, these points are not trends as much as they are subtle shifts in church practices. We will keep you updated if we see any major trends emerge from them. Also, throughout 2022 we will provide you reviews of key resources churches are using. We begin next week with an in-depth review of the Rooted curriculum.
Happy New Year!
