What’s Next?
Thoughts from James Emery White, senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina and professor of theology and culture on the Charlotte campus of Gordon-Conwell Theological, on church trends and the next big thing…
Attenders looking for the “next” must realize that a church, no matter how innovative, is not the provider of spiritual formation. Individuals must dig deep into the core disciplines of the faith which have been with us for centuries and own their own spiritual development through prayer and study, fasting and retreats, worship and solitude. And leaders must realize that however exhilarating a new church model may appear, silver bullets do not exist. Leaders must look deeper than the latest model or program, conference or style, and realize that the process inherent within a thriving church has not changed in 2,000 years: you must evangelize the lost, then assimilate those evangelized, then disciple those assimilated, and then unleash those discipled for ministry.
Not much “next” to that.
Or maybe there is.
from my notebook 