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Reversing the Trend
Christian congregations are losing numbers. This is an undeniable trend. According to Simon G. Brauer in his 2017 peer-reviewed paper written for the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, congregations hit their peak of 414,000 in 2006 and by 2012 the number shrank to 384,000. According Thom Rainer, in his 2018 article Hope for Dying Churches, “Between 6,000 and 10,000 churches in the U.S. are dying each year.” There is no solid statistical evidence of this many closings….
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Revitalize – Transform part 1
Making predictions are dangerous and even a bit ridiculous according to Pastor Carey Nieuwhof, a columnist at Christian Week. Yet in a recent blog post, he boldly made 10 predictions about the future church. Prediction #2: “Churches that love their model more than their mission will die.” This caught my attention and inspired me to write this series on revitalizing and transforming the church through architectural design. To explain his prediction about church mission and model, Pastor Nieuwhof shared examples…
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