Where we live impacts us. I have been the pastor of a multiracial, international church in New Life in Queens, NY for the more than twenty five and a half years. It is the soil out of which I see the world and the larger church. Thus, I offer the following trends, or concerns, that I believe we need to carry to God in prayer:
- Evangelicalism will continue to lose young people in their teens, 20’s and 30’s who are genuinely searching for an authentic transformative experience with God.
- The issue of same-sex marriage and partnerships will increasingly dominate our youth ministries. We will be very slow to equip our youth leaders and ministries with a well-thought, nuanced, theological response.
- There will continue to be little interest for Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Orthodox believers to learn from one another.
- Marriage discipleship will remain non-existent or superficial in our churches. The high divorce rate, along with a large number of struggling marriages, will continue.
- Evangelical denominations will continue their painful, slow decline in influence and numbers as they seek missional relevance in a confusing, rapidly changing world.
- We will see greater social media savvy and preaching cleverness coupled with a new drive to plant churches and multisite campuses. This will negatively impact pastors and leaders in their ability to go deeper in their own spiritual formation in Christ.
- Racism, sexism, and classism will continue unchecked and remain largely unaddressed.
- Seminaries will continue to struggle to develop leaders for the next generation of pastors/leaders.
- We will continue to see few women offering significant contributions to our churches due to little encouragement, few opportunities, and a faulty theology. This will be true for both complementarians and egalitarians.
- Churches will continue to focus on global missions while ignoring the intractable problems of racism and poverty in the cities across the USA.
