I came across this intriguing article when another religion blog, Church Marketing Sucks, mentioned it. (Interesting site about church outreach, though not for the uninitiated I don't think.) The writer considers the shape of the church in 25 years, 2034, at least as relates to the use of technology (the focus of the magazine, Collide, it appeared in).
I find the discussion of church sizes particularly intriguing, though probably premature for 2034. Congregational size will likely change over the next few decades, mostly due to the fact that it will become more challenging to financially support what many believe to be the basic neighborhood church: a building and a full-time pastor. Churches wanting to do this will need to be a certain size, which means that smaller congregations will feel more and more squeezed financially, maybe to the point that they either need to become very small or larger.
However, the author's comments about multiple church campuses may not only be prescient (I do think that it is a trend we will see much more of, because of so-called branding, in the next 20 years), but the solution to the squeezed churches. What if several small congregations pooled resources for one pastor who preached to them simultaneously using video communication? This pastor could visit each congregation over a period of Sundays, yet be present in all of them every Sunday. Intriguing, to say the least.
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As a lifelong resident of Appalachia, I am, by nature, resistant to change. Necessary or not, I fear I will be especially resistant to this one. Sorry, but I want my minister to be present in the flesh, not via satellite. Otherwise, I could stay home and be numbed by the televangelists.
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