* Eddie Gibbs' new book Churmorph (pp. 19ff.) lists five megatrends we could look at to understand contemporary cultural shifts - modernity to postmodernity, industrial to information age, Christendom to post-Christendom, production initiatives to consumer awareness (Hillsong, Planetshakers et al do this successfully, in terms of 'attracting' numbers), religious identity to spiritual awareness...

* Were the hearers in your church yesterday allowed to ask questions? ('Church' is about the last place in our culture where someone is allowed to get up and spruik and forbid/not allow questions) ...

* Start with this as the key issue in terms of our addiction to clericalism (where one person per church community does most of the verbalizing about the Faith) - http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/8109.htm

IOW we can be 'in touch with the culture', (churches whose 'services' are roughly the same as a generation ago are all declining), be a charismatic personality in terms of communication (but intelligent YP are turned off celebrity-focussed worship events eventually), relate well to young people, etc. etc. but if we get our ministry-priorities wrong, it's all leading us down the track to oblivion. Thoughtful people are, underneath it all, essentially looking for a more authentic spirituality, and a raison d'etre for their lives.

Then go to this section for 50 more articles on what comprises a healthy church - http://jmm.aaa.net.au/catalog/section/yc1.htm

Shalom/Salaam/Pax! Rowland Croucher

http://jmm.aaa.net.au/

Justice for Dawn Rowan - http://dawnrowansaga.blogspot.com/