Life, death, and resurrection

A friend forwarded me an article about changes in society — especially businesses — in light of COVID-19. I encourage you to read the article. It talked about changes in restaurants, malls, retail, etc. It talked about large chains versus mom-and-pop stores. It talked about urban, suburban, and rural circumstances.

And my friend asked me — how do you think this relates to the church?

Wow, what a great question.

I think the trends talked about in the article apply to the church as well. Or at least parts of the church in the US. Context matters of course. It’s dangerous to proclaim what will happen to “the church” with any type of authority. You are almost guaranteed to be wrong in some aspect. But then again, fear of being wrong shouldn’t stop us from looking at trends and making adjustments based on reality. It’s one thing to talk without any data or information, it’s quite another to take what you have been researching and seeing data and trends on and making some statements that have a foundation in reality.

I honestly don’t see the church changing much in rural areas. Change doesn’t happen quickly or have direct impact on rural areas. That’s not a bad thing — it’s more a recognition of reality. Rural areas aren’t concerned with being on the cutting edge of things. I think rural areas are designed to not be on the cutting edge. It’s part of the appeal for people who choose to live in rural areas.