Ran across this link of a few church-folks trying to forecast trends that will shape what “church” looks like in 2018. I’m always seduced into these sorts of conversations, so I’ll probably try and reflect a little and offer some comments on it in a couple of days.
That said, I liked a reference to hockey great Wayne Gretsky that was used to set up the article: “Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said that the secret of his success was that while other players skated to where the puck was, he skated to where the puck was going to be.”
So, where is the “puck” (our mission field) going to be and how exactly do we “skate there” to intersect it missionally with the gospel of the kingdom?
Guy M Williams 
great article. so, how is the umc moving/planning for the future? i often wonder what’s going to happen to the anglican church. right now, we’re pretty old and i’m not sure how things will look in 10 years.
I have to say that I agree with most of the points discussed in the linked message. That said, I disagree with a couple of the points concerning the future of “brick-and-mortar” churches.
These individuals expect the brick-and-mortar church to decline, with an emphasis on remote church and home-based church. I think that the human urge to have communion with others will prevent this decline. Further, if churches continue to offer multiple groups within one church (small group studies, Sunday School classes, etc.), people will want to reach the bigger church to expand their options for both worship and fellowship.
I do think that we will continue to see Mega-Chuches with multiple branches (like Houston’s Second Baptist). However, these remote campuses will still have to have ministers on-site on Sunday morning. Many people I with whom I have talked say that “tele-vangelism” doesn’t work when you are still driving away from your house. No one wants to sit in a movie theater and watch someone preach from 50 miles (or 500 miles) away, when they can see a local minister in person or a distant minister on their TV or computer.
That said, I do see that churches will have to move on-line to continue to attract new members. But the on-line offerings (even if streams of worship services) will still be evangelism. They won’t hold people’s interests long term. Fellowship, if offered competently, will still bring people together.
(Is is bad when the comment is longer than the post?)