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“The church is dead, long live the King!”

‘The church is dead, long live the King!’ is the provoking title of a book released this month in the Netherlands. Around 30 theologians, artists, visionaries and church planters reflected on the question ‘What will the church of Jesus look like in 2040?’

“Of course the church is not dead at all,” says Joel News International publisher Marc van der Woude who contributed to the book. “But ‘church as we know it’ is certainly declining in the Netherlands, with currently two congregations closing doors every week. That’s 1,000 churches by 2020, which is 25% of the total. With a future looking that bleak, the only hope for the church is in rediscovering what it means to truly follow the King. Many Jesus followers long for a fresh grassroots movement of the Kingdom of God. A movement that is passionate, generous, prayerful, provoking, righteous, restorative and pioneering. Many people in our society long for spiritual fulfilment, real community and a message of hope to the world.”

Van der Woude thinks the church of the future will certainly be more simple, flexible, and multi-coloured. “There’s a gradual shift taking place from ‘regular church’ with a large building, a Sunday morning service, a paid professional, and ‘one-size-fits-all’ to new expressions like simple churches, emerging churches, neomonastic communities, 24-7 prayer rooms, festivals, online communities with meet-ups, and much more. Current church forms will certainly remain, but become part of a much more colourful palette.”

“Because of globalisation, postmodernity, the rise of a creative class, and the revolutionary development of the internet, the Netherlands - like many western nations - has become a network society,” says Van der Woude. “A new generation, raised with the digital social web, expects the church to function as a participative network community, where everyone can take part and contribute his/her God-given ideas, talents, creativity and learning experiences to shape the mission of the church. New communities will be started ‘bottom-up’, no longer ‘top-down’. The new groups spread via friendships and relationships into all kinds of social networks, and therefore often will be versatile and mobile.”

“Take the simple churches - small groups that can meet in houses, schools, offices, cafes, restaurants, or outdoors. They have six ingredients: Jesus, friendship, prayer, sharing a meal, serving other people practically, and sharing the Gospel. In Europe these simple churches grow on average 20% each year. Because they’re so simple, everyone can do it. All you need is a table, a fridge, and an open heart for people. I know groups among athletes, actors, skaters, rockers, business people, migrants, highschoolers, new agers, prisoners, mothers, couriers and bloggers. Tomorrow’s church gathers in art studios, Turkish tea rooms, IKEA restaurants, disadvantaged neighborhoods, office canteens, and some 500 other locations. Perhaps occasionally also in a church building.”

Source: Marc van der Woude