Our World Has Changed

Dear Friends,

Do you think our world has changed in the last decade? In 2009, Apple had just launched its App Store, Twitter had just gone mainstream, Video on Demand had just exploded, turn-by-turn auto navigation became capable on the iPhone, and FaceTime wouldn't be a feature until 2010... Yes... Our world has changed.

During this same decade, our Western world church has begun realizing that a major shift has happened in the number of people who have a religious affiliation in America. Did you know that in 1954 the percentage of Americans professing to be Christian was at a high point of 71%? In 2016, this percentage was at 37%... that is a decrease of 100 million people!

The interesting thing is that even though the percentage of Americans professing to be Christians has dropped in this dramatic fashion, studies show that people are actually more interested today in "spiritual things". This means that even though many people may not prefer to hang out at a church building for that spiritual experience, they still want to experience God in some way.

So what does that mean for us? Can we still make a difference in our world as "church people"?

We think so...it may just take a little shifting of our perspective. Perhaps we need to see "church" in an unconventional way. Please follow along with us over the coming weeks as we explore this new idea! We want to take you on a journey.

To begin this adventure, answer these two questions:

How do you think people see the church?

How do you think people see "spiritual things"?

Think about it, and please email us your thoughts. We would love to hear your perspectives!

As we all seek to find our place as God's children in this new world, we hope you'll take a look at this short devotional from Todd called, "A Seven Day Journey Toward Purpose".

Have a great week!

Todd & Meredith