John Sweetman
Church life is constantly changing. In this series I am discussing some diverse trends that I have noticed in evangelical churches in Queensland over recent years.
These comments are purely personal observations. They come from my interaction with pastors, students and churches as well as my reading, but they are only personal impressions and are not necessarily supported by objective evidence. So feel free to disagree. Your experience will be different from mine. While I have opinions on many of these trends, in these articles I am attempting to observe not critique.
2. The American influencers of the Western church are changing.
Most Queensland evangelical churches have been heavily influenced by Bill Hybels and Rick Warren over the last 20 years. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Hybels’ emphasis on reaching the lost, seeker sensitive services, and relevant ministry and Warren’s focus on intentional ministry (purpose-driven), outreach, strong management, and effective, accountable ministries became the priority for many churches striving for growth.
These two authors and practitioners became household names among pastors and many church leaders. Many churches tried seeker services or completed the purpose driven life series. We were seeking intentional, growing, mission-oriented churches like Willow Creek and Saddleback.
While the old firms of Hybels and Warren continue to influence, there are newcomers on the block that many pastors and church members are now more likely to listen to. Names like Rob Bell, Mark Driscoll, Andy Stanley and Erwin McManus are respected, especially among younger generations.
However, these new guys (and they still are largely all male) are not so much touting structures and systems to improve the church, but are mainly calling Christians to live biblically (within their own particular theological nuances and directions). It’s not that they don’t care about systems and structures (e.g. Driscoll has his successful Acts 29 church planting movement), but their first priority appears to be thinking, biblically-informed, kingdom-minded Christians.
By lumping these influencers together, I’m not saying that they would agree on priorities and theology. They are actually quite diverse and all have their own emphases and followings.
These new influencers write books and produce video series (who can forget Rob Bell’s Nooma), but their main impact is through their sermon podcasts, that are possibly being imbibed more by younger Christian leaders than pastors. This is producing a generation of Christians who think independently of their own churches and teachers, and who may not look to church attendance for spiritual nourishment.
It is worth noting that quite a few of the most commonly downloaded podcasters (e.g. Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, John Piper) come from a Reformed perspective. Some are gentler and others more strident in their approach, but I think that they appeal to thinking Christian leaders because they teach Scripture at depth. There are signs that their teaching is bringing a resurgence in Reformed influence with a contemporary edge.
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