264. Building a Future-Focused Church, with Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, and Raymond Chang, authors of Future-Focused Church

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Is the future of the church something to look forward to, or does it scare you to death.  Thriving into the future will require change, and the idea of changing the way we lead, or the way we do church, or the people we reach out to, can feel overwhelming.  Even if we want to do it, where do we even start?

In this episode, Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, and Raymond Chang share insights from their new book, Future Focused Church, where they explore adaptive leadership and offer practical tools to help ministry leaders guide their congregations through meaningful transformation.

THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Kara Powell asserts that the best days of the church are ahead despite current challenges.
• Kara Powell credits her optimism for the church’s future to her theology and understanding of God’s goodness.
• Church leaders should focus on the three checkpoints: relationally discipling young people, modeling kingdom diversity, and tangibly loving their neighbors.
• Jake Mulder explains the concept of a journey in church change, emphasizing the importance of checkpoints along the way.
• Jake Mulder lists the four zones of church change as here, there, who, and how.
• Jake Mulder states that a majority of change efforts fail due to outdated approaches and skills.
• Transformation in the church should not be a solo effort and requires a diverse transformation team, as Jake Mulder explains.
• Raymond Chang highlights how experimenting from the edges with small changes can lead to progress without being too disruptive.
• Churches often suffer from a lack of follow-through rather than a dramatic flaw when trying to implement change.
• Raymond Chang highlights the sons of Issachar as an example of understanding the times and discerning God’s direction.
• Maintaining disciplined attention is crucial, as Kara Powell emphasizes, to ensure cultural change efforts do not falter.
• Jake Mulder shares the importance of a diverse transformation team of five to twelve people representing different perspectives for effective guidance in church change.
• Jake Mulder notes that the process of church change is not about where leaders want to go, but where God is leading.
• The journey between a church’s current state and its future should begin with gathering the right team of people.
• Kara Powell shares an example where a church emphasizes youth engagement through consistent, simple actions like attending youth events.

RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:

• Future-Focused Church website
• Books mentioned:
  • Future-Focused Church, by Kara Powel, Jake Mulder, and Ray Chang
• Related episodes:
  • 222. Building a Multi-Inclusive Church, with Efrem Smith and Dan Kreiss
  • 242. Life and Leadership in the Fog, with Michaela O’Donnell and Lisa Slayton

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