9 Trends Good and Bad in the Church – Part Two
Two weeks ago, in Part One of this two-part look at church trends to anticipate in 2026, I presented nine negative trends of the year to come. You can read that article here.
In this article, we turn our attention to a more encouraging subject: nine welcome trends.
“Revival is Christ. . .
Revival is when God intervenes with His people at a particular moment to manifest decisively the presence of His Son in three ways: to give them a new focus on who Christ is to them and for them; in order that they might enter together into the fullness of His life over them and in them; so that they might serve together in the fulfillment of His mission through them and ahead of them.”
David Bryant, The Hope At Hand
1. A refocusing on the Word
For years, social media has served as pseudo-scripture for many – even in the church. Media influencers have been given priestly-preacher status, and digital tribes have served as missional communities. But this is slowly beginning to change. The foolishness of human wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:25; 3.19), the emotion-driven messaging (Galatians 5.16-24), and the cold nature of digital “community” are becoming evident to many. They are instead looking for Truth, substance, reality. Many see these desires at the heart of the recent move to orthodox and tradition-based churches. Fundamentally, this means a return to the Bible as authoritative in defining truth and life. I’m hearing of, and meeting, more and more younger believers who are not only turning off social media, but “turning on” the Word of God and the serious study of theology. It’s a slow, but very healthy trend we can all applaud and pray continues.
2. A return by younger pastors to Acts 6.4 devotion to prayer and the Word
I am hearing and seeing a love for God’s Word among younger ministers. And it’s personal. Yes, it is a heartfelt desire to follow the Lord’s command to pastors to faithfully feed the Good Shepherd’s people (II Timothy 2.2,15; 4.2). But this growing love for God’s Word is deeper still. It is a very personal passion for the Word of God, knowing it, digesting it, living it, and trusting it. These pastors aren’t squeezing Bible study and prayer into their busy schedules. They are setting their schedules around their prayer and study times. Local congregations blessed to be led by these pastors will grow in faith and in numbers, blessed by the Spirit and the destination of so many believers who are looking to replace sugary sermonettes with the meat of God’s holy and life-changing Word.
3. A hunger in the people of God for solid and sound biblical teaching
I’ll say it plainly: a hunger for expository preaching.
Candy can be packaged and repackaged as Snickers, Twix, and M&Ms, but at the end of the sermon, they’re all just variations on the same theme: sugar. Many are weary of being wired on Sunday by sugary me-focused sermonettes that fail to feed the soul or answer the great questions of life. The proof is in the recent significant movement of believers toward orthodox and tradition-focused church denominations. Yes, there are still many who want their sugar fix, but a fresh wave in the pew is washing up at the feet of many preachers. It’s calling church leaders to deconstruct their performance stages and construct ministry platforms in their place. It’s calling church leaders to re-establish the pulpit as the central piece of furniture in the church. It’s convicting the pulpit: calling speakers to become preachers, entertainers to be transformed into pastors, leaders to kneel as servant-leader pastors. It’s calling those pastors to bring the Bible back to the center of the pulpit and the sermon – the end of springboarding and stories, people are calling for the opening to our understanding of “Thus says the Lord.”
4. A continuing refining of worship
Many in the church are recognizing the upside-down emphasis we have placed in recent years on the individual worshipper rather than the biblically defined subject and object of worship: God. We’re taking stock of just how many songs focus our attention on God as our personal servant: how He makes “me” feel, what He does for “me,” and even songs that fail to mention God at all. With this has come a realization of the therapy-as-worship error, followed by many. As a result, worship pastors are resetting the needle on the themes of worship, returning to the message of the person and work of God, who He is in character and what He does, irrespective of humanity – He is the God who is worthy of praise. Full stop. At the same time, worship does include testimony – what God has done and is doing for me, and for us as the body of Christ – testimony of our great God’s glorious deeds in my life as His child, and our lives as His single temple of living stones. Worship pastors are calling us back to life as a body of worshippers of our Creator-Redeemer. It’s a great shift, and worship pastors are to be thanked – and encouraged – for their efforts in this healthy move.
5. A growing transformation from church attendance to Christian community
Yes, believers will continue to attend church, but church with a change. A growing number of younger adults will call for and help lead their churches to develop an identity defined by a healthy life in robust theology and spiritual experience. They will continue to steer the church back to the New Testament model of a faith community that is growing strong in biblical doctrine, discipleship, worship, ministry, and mission. Commitment to service will be “cool” again, and it will spill over from Sunday to the rest of the week, from attending services together to doing life and mission together.
P.S. It’s not being led by pastors, but by the people.
6. A return by younger pastors to servant-leadership
Younger ministers and bi-vocational ministers have seen too many older church and denominational leaders living large while they live lean. They’ve decided they don’t want it and won’t corrupt themselves to pursue it; they’d rather be servants (Matthew 20.25-28). They are calling for a return to servant-leadership, not only in word, but in deed. Younger ministers are willing to carry basins and towels, wash feet and windows. Not for the denomination, but for their local churches and communities, for those in need and the often neglected. It’s not animosity against their denominations; younger ministers are past that. It’s a realization of what ministry is all about and an embracing of what ministers of the Gospel are called to be: servants in heart and deed. Their sacrificial service is inspiring.
7. A move to require the credentialing of all staff pastors
The sad rise in spiritual and sexual abuse among pastors in recent years will cause churches to seek a formal vetting of staff in the hope of saving the church from such tragic events and the subsequent legal liability. Look at many church websites, and you’ll see a long list of “pastors.” But we are discovering that many of these are not credentialed, and so, have been placed in positions of authority without being proven faithful in life and true in doctrine (I Timothy 5.22; II Timothy 2.2). We are placing unqualified, and sometimes dangerous, people in pastoral positions. They have not undergone thorough vetting. Credentialing will serve as an added layer of protection for believers and local churches. It demonstrates that, while local churches cannot prevent all abuse, they have done their due diligence by involving their denominations in the vetting process. This said, a warning: It will now fall on denominations as well as local churches to follow through with church discipline of offenders and appropriate ministry to victims. Without this, credentialing is pointless.
8. An increase in the ministry of mentorship
Yes, there will always be those who want mentoring in ministry techniques and church growth; that’s a given. But for some time, the real move in mentoring has been in life mentorship and spiritual coaching – helping the minister grow personally. The motivations are two. First, this is the model Jesus walked and taught during His ministry on earth: if Jesus walked it and taught it, it must be the model I need to walk and learn. Second, doing flows from being. We can learn all the leadership techniques and church growth methods we want, but this is only another chapter in the Myth of Sisyphus, with many massive stones instead of just one: Just as we get the church going, a new wind or wave comes along, people stop pulling their weight, trusted leaders turn traitor, or we just wear out from running the machine we’ve built. The techniques and methods we’ve learned are powerless to save us from the heartache that follows. What then? Mentorship that focuses on being rather than doing builds healthy ministers who build healthy ministries. These ministers will be able to survive and even thrive when hard times come. The number of ministers offering to serve younger ministers is encouraging. The increasing number of young ministers pursuing this kind of mentorship is very encouraging. I’m personally excited about what’s happening in mentorship. And I’m thankful that I get to be a part of this.
9. A remnant remains. And it is growing stronger.
In a chaotic world and amidst an all-too-often misfocused church, a faithful and holy remnant remains.
A remnant with its gaze firmly fixed on the Savior, its heart set on worshipping Him alone.
A remnant with Bible pages worn ragged from serious study, meditation, teaching, and preaching all things He has commanded.
A remnant living in missional community, basins and towels in hand, doing life together locally in Christ.
A remnant committed to His mission of carrying the Gospel to all the world, making disciples of all nations.
A remnant with its eyes on the sky, looking and longing for Christ’s return.
A remnant remains. And it is growing stronger.
FINAL THOUGHT
A remnant is rising.
“Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, ‘I am with you, declares the Lord.’ And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, . . .” Haggai 1.12-14
The remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God. Obedience to God is rising in that remnant.
The people feared the Lord. The fear of the Lord is rising in that remnant.
“I am with you,” declares the Lord. The presence of God is rising in that remnant.
The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant. The Spirit of the Lord is rising in that remnant.
They came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God. A remnant is rising in the church of Jesus Christ.
Let it be, oh Lord. Let it be.
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