Faith Formation 2020 Scenarios
The goal of the Faith Formation 2020 Initiative is to inspire creative action in the present through anticipation of possible futures. The four scenarios developed through the initiative are stories that address significant forces affecting faith formation and stimulate new ways of thinking about the present and the future. No one knows what lies just beyond the horizon but these four scenarios of the future can inform church leaders of potential challenges and opportunities they may want to prepare for now rather than react to later. The four scenarios are not predictions, projections, or prophecies but rather an attempt to provoke a realization that the future need not simply be more of the same.
No one can definitively map the future of Christian faith formation. However, developing alternate futures can contribute to good decision-making processes that will determine the direction of faith formation. The four faith formation scenarios can help frame key issues and developments that will shape what the future may hold for a church and help a church’s leadership prepare more effectively. The scenarios are meant to stimulate discussion about what choices churches can make today in order to thrive in 2020. The scenarios are intended to begin a stimulating discussion about the future of faith formation in your church—not to propose readymade answers or solutions.
The scenarios express a range of possible futures facing congregational faith formation over the decade from 2010 to 2020. Each scenario story explains why the “main story” of faith formation in 2020 will be framed by the response of Christian churches to people’s relationship—their attitudes and responses—to organized religion (receptive or resistant) and to people’s hunger for and openness to God and the spiritual life (high or low).
The scenarios that follow are not meant to be exhaustive or prescriptive—rather they are designed to be both plausible and challenging, to engage your imagination while also raising new questions about what the future of faith formation might look and feel like. Imagine what faith formation could look and feel like in your congregation if your church is responding to the challenges and opportunities in each scenario. Imagine the life of your congregation in 2020 if faith formation addresses the spiritual and religious needs of all ages and generations in each scenario over the next ten years.
Read more about the four scenarios and how to apply them to your congregation.
No one can definitively map the future of Christian faith formation. However, developing alternate futures can contribute to good decision-making processes that will determine the direction of faith formation. The four faith formation scenarios can help frame key issues and developments that will shape what the future may hold for a church and help a church’s leadership prepare more effectively. The scenarios are meant to stimulate discussion about what choices churches can make today in order to thrive in 2020. The scenarios are intended to begin a stimulating discussion about the future of faith formation in your church—not to propose readymade answers or solutions.
The scenarios express a range of possible futures facing congregational faith formation over the decade from 2010 to 2020. Each scenario story explains why the “main story” of faith formation in 2020 will be framed by the response of Christian churches to people’s relationship—their attitudes and responses—to organized religion (receptive or resistant) and to people’s hunger for and openness to God and the spiritual life (high or low).
The scenarios that follow are not meant to be exhaustive or prescriptive—rather they are designed to be both plausible and challenging, to engage your imagination while also raising new questions about what the future of faith formation might look and feel like. Imagine what faith formation could look and feel like in your congregation if your church is responding to the challenges and opportunities in each scenario. Imagine the life of your congregation in 2020 if faith formation addresses the spiritual and religious needs of all ages and generations in each scenario over the next ten years.
Read more about the four scenarios and how to apply them to your congregation.