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Home/Churches and Ministries/4 Church Trends That Make Me Uncomfortable

4 Church Trends That Make Me Uncomfortable

If I were searching for a church for my family, these practices would probably prevent me from joining a particular church.

Written by Landon Coleman | Friday, December 29, 2017

Admittedly, my usage of the word “trend” is highly subjective. I have no statistical support to prove these 4 practices are in fact “trends” among churches today. My list is based purely on my limited experience and limited observation. Additionally, in titling this post I intentionally chose the word “uncomfortable.” In my mind, these 4 trends are not practices that automatically make a church a “bad” church. However, these are trends I don’t quite understand.

 

I’ve thought about publishing this post for several months. However, I have not hit the publish button until today. I have several reasons for my hesitancy. One, I don’t want to write a post that suggests I have all the answers to how autonomous congregations “do church.” Two, I don’t want to write a post that looks down on other pastors in a condescending way. Three, I don’t want to write a post that is belligerent or that is intentionally provocative. Four, I don’t want to write a post that singles out one specific church as an example of what not to do.

For all these reasons, I’ve not published this post until today … but today’s the day. In what follows, I want to share 4 church trends that make me uncomfortable.

Admittedly. my usage of the word “trend” is highly subjective. I have no statistical support to prove these 4 practices are in fact “trends” among churches today. My list is based purely on my limited experience and limited observation. Additionally, in titling this post I intentionally chose the word “uncomfortable.” In my mind, these 4 trends are not practices that automatically make a church a “bad” church. However, these are trends I don’t quite understand. They’re trends I would not want to uncritically embrace at Immanuel. And if I were searching for a church for my family, these practices would probably prevent me from joining a particular church.

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