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What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

A great blog post from http://silouanthompson.net/

Quote:

What will American Christianity look like in 50 years?
Posted in Blog

I was asked this in an online forum, and my answer got too long to manage. Here’s my infallible prediction. How did I do?

Orthodoxy: Little visible change, zero substantive change. Increasing numbers and cultural impact. Progress toward a single American Archdiocese, but still not there yet.

Catholicism: Neither women priests nor married priests will happen. Increasing disaffection among liberal American Catholics leading to a significant decrease in attendance. Identification as Catholic will be increasingly cultural rather than creedal. This trend, combined with decreasing numbers of men seeking the priesthood, will force additional parish churches to close. This will be slightly offset by conversions from Protestantism, resulting in American Catholic liturgy and pastoral care becoming effectively more traditional. In northern Europe, Catholicism may fade into a cultural memory, but in North America, a leaner, more boldly traditional Catholicism will recover its equilibrium and continue to be a voice of conscience and stability.

Reformed Christians: Continuing personality issues, but overall the hardcore Reformed will still look and act a lot like they do today, because (almost uniquely among Protestants) Reformed folks know and value their tradition. The edgy/emergey segment will contribute a few cultural differences.

Lutherans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, UCC: Increasing convergence so that they resemble each other almost interchangeably, while de-emphasizing troublesome doctrinal issues until their emphasis on social issues rather than personal salvation turns them into Christian-branded social service agencies. In each movement the conservative outliers will continue to peel off in schisms embodying a previous generation’s norm. Many of these etremely conservative daughter groups will identify strongly with the little-o orthodox “Great Tradition” (cf...Tom Oden)

Anglicanism outside the US and UK: Few significant or visible changes, except increasing numbers, especially in Africa and Latin America, where Anglicanism is conservative in liturgy and ethos.

Conservative Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists in North America: I foresee growth and prosperity for individual parishes and dioceses, but overall a continuing fragmentation. Fifty years ago, these groups were culturally relevant and could provide nostalgia for returning Christians; now, in increasingly-unchurched America, they’re culturally unfamiliar but not yet old enough to make a virtue of ancient weirdness the way Eastern Orthodox do.

Non-charismatic nondenominations..will find their kids growing up effectively..charismatic..nondenoms, with more affinity for styles of contemporary music than for their parents’ doctrinal self-definition. The trend of people choosing congregations based on music and childcare will continue to grow. In-depth teaching of historical doctrine will continue to be a novelty.

Baptist..will continue to be a useless word for describing a set of beliefs or practices, as practically every form of Christian belief and worship can be found among self-described Baptists.

Charismatic nondenominations: Same story. In the absence of doctrinal accountability, these will continue to generate new approaches and practices every decade or two.

Old-school Pentecostals..(e.g. Foursquare, Assemblies of God, Church of God in Christ, Church of God of Prophecy) in suburbs and wealthy areas will continue to develop in unpredictable ways, ensuring that every generation is nostalgic for a lost experience and baffled by what their churches have become. In the 90s and 00s, the..Toronto Blessing,..Brownsville Revival,..Kansas City Prophets, and new prosperity teachings revisited mid-20th-century phenomena such as the..Latter Rain,..Manifest Sons of God, and the..earlier health-and-prosperity..movement springing from..EW Kenyon. But the more recent iteration was characterized by a new cultural ignorance of Christian belief or history, which freed it to become crazier, faster. By contrast, change in urban, inner-city contexts and in rural areas will be minimal: Urban churches will continue to be matriarchal and rural churches patriarchal.

TL;DR: in 50 years you’ll see recognizable Orthodox, Catholics and Reformed… and a vast spectrum of Everybody Else, many of them changing in significant ways and seeing that as a virtue.

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

Phil Thompson is a former AG that left and joined the Orthodox Church

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

sounds like a whole bunch of lost people who need to get baptized right.

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

Yes. I feel better now.

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timmy (Post 1208752)

Smaller.

That'd be great. Sharia can finally come to America!:bargain

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

Of course if we look even further into the future, things start looking a bit bleak for the church.

http://www.google.com/url?source=img...2qUDaLBA3sgEpQ

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

Quote:

Originally Posted by deacon blues (Post 1208747)

Phil Thompson is a former AG that left and joined the Orthodox Church

Is that the Eastern Orthodox Church?

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mizpeh (Post 1208793)

Is that the Eastern Orthodox Church?

Yes

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

The future does not look bright for the USA.

The world no longer fears America because America no longer fears God.

50 years from now there might not be a USA.

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

imo, he sounds about what I would "guess" things will be.

Something else I would add would be "gay" marriage will become more acceptable just like marriage between races has become more acceptable in most places.

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

just as the Amish and Hutterites have clung to many of their old ways, there will be parts of Chistendom that will hold to many of their old ways.

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam (Post 1209018)

Are these two the same in God's eyes ?

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

makeup and jewelry will become more accepted by "holiness" people.

Eyebrow pencil has become acceptable as has light colored lipstick and blush and "just a little powder to take the shine off the nose" in many congregations and has been for some time. Pink or coral fingernail polish has become acceptable and so have "french" fingernails and "fake" fingernails.

Hair on many Apostolic women has become short enough to manage but long enough for the current "church hairstyle."

Many have two sets of clothes: the "church clothes" worn to church and the regular clothes worn the rest of the time.

I'm not judging any of these things, just pointing out our "hypocrisy" with them.

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dordrecht (Post 1208959)

The future does not look bright for the USA.

The world no longer fears America because America no longer fears God.

50 years from now there might not be a USA.

Europe has been godless for at least two generations, they're still around.

Personally I believe America remains blessed because of the church (which I know you believe is in shambles but I believe is vibrant and alive still here---you're just looking at the wrong people/places) and because of our loyalty to Israel. There are consequences for sin and we will and are suffering the consequences in a variety of ways but overall God waits patiently because of the Church and because of Israel.

Now when the nation turns on the Church like the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany and when we turn on the Jews like the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany---look out, our days are numbered---just like the USSR and the Nazis.

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

Originally Posted by Sam http://www.apostolicfriendsforum.com...s/viewpost.gif
imo, he sounds about what I would "guess" things will be.

Something else I would add would be "gay" marriage will become more acceptable just like marriage between races has become more acceptable in most places.

Quote:

Originally Posted by scotty (Post 1209022)

Are these two the same in God's eyes ?

BUMP

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

America will have completed its transformation into the Biblical "Mystery Babylon". The Church will have come to a more Biblical basic foundation teaching. No Churches as we know them today will exist. They will have been banned by then.

Most people will by then understand that we are going through much tribulation before Christ returns. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of saints will already have laid down their lives for the gospel.

The underground Churches remaining will be fanatically loyal to Gods word. The tares will have found their way back into normal society. There will be apostles and prophets pointing them to the great New Testament truths. Excitement for the coming of Christ will hit an all time pitch as the suffering will be great the desire for the Kingdom of God and eternal life will be the great hope for his people.

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

Quote:

Originally Posted by deacon blues (Post 1209025)

Europe has been godless for at least two generations, they're still around.

Look at the shape they are in!!!

Quote:

Personally I believe America remains blessed because of the church (which I know you believe is in shambles but I believe is vibrant and alive still here---you're just looking at the wrong people/places) and because of our loyalty to Israel.

The only reason things are not worse in the US is because of a small group of people that is still exporting the gospel into the world.

As far as "loyalty to Israel".....just must be kidding. There is no support for Israel by this president. He's anti-Israel.

Quote:

There are consequences for sin and we will and are suffering the consequences in a variety of ways but overall God waits patiently because of the Church and because of Israel.

His patience is running out. Look around you.
If His patience does not run out He might have to give an apology to Sodom And Gomorrah.

Quote:

Now when the nation turns on the Church like the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany and when we turn on the Jews like the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany---look out, our days are numbered---just like the USSR and the Nazis.

The nation already started to turn on the church.
And is going to get worse.
Communism is on the rise in the US, check Obama's policies!!

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sam (Post 1209023)

makeup and jewelry will become more accepted by "holiness" people.

Eyebrow pencil has become acceptable as has light colored lipstick and blush and "just a little powder to take the shine off the nose" in many congregations and has been for some time. Pink or coral fingernail polish has become acceptable and so have "french" fingernails and "fake" fingernails.

Hair on many apostolic women has become short enough to manage but long enough for the current "church hairstyle."

many have two sets of clothes: The "church clothes" worn to church and the regular clothes worn the rest of the time.

I'm not judging any of these things, just pointing out our "hypocrisy" with them.

not here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: What Will Christianity Look Like in 50 Years?

Our message-lifestyle-methods-order of church services have NOT changed we ain''t adapting we are contending.