We’re hearing it more at Church Answers. Church leaders are communicating, “We are not doing discipleship well.” It’s not due to neglect so much as to an outdated strategy. Most discipleship systems in North American churches were built for an era when people attended weekly, married younger, had more stable family rhythms, and Baby Boomers formed the backbone of both volunteering and giving.
That world is fading. Attendance frequency is declining, household formation is delayed and stressed, and the actuarial reality is unavoidable: Baby Boomers are aging out of active participation. Discipleship strategies built for the past will not carry the next generation.
What, then, are the shifts church leaders should pay attention to right now? Here are five research-informed discipleship trends already emerging.
From the Archives: Stop Pursuing the Past
If you are honest with yourself, the good old days were really not that good. Sure you would love to see your church’s worship center filled again. Of course you would love to see all of the people come back that you used to see for 20 seconds every Sunday morning. But in romanticizing the past, you’re forgetting about all the things that were broken and all of the things that you didn’t like. Now is the opportunity to fix them.
Maybe this is not the season to rebuild your church. Maybe this is the season to start over. You’ve had daydreams about that. You thought about if I could start this church from scratch this is what I would do. Right now your church as it is as close to scratch as it’s ever been. Take this opportunity to start over.
From Ruts to Renewal: Aligning Your Leaders with God’s Vision for What’s Next
Aligning leaders with a vision plan in your church does not require a large team. It requires shared clarity.
French bishops oppose bill that would force priests to violate secrecy of confession
Bishops in France have voiced opposition to a bill debated in the National Assembly on Monday that would require Catholic priests to report child abuse disclosures made during confession, a requirement they say violates one of the sacrament's foundational principles.
The French Episcopal Conference expressed "great concern" over several provisions of the bill, according to Infovaticana, which cited the French newspaper Le Figaro.
Why Protestants should read the pope’s encyclical
Since “Rerum Novarum,” Catholic social teaching has generally assumed that the state served as the primary counterweight to concentrated economic power. “Magnifica Humanitas” suggests that this arrangement no longer adequately describes reality.
Also See: Magnifica Humanitas | Pope Leo XIV (FULL audiobook) — REAL human voice!Overcome Ministry Burnout: Let Go and Say “No”
Saying "no" isn’t weakness or a lack of faith. Sometimes it’s a necessary first step in narrowing our focus and strengthening our faith.
Outsourcing our Humanity: AI, Human Identity, and Vocation
This essay is part of a series on AI and Pope Leo XVI’s May 26, 2026 encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. A round-up with links to all essays will be available later this month.
“Praying in the Holy Spirit”: What Does Jude 20 Mean for Christians Today?
Among the shorter books of the Bible, the letter of Jude contains some remarkably weighty exhortations. Writing to Christians threatened by false teachers and spiritual compromise, Jude urges believers to “contend for the faith” (Jude 3). Yet his final instructions are strikingly pastoral and deeply practical:
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” (Jude 20–21)
For many Christians, the phrase “praying in the Holy Spirit” raises immediate questions. Does Jude refer to a special kind of prayer? Is he speaking about emotional intensity? About mystical experiences? About speaking in tongues? Or is he describing something more ordinary, and yet more profound?
What To Wear
I’ve visited a lot of different churches over the years. A few have required a head scarf. Some, something nicer than jeans. Most don’t care.
Mine was the generation to break traditional church dress codes, following on the heels of the hippies before us. It felt daring. Rebellious, even. Like we were laying aside the trappings of formal religion to uncover the heart of what it meant to follow Jesus. It wasn’t until I gained some maturity and humility though, that I recognized that in many churches, dressing up was a form of showing respect for God, not just an antiquated tradition.
But how does God want us to dress?
Mine was the generation to break traditional church dress codes, following on the heels of the hippies before us. It felt daring. Rebellious, even. Like we were laying aside the trappings of formal religion to uncover the heart of what it meant to follow Jesus. It wasn’t until I gained some maturity and humility though, that I recognized that in many churches, dressing up was a form of showing respect for God, not just an antiquated tradition.
But how does God want us to dress?
Image Credit: Episcopal Asset Map
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