MEETING PLACES

POTENTIAL TO TRANSFORM MINISTRY THROUGH THE CHURCH IN A CAFÉ

There’s a sad reality facing the church: the church is losing ground to the world’s influence and infrastructure.

Addressing this situation will require new strategies and solutions to reach our communities in relevant ways. GIFT is committed to exploring the issues and developing the solutions.

Consider these alarming church statistics:

           • Only 29% of people born between 1977 and 1994 attend church
          • Just 34% of those born between 1965 and 1976 attend church
          • 70% - 80% of young people abandon church after leaving home
          • 6 new churches are launched every day but 8 close
          • Less than 6% of churches grow at or above the rate of growth in their community
          • The Christian researcher Barna also tells us that a growing number of Christians are seeking to build their faith through non-church outlets such as small groups, Christian music, technology and family.
          • In fact, only 70% of professing Christians nurture their faith via a traditional church. This percentage will decrease to only 30% by 2025.

Pope Benedict XVI went as far as to say, the church in the developed world is dying (Protestant and Catholic churches included). Conversely, mega stores, coffee shops, and hamburger joints are winning the battle for our minds and affection.
• Business analysts have even branded some of these places "Third Places" representing Home, Work and your favorite Coffee Shop.
• Open extended hours, many are even integrating technology into their offerings-- such as music downloads, large plasma screens and content.

GIFT asks: where's the Church in this new prioritization?

On top of this is the realization that our youth are advancing in their reliance on technology.
• 90% of college students and 70% of high school seniors and juniors now own cell phones.
• Our youth now blog, thumb messages to one another via their cell phones, and publish classroom homework into the web. They no longer expect static presentations or preaching but want to engage in communities of learning enabled via advanced technology and experiences.

At GIFT, we want the Church to be restored to a position of of vitality and relevance in our lives.

Addressing this situation will require new strategies and solutions to reach our communities in relevant ways and continue to support people’s spiritual development.

GIFT is committed to exploring the issues and is currently collaborating with other organizations on developing the solutions.

We're now exploring the development of new places for Christians to gather together and share the love of Christ amid a busy world that isn't stopping for traditional church. Gift is working with Church architects, food service vendors, facility outsourcing operations, multi-media technology vendors and television producers to explore the feasibility of a Church in a Café franchise.

This concept would bring both food and spiritual content to people; provide “counter encounters” with God; include GIFT’s posters that render scripture in exciting ways; and encourage neighborhood outreach ministry programs.

EXCITEDLY RENDERING GOD’S WORD

GIFT seeks to transform hearts to be more like Christ. We’re elevating scripture in a fresh way. You are invited to visit our gallery of scripture presentations.