Crossing Thresholds: 8 Emerging Dynamics Every Church Must Address

A Leadership Growth Experience For Clergy & Church Staff

September 2025 – May 2026

COSTS

Seminar Only: $325
Seminar + Coaching Group: $695
Seminar + Coaching Group + Individual Coaching: $1,395

Rarely do we prescribe what churches “must do,” recognizing none of us has a complete understanding of church life in these moments. At the same time, there are particular dynamics emerging in our current context which churches are encountering, navigating in real time. Perhaps this is part of the ongoing Modern to Post-Modern shift. Perhaps this is what happens when a world-wide pandemic interrupts life as we know it. Cultural deformation and reformation are clearly underway, without resolution into a widely shared “new normal” cultural milieu. The shifting is ongoing.

In this context, we need a life-giving, hopeful way to be in this world. This Christ-centered story, this Christian movement, is hopeful and relevant, given these cultural swings and shifts. Our spiritual hunger, our longing for a better way, is escalated as familiar traditional culture recedes. The essence, the best of this Christian Way, is ever relevant and life-giving.

Eight Emerging Dynamics

Yet, churches have work to do. There 8 specific dynamics emerging in this current context with directly impact the way we are church. These dynamics are teflon coated, resistant to traditional patterns of engagement by churches. Most traditional churches are not structured or positioned for the way people live now. These 8 emerging dynamics are sometimes difficult to recognize, becoming invisible barriers that slowly pinch and constrain energy flow. If allowed to remain, they turn into invisible barriers, constraining missional progress.

1. Hyper-Engaged Post-Religious Culture

2. Identity and Missional Deconstruction

3. Shifting Volunteerism

4. Relationship With Children, Youth, and Families

5. Leadership and Staffing Pattern Change

6. The Big Three – Politics, Sexuality, Race

7. Sacred Space and Facility Management

8. The Technological Seismic Shift

Thankfully, there is great hope, with clear signs of adaptation. Churches and their leaders are courageously addressing these 8 dynamics, rather than ignoring the challenges emerging before us. This Seminar is designed for those who are determined to embody the Way of Jesus through and with their churches, leading them to navigate what’s before us with courage and hope. When you find yourself asking the following questions, this Seminar may be for you.

• Why does our church experience pinch points that seem unexplainable, like there are invisible dynamics at play?

• Since we are way beyond the pandemic, what’s the low-grade exhaustion and ongoing grief about in our churches?

• What does it mean to be followers of Jesus in this context?

• How might we engage these moments as church?

• What does it look like to live into our mission in this cultural environment?

• How might we structure our churches, positioning them for healthy, sustainable, missional engagement?

• What does mission-focused, sustainable, and healthy church culture look like now?

Bring your curiosity, faith, and courage to this journey of exploration, learning, and leadership growth. Through presentation, practitioner interviews, and stories from the field (consulting churches and clergy coaching), this Seminar promises to be a lively experience.

The Online Seminar

Second Wednesdays, 1:00-2:30PM Eastern
September 2025 – May 2026

Seminar Leader

Small Group Coaches