Fishing in a Shallow Sea: Church Strategies for the 21st Century

Traditional, mainline, or “vintage” churches are struggling to navigate and adapt to the exponential rate of change that technology has created in every sector of society. This change requires any institution to be agile in its structure, effective in its marketing and communication, engaging in its product or program offerings, and efficient in its use of technology if it wants to survive. None of these are typical of what are often called “old-line” churches. For this reason, many experts predict the continued decline and perhaps ultimate extinction of these congregations and denominations. While it is likely true that declining participation in traditional churches will continue, "Fishing in a Shallow Sea" attempts to offer alternatives that might slow or, given adequate effort, even reverse this decline. These methods have been tested in a typical mainline church that had experienced decades of decline below the point of viability. Most of what is described began as experiments in this particular congregation. Given their positive impact, these methods were then adapted to a consulting practice that presently works with 37 congregations and several judicatories. To provide adequate academic grounding for the theories contained herein, a graduate academic course was developed and taught at Hartford Seminary.The current setting in which mainline churches find themselves is called a “shallow sea” in this work. This is a descriptor for trends like decreasing frequency of attendance, declining generosity, and the rise of the “nones” who do not identify with any denomination or tradition. The “sea” analogy also reflects the perils of rapid, continuous, and exponential change that creates a great challenge in anticipating and planning any institution’s future, and that requires ever increasing adaptability and agility. For the church to exercise these characteristics, it will need to develop new skills, particularly around technology.