On Tuesday night I attended a talk given by Bill Krispin entitled, “How the World has Changed in my Years of Ministry Service (1966-2008). Bill is recently retired as executive director of Citynet. Before that he was longtime leader of the Center for Urban Theological Studies (CUTS). Functionally, he is part pastor and part sociologist. He knows Philadelphia streets, neighborhoods, and churches like no other. He keeps us up to date with what is happening now instead of focusing on what happened five years ago.
He covered the shift in demographics (world, US, and Philly population shifts; how suburbs and urban areas changed; the loss of the intergenerational church), the emerging generation (18-34 year olds), changes in bible translations (and the effect of dividing the church), how charismatic movements changed the ministry from professionals to laity, changes in thinking about mission (e.g., how a small Dominican church here plants multiple churches in the DR at extremely low cost), rediscovery of a wholistic gospel (reuniting word and deed), and the decline of denominationalism. Oh, he also talked about the changes in theological education (that individuals come for training not for credentials) and that an apprenticeship model makes more sense now.
I recommend you check back with the link above to find the audio/video since they said it would be up on the site soon.
Musings on Faith and Psychology 