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The Barna Group has identified four significant trends that have emerged from their 2007 research. Here is a list of them, as well as a few highlights about the first two trends.

1. Americans’ Unconditional Self-love
   • Americans have a high opinion of themselves - and lingering reservations about others.
   • Many Americans want to continue to change and grow… and… are willing to change as long as the pathway promises benefit and enjoyment, and generally avoids pain, conflict and sacrifice.
   • Many Americans are seeking to be viewed as individuals distinct from the ever-growing masses.
   • Adults - especially those under 30 - regularly strive to be connected to a substantial number of other people and yet possess a nagging sense of loneliness, isolation and restlessness.
2. Nouveau Christianity
   • The image of the Christian faith has taken a beating.
   • The result is that those who choose to remain Christian - however they define it - are also reformulating the popular notion of what “Christian” and the Christian life mean.
   • Some of those changes are producing favorable outcomes, while others are less appealing.
3. The 5 P’s of Parenting Strategy
4. Designer Faith with Rootless Values

To learn more about each trend, read The Barna Group’s full report.

How do you get people to believe your church is worth attending? Well, you could let them see it to believe it.

That is exactly what Element Church (Chesterfield, MO) is doing. To promote their December sermon series called “A New View of Christmas,” they are equipping church members with invite cards and 3D View-Masters. Youth pastor Jody Earley explains:

When they go to invite someone to Element Church, they can simply hand them the View-Master and say, “Take a look at this,” and it opens a door to tell them about what’s going on.

As they look inside, with each click they see a graphic promoting what’s take place in the different ministries for our Christmas service, and it’s all done in 3D.

It is a unique approach to the already successful church marketing technique of personal invitations, and without question, it is very memorable. To get View-Masters for your church invitations, visit studio3D.com.

[photo credit: Robert Francis]