Reflections of Annual Conference 2017 - The Changing Needs of Churches Yesterday I commented on the life cycles that churches go through. There is birth, life, and death. All three are part of the experience of being a community. I also made the implication that death is the outcome for a church that cannot change to adapt to the change in community around it. One of the statistics that was brought up during Annual Conference this year was the positive growth that we have seen in our Annual Conference in the area of hands on mission. Everything else in our work as churches has declined. Our attendance and Sunday School/Christian education has declined. Our membership has declined. Our financial giving has declined. But the time and effort people gave to DO something has increased significantly. This is a change that churches need to adapt to or die. If a church believes that showing up to sing archaic or peppy songs is drawing new people in (or even connecting with long enduring ...