The current issue of Outreach (Jan-Feb 2009), a widely read Evangelical journal, includes an article reviewing "25 Ideas & Trends Reshaping the American Church." They are presented in no particular ranking and there are many interesting concepts included, but what struck me is how many of them have a history in the Adventist Church. Although, I would be the first to say that some of these have died out and are beyond the memory of young adults today.

1. A trend away from asking "How can our church grow?" to asking "How can we help the Kingdom of God grow?" That is a golden-oldie among Adventist churches many of whom have given up on impacting their local community and focus entirely on the worldwide mission of the denomination.

2. Mass baptisms with a number of people jumping in unexpectedly. This is one of the attractions for some Adventists going overseas to help with public evangelism. I can remember when it happened here in the U.S., often at camp meeting. Then the "mass" dropped well into double digits, lost its gloss and the practice disappeared.

3. The globalization of the church as immigrants move into local communities. The Adventist Church is well ahead of the curve on this one with about half of the baptisms in North America each year coming from immigrants. My research shows that even in the most rural Midwest locations, the Adventist Church is often more diverse than the general population.

4. Extending the church through video; messages being heard in multi-site locations. Some have suggested that where the steeple is the symbol of mainline Protestant churches, the satellite dish is the most widely distributed architectural icon in Adventism. The Evangelical form of this phenomenon is based in local churches and largely in local networks, but NET 98 featured Pioneer Memorial Church and its pastor and the Loma Linda Broadcasting Network extends the ministry of one of our largest congregations around the world.

5. More and more Evangelical churches are canceling services for a Sunday of service in the community at least once a year. Despite Ellen White's counsel that "church members are not to expect a sermon every Sabbath" because "the greatest help that can be given our people is to teach them to work as Christ worked," Adventists have never really picked up on this idea. (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 7, p 19) Perhaps we are afraid to just "do good on the Sabbath." (Mark 3:4) But there is a growing realization among Adventists that community service is a neglected part of our heritage and an essential to vital, growing and truly Christ-like churches.

OK, I'm not going to review all 25. For one thing the editors begin to repeat themselves; number six sounds a lot like number four above. And for another, sometimes my blogs are too long-some of the response tell me that people did not read to the end. But, I do want to mention one more trend.

Number 11 is church-wide campaigns, 40 Days of This and 30 Days of That. I can remember when every two or three years an Adventist church would have a month of stewardship emphasis with a preaching series, study classes during the week, etc. And once upon a time we had a yearly campaign the involved the whole church in actually going out into the community, hitting the streets and doing good-raising money for AIDS ... no, I guess that was before AIDS; it must have been leprosy or malaria. At any rate it saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the globe, it is how I learned that the Adventist mission is "for humanity," and I loved the hot chocolate! It was called "Ingathering." Ask your parents.

I don't claim "been there, done that" for all the trends in this article by any means. In the Ohio Conference, with the Center for Creative Ministry, we are only just getting started with online leadership development, and I have not heard anyone else doing that among Adventists so far. Decentralizing large churches-maybe we don't have enough large churches to have thought much about this. Embracing house churches-the Florida Conference has made a start in this direction, despite the fact that ASI caved in on them early on, but is anyone else doing it? Churches meeting in theaters? Civil presidential forums-no way.

Yet it is amazing to me how much creativity and progressive energy the Adventist movement has generated over the years. Are we too quick to think of ourselves as "old hat" and out of gas? There are Adventist leaders who are afraid of new ideas, wringing their hands and restraining their best people until someone else puts his toe in Jordan. But there is also a heritage stretching back through Faith for Today through H.M.S. Richards and John Burden and Doctor Kellogg to Ellen White and a generation of founders who were unafraid to try new things. Faith for Today is still with us as perhaps our best institutional agency for innovation. Which heritage you focus on is your choice.