The Top Ten Disruptions for Ministry by 2030 #3: Spiritual But Not Religious (according to ChatGPT)

I’ve asked ChatGPT to suggest the Top Ten Disruptive Trends for Ministry by 2030, and some strategies to address them. This is an experiment in seeing how we might use ChatGPT in ministry (See more here). Everything in this post is generated by me, 100%, apart from the Chat GPT response which I’ve highlighted in blue.

I asked: I want you to be my research assistant. I am the pastor of an evangelical church in London. From the vantage point of 2030, what will be the ten most disruptive trends for churches and pastors? Bear in mind that the UK, and London in particular, is very different from North America. For each one, give me some actionable strategies.

Here’s answer #3 (and my apologies for the formatting)

Trend #3. Rise of the ‘Nones’ and Spiritual but Not Religious (SBNR)

• Trend: The number of people identifying as having ‘no religion’ will continue to grow, but many will still describe themselves as ‘spiritual.’
• Disruption: Traditional church programs may fail to appeal to those seeking spirituality without institutional affiliation. Churches will need to rethink their entry points for seekers.

Challenge: Engaging spiritually curious individuals who distrust institutions.

1. Create Low-Pressure Entry Points:
   • Offer non-traditional events like meditation evenings, philosophical discussions, or community dinners.
   • Build spaces where spirituality can be explored without commitment.
2. Tell Compelling Stories:

• Use testimonies, creative storytelling, and digital media to communicate faith in relatable ways.
• Avoid jargon and assumptions about shared beliefs.

3. Reframe Spiritual Practices:

• Teach ancient spiritual disciplines (e.g., silence, contemplation) in modern contexts.
• Highlight how faith addresses universal longings for meaning and purpose.

My response

Well, no surprises here: this is a well-reported trend. One of the differences between the UK and the US, is that in the US this move has been marked by declining attendance, whereas in the UK the attendance dip was already well established from the 1960s, and here it has been marked by the change in self-definition.  The easy labels ‘Christian’ or ‘Church of England’ are no longer used as defaults.  And it’s the evidence from things like what people say when they enter hospital that the trend is identified.

And the younger they are, the less likely they will be to use the traditional ‘Christian’ labels.

But ChatGPT has correctly noted one subtle change, which we need to see as well.  

If it were ‘business as usual’, then the first part of the trend would be all we needed to say: ‘The number of people identifying as having ‘no religion’ will continue to grow’.  The rather depressing reality is that that has been the background to my ministry the entire time.  The overall pattern in church life in the UK has been long-term decline, with a few churches bucking the trend. Those few trend-busters are either larger because of patterns of city-centre ministry built on a sequence of unusually gifted and long-term leaders/preachers (in which case they are non-repeatable outliers because the number of such leaders in such venues will always be small) or because they are highly focussed and ambitiously evangelistic church plants.  

Overall, though, the ‘growth’ lies with those identifying as ‘no religion’.

But there’s the second half of the trend as well, which is fascinating and will call for us to be really creative: The number of people identifying as having ‘no religion’ will continue to grow, but many will still describe themselves as ‘spiritual.’ 

Spiritual But Not Religious, or SBNR. Spiritually Curious, but not committed.

Bingo.  Have you seen that around you? If you haven’t, you just need to open your eyes.

• Why are there are yoga classes all round, offering meditation and spiritual wisdom. Just look at the adverts in the coffee shops, or your gym.

• Who’s buying those adult colouring books? They aren’t just for passing time – they meant to benefit spiritual, contemplative practices.

• Who’s listening to the podcasts offering slow, gentle music and a soothing voice are offering more than ‘me-time’? Because they are genuinely trying to offer something different.

• Why are people suddenly journalling, developing morning routines and doing their daily pages?  Because they’ve been reading (or their influencers have been reading) the Stoics, and learning from the wisdom of the past. Or they’ve been reading Julia Cameron’s The Artists’ Way, and coming at the same idea from another angle.

Can we affirm these spiritual practices?

Now, any pastors reading this will probably raise an eyebrow at what’s going on here.  Or rather, at the explanation.  Because I would certainly want to say that although those things might indeed expand or refresh or relax the mind (or the human ‘spirit’, loosely put), they aren’t what the Bible identifies as the means by which the Holy Spirit forms us into the  likeness of Christ.

Christian meditation is filling one’s mind with Christ, not emptying it of all concerns.  Christian prayerfulness isn’t a Stoic acceptance of how much lies outside our control, but a joyful realisation that everything lies under our Father’s control and he delights in our requests.

So here’s the trap, or the opportunity, depending on how you look at it.

Hard secularity said, says, ‘God is dead’. That means the language of prayer, worship, spirituality is so much humbug.  That’s the first half of the trend.

But the second half of the trend embraces the language of prayer, worship, spirituality.  And its a wide flowing river, that carries candles, stories, mystery, art,, music, pantheism, panentheism, multi-faith in its flow.

It is a fundamentally warm, affirmative mood.  With one exception.  Orthodox Christianity (in a credal sense) is not wanted at the party.  Traditional Christian practices, like fasting or pilgrimage, are all welcome.  But Christianity itself, repent and believe, Jesus-as-Lord, has been (it’s assumed) tried and found wanting.  More – because it makes exclusive truth-claims (the way of Jesus is the path to spiritual truth) – it cannot be welcomed.  Leave your faith at the door, and you can bring in your candles.  We like candles.  But please leave your bible outside.

What are the strategies to reach the Spiritual But Not Religious?

So, what do we do?  Here, I’m going to differ from Chat GPT.  Because those suggestions share the assumption that our Christian practices are irrespective of doctrine, and we can all share and teach fasting, meditation, silence or chant as a means to God/god, but we add a Christian spin.  I know that there are lots of churches which are taking this approach, which is probably why the algorithm leans in this direction.

There is a deep-dive solution for this.  Colossians.

Colossians was written to address a group of Christians who were seeking a deeper fulfilment in their spiritual lives through the addition of certain practices to Christ.  Christ wasn’t adequate to meet these deeper needs, they thought, and so other things (asceticism, self-discipline, etc.) were brought in.

Paul’s answer is instead to flood their minds, their hearts, their wills with Christ so that they become entranced with his grace and adequacy.

Spirituality is Christ.

Spirituality is Christ.

Which is why we can’t do it non-doctrinally.  Or as ChatGPT suggests, ‘build spaces where spirituality can be explored without commitment’. No, says Paul, spirituality cannot be explored without Christ, and he (Christ)  requires commitment.  

What we mustdo, though, is become intimately conscious of what life with Christ is like, and how he meets the deep needs for meaning, fulfilment, purity and community.  Praying to the father in and through Christ, in the leading of the Spirit is what prayer is meant to be like.  Today’s Spiritual But Not Religious have a correct set of desires that God has placed in them, and which are designed to be met by Christ.

Are you spiritually thirsty? Come and meet Jesus, the living water.

My fear is that many bible-teaching churches have neglected what is meant to be the authentic Christian experience and have nothing richer to offer than understanding the bible as a Sudoko puzzle to be solved. That will satisfy the thirst of no-one.

My fear, though, is that many bible-teaching churches have neglected what is meant to be the authentic Christian experience and have nothing richer to offer than understanding the bible as a Sudoko puzzle to be solved. And that will satisfy the thirst of no-one.