God is asking us to embrace new ways in these new days
The church has gone through a radical reset in the past two years, but what is God saying to us today?
We put this question to Elim Leaders Summit 2022 guest speaker Rachel Hickson.
Rachel, what do you believe God is saying to the church in 2022?
I believe it is helpful to look at the journey we’ve all been on over the past couple of years to answer that question.
In January 2020 I researched what the global prophetic voices were saying and loved this word from Australia: “This is going to be a time for home births; the home is going to become central to outreach.”
A believer in Southeast Asia prophesied that this was a time to become ‘first responders of hope’. During the pandemic these words resonated strongly.
In January 2020 I felt God say to me that the 2020s were going to be a landmark decade, like the 1960s, and that this was a kickstart year.
Then the pandemic hit and everything stopped. Nine months later, Rishi Sunak and others began speaking about kickstarting our economy and other institutions.
There has been a massive reset and realignment over these past two years, in our personal lives, institutions and the church space too.
What are the main ways this has impacted the church?
Just as society has learned to adjust and work from home and the office, now the church has to adapt to this new season too.
This is a time where we need to consider, for example, utilising both online church services and gathering in church.
While the foundations of our faith remain the same, the structures we need to build upon them to serve our communities must change to enable us to be more effective.
What is God saying to church leaders?
I think God is asking us to embrace new ways in these new days. We need to be adaptable and ask for the new blueprints to build in this new landscape.
In all the uncertainty we need to see the opportunities. If you look at business people during the pandemic, successful ones were entrepreneurial and seized the opportunity to stand up and serve.
For example, we have a coffee shop in Oxford which sold a very limited range of organic food before the pandemic. When coffee shops were closed but food shops remained open, they cleared out their tables and became an organic farm shop.
Many other coffee shops went bankrupt, but this one saw the opportunity, thrived and grew.
It’s the same with churches. We know of a small community-based church on a housing estate where the average age is 55-60. They decided to help people who were isolated at home during lockdown to get hold of food and prescriptions.
They organised a rota to collect them, registered as helpers and really served the community. When lockdown lifted, they organised outdoor sports for children and hosted Play in the Park.
Now, they say 35 per cent of their congregation is people they’d never seen before, while 30 per cent of their former congregation stay at home and watch online.
There’s been a major swap of new families coming in who want relationship. Suddenly, you’re transported back to a time and a place long ago, and you find yourself responding to feelings and emotions you just weren’t expecting.
How should churches continue to adapt in 2022?
For 2022, I see a church standing at a crossroads needing to discern their opportunities in the midst of uncertainties, and to be brave. God is giving us a key to open new doors.
It’s been a season of shift and change and for many strategic, structure-loving leaders it’s been frustrating having to constantly alter their plans. But now I believe we need to find the spiritual architects, the prophets who will help us discern what is happening and speak to our future.
God wants to awaken our ability to discern his presence. Our culture has become much more spiritual and people want to experience God’s power.
People want to feel valued, loved and honoured.<
So, this is a season where I believe God is going to upgrade our sensory skills and teach us more about his Holy Spirit. God is going to focus more on the heart, the experiential side, so we come to a deeper knowledge and understanding of him.
Through my charity, Heartcry for Change, I’m working with leaders to ask, “What’s that prophetic cry? What are you sensing? Where do you feel we need to build a bridge of kindness to connect with people in our communities and churches?”
You published your tenth book in January. Can you tell us about that?
It’s called ‘Spiritual Architects, the Gift of Prophets to the Church Today’. I believe we need prophetic blueprints to navigate this new era, and we need the five-fold ministries to function together in the everyday life of the church.
In it, I look at the foundations of Jesus, the cornerstone, working with the prophets and apostles.
I examine tribes – asking what makes you distinct, what are your DNA and foundations? I talk about clarity in uncertain times; how to train your eyesight and hear distinctly in the confusion of culture.
Then I also ask how we shape these new landscapes, how we wait in the watching and how we can grasp the days of adventure we’re living in.
This is a new season; the foundation is laid, but we need spiritual architects to hear from heaven and construct a new shape on this landscape for our 21st century church and community.
Meet Rachel Hickson
As a young married couple in the 1980s, Rachel and her husband Gordon worked alongside Reinhard Bonnke in Africa. During this time, Rachel nearly died in a horrific car accident but was miraculously healed by God.
Back in the UK in the 1990s, Rachel and Gordon led a group of four churches in Hertfordshire and launched her ministry, Heartcry for Change.
Since then, Rachel has written ten books and remains passionate to see ordinary, radical lovers of Jesus shift the atmosphere in our society. Rachel and Gordon have two children and six grandchildren.
A heart for Moldova
Heartcry for Change is helping transform the lives of girls in Moldova and free them from the threat of sex trafficking.
The charity has partnered with others to build two ‘Princess Academies’ to educate girls aged 12 upwards, and has helped them gain work experience in business to teach them there are opportunities to earn money beyond the sex trade.
By setting up tailoring and bakery businesses and a second-hand wedding dress hire shop, girls have been offered a brighter future.
This article first appeared in the March 2022 edition of Direction Magazine. For further details please click here.
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