Life in America has changed greatly over the years, with massive changes in technology, global politics, lifestyle choices and family dynamics. Many of us remember the days where we heard "Rock of Ages" bellowing out from windows of the local church down the street, now to hear it replaced with "gospel Rock N' Roll". During the course of change in our society there has been noteworthy shifts in our religious behaviors and religious institutions. Two generations ago, circuit riding preachers were still for many the evangelist of the day. Through the years, as televisions arrived into each home, so too did the faces of television evangelists such as Rex Humbard, Oral Roberts, and Billy Graham, to name a few. As people changed, so have the faces of ministries that attempt to reach them. The small country church has now given way to the "Mega Church", and done so at a time when the unchurched population in America is reaching an all time high. So many Americans stay away from church, that according to The Barna Group (www.barna.org, a research group based out of Ventura, California) if all the unchurched Americans formed their own nation, they'd be the twelfth largest nation in the world, and it would include 13 to 15 million born again adults and children. Powered by the great commission, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel", ministries have pushed forward in their focus, and in doing so, been forced to take on the inner workings of a major corporation. Evangelistic ministries have become known for their supporting administrative and executive organizations, with many churches now having CEOs, COOs, and CFOs. With corporate style organizations, the need for increased donor support to cover the associated costs of preaching today's gospel has never been higher. Surprisingly, for the effort shown to date, many of America's top 11 evangelists struggle not only to get their message out, but also in introducing themselves to America. Survey results released in February of 2007 showed that among 34 public figures from four basic fields, of the ministers, Dr. Billy Graham topped the ranks for being best known and having the highest positive impression on a majority of Americans. Second in notoriety was Pat Robertson, but paling in the field of positive impression when compared to Dr. Graham. Chuck Colson, from the former Watergate era was unknown to 87 of Americans. Bill Hybells, unknown to 96 of Americans. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, was unknown to 76 of Americans. T.D. Jakes, recently touted by a national magazine as the next Billy Graham, was unknown to 68 of Americans. Finally, Joel Osteen, known more as a writer than his role as a preacher, and while preaching every Sunday to 30,000 people in his own church and another 7,000,000 each Sunday via TV, Joel Osteen was still unknown to 67% of Americans. As ministries expand and move forward in organizational and administrative capacities they are forced to embrace the technological field for spreading thier message. International borders become a natural hurdle in the race to expand. For some ministries, this hurdle from a management view point becomes a hurdle much larger than anticipated, for the way things are done on American soil, is rarely the same in countries like Canada, the UK, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and Asia. Each country has it's own cultural differences, legal and taxation requirements. Each country has it's own regulations on how much of the ministries office work must be done in country. Each border crossed becomes a learning curve for the evangelist and key administrative team. Birthed due to the increasing need to help ministries expand are International Facilitators, who can quickly pave the way for ministries by going first into countries, setting up the proper legal, financial, taxation, and administrative services. These contract ministry administrative and operations specialists can shave months off the time it would take a ministry to enter a country legally. At least one such organization routinely maintains offices in countries such as Canada, the UK, South Africa, and Australia, servicing several ministries simultaneously out of the same offices, keeping administrative costs for each ministry down by sharing overhead costs. Rarely seen and rarely heard, these International Facilitators empower ministries to cross international borders easily, allowing Evangelists to focus on ministry to the people, while knowing they already have in place, full compliance and operational integrity with the governing bodies of the host nation. There is no doubt, the church as we once knew it is changing. In North America, surveys are showing there is growing discontentment amongst parishioners with the conventional church, while at the same time, North America is seeing growing satisfaction amongst those who are switching over to small house churches. The television church is now deeply entrenched in our society, allowing many followers to be exposed to churches from the comfort of their own home. As the church continues to preach a message that is "marriage" or "birth" focused, Single Adults feeling alienated by this message continue, to a large part, stay away from any form of church all together. As the conventional church preaches and teaches marriage, and in recent decades marriage restoration, recent statistics are now giving those in the church community a higher divorce rate than in the non-church community. The church is definitely facing changing times. Where the church goes from today will be largely determined by the church's ability to change, adapt, and reach it's listeners with a personal touch, while allowing for those who wish to sit on the fringe. The "hold to the status quo" mentality of many of the church's older guard, will no longer breathe longevity into this institution. While the core message remains the same, the window dressings currently used to display that message must change to stay current with the times. In the past, churches were clearly run by the Pastor. Today it's often the executive officers who run the church directing the administrative ministry machine, leaving the Pastor free and clear to focus on his or her first vocational priority, ministering to the people.
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