If our church doesn’t get more young people soon, it is going to die.”

That was the warning Dustin heard while interviewing for a pastoral position in Washington state.

After accepting the senior pastorate of the small, aging congregation, Dustin got to work building relationships with young adults in the community.

Dustin and his wife started a weekly Bible study for young people in their home. But rather than simply ministering to young adults, they sought to minister with them.

As the Bible study grew, Dustin regularly asked participants, “What would you love to see God do through you?”

Eventually, a collective answer bubbled to the surface. Given the preponderance of health professionals in the group, members wanted to organize a free pop-up clinic to benefit the surrounding community.

Dustin loved the idea, but the church board was skeptical. They asked, “How will we pay for this? Can these young adults really pull it off?”

Nevertheless, the board agreed to the proposal in theory.

Within a few months, the young adults identified a partner organization to help, secured a public school location, raised over $20,000, and recruited more than 150 volunteers.

The day of the clinic, the church provided 350 dental, vision, medical, and physical therapy services. They also offered prayer to every patient served.

It was so successful, the church held additional clinics over the next several years.

The congregation realized the value of working together intergenerationally and became eager to involve young people in every facet of ministry.

Eventually, those young adults helped plant a church in another city, reaching a diverse community through clinics and other creative outreach efforts.

“We were amazed at the miracles God did when we rallied behind a handful of emerging, passionate young leaders,” Dustin said.

The pastor could have imposed his ideas. Instead, Dustin prayed that God would birth Kingdom dreams in young people. By doing so, he expanded the group that would shape the church’s future.

As researchers and consultants at the Fuller Youth Institute, we’ve helped more than 1,000 congregations — including Dustin’s — reorient to become more future-focused.

We define a future-focused church as a group of Jesus followers who seek God’s direction together — especially in relationally discipling young people, modeling Kingdom diversity, and tangibly loving our neighbors.

Future-focused ministry leaders know congregants are most likely to see and feel the power of positive cultural changes when they help imagine and implement them.

In other words, people support what they help create. Empowering the creative process requires three intentional steps.

Build Trust

Author Stephen Covey suggests groups make progress toward their goals at the “speed of trust.”

The need for trust was a frequent theme in our interviews with future-focused church leaders.

Trust is like a boomerang. The more we extend it, the more it comes back to us. When we as leaders don’t trust people, we can’t expect them to trust us.

One of the best ways to extend trust is by involving parishioners as creators and supporters.

Congregants are most likely to see and feel the power of positive cultural changes when they help imagine and implement them.

Robert was a youth pastor at a church in Texas. He took over the youth ministry after it declined from 300 to 25 teenagers.

Wanting to build and extend trust, Robert strategically discipled a group of 12 to 15 teenagers. Those students then took on leadership roles within the ministry, evangelizing and discipling their friends.

Soon the youth ministry was back to 300 members, and it kept growing.

Feeling ownership for the youth ministry, the middle school and high school student leaders proposed a new conference for reaching the unchurched.

Robert was able to support the vision because he trusted these students. And the teens trusted Robert and the church enough to go all in on the project.

The students determined the theme, picked the topics, chose the speakers, ran the logistics, and managed an event store.

Hundreds of students attended the conference, which became an annual event. The youth group now has an average attendance of 600.

Welcome Feedback

There is a temptation in leadership to avoid people who disagree with our ideas and vision, but it’s far better to listen. Instead of keeping our distance, we should build relational bridges.

One pastor we know has led the same Korean American immigrant church for nearly three decades. He wisely observes that congregants who are resistant to change are often among the most invested in the church. They speak up because they care.

Recognizing this truth has made it easier for the pastor to move toward dissenters with grace and discernment.

While there may be some who seek to stir up conflict for unhealthy reasons, most people simply want to understand the implications of a new vision or direction. They also want to feel included regarding decisions.

As you move toward becoming a more future-focused church, interact regularly with members who are most adamantly opposed to change.

Whether it’s coffee on a weekday morning or a few minutes of conversation after a worship service, find time to hear from, listen to, and enter into dialogue with dissenters, contrarians, and those who are in opposition to new ideas and plans.

While you may not reach full agreement, look for helpful truths in feedback so you can glean wisdom and address concerns.

Report Back

After receiving ideas and feedback, report what you’re doing with it.

Listening to input and responding to concerns are crucial. But it’s also important to share specific ways that feedback is shaping decisions.

For people to support what they create, they need to recognize their role in the creative process.

Whenever possible, text, email, or call people to thank them for sharing and let them know how their perspectives changed your thinking, communication, and actions. Better yet, discuss it in person over a meal.

One church planter grows his church by doing four consistent things: taking newcomers out to eat; listening intently, especially about their frustrations, fears, and hopes for a faith community; finding ways to incorporate the feedback; and then explaining what he is doing with those insights.

In most cases, this pastor follows up with a second meal. During that encounter, he shares his reflections on what the person initially expressed and, where possible, how he is integrating that feedback in the church’s ministries.

This gives newcomers a profound sense that their pastor not only listens but applies what he hears from them.

We are convinced the best days of the Church are ahead. The best days of your church can be, too.

Whether you’re leading a new church plant or an established congregation, becoming future-focused can make all the difference.

There’s no better time to ask your congregation the powerful question Dustin posed: What would you love to see God do through you?

Then get to work helping people create that future together.

Adapted with permission from Future-Focused Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2025).

This article appears in the Spring 2025 issue of Influence magazine.