The odds are good you are not interested in this article, nor are you interested in my Best of 2018 list. But here you are wondering, curious and sitting on your couch trolling the internet. Maybe you have even found this page via a Google search or Exposing the ELCA hacks sent you here in search of some heresy. Good news. I’m about to give you some heresy mixed in with some worthwhile thoughts. The challenge is to discern which is which.

Prediction # 1. The coming year will seem like more of a roller coaster ride than any other year. We are in for a wild ride. That’s true for geo-political economics as well as restaurants that will open and close. My advice is to find your center, and hold on to that above all else. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Prediction # 2. No matter what you think about New England sports teams, odds are we’ll be in the run for championships. This means January, May, June and October are going to have energy. Sorry, rest of America, we are just in one of the phases. Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins and Patriots. It’s been a great run since 2000…it’ll continue.

Prediction # 3. In the life of church world, I’m maintaining that even in the midst of all this change, the basics are still what matter:

Churches that do the following will find life and energy:

Focus 70% of their energy on serving their neighborhood.
Hold worship services that are inspiring & meaningful to newcomers
Engage in helping people grow a healthy mature spirituality
Care for the poor, widowed and orphaned

I could add a million other items, but I think if you do these four well, the rest will follow. The challenge is doing these four consistently over a long period of time. Yes, this is hard work because there are forces that want you to have cat fights about money, the placement of napkins at coffee hour and Facebook arguments. If you can keep your head and heart about you, and focus on keeping the main things the main things…I believe the Holy Spirit will be reborn in your congregation. If not, then….

Prediction # 4. More churches will close.

Prediction # 5. I’ll finally finish that book I’ve been working on and it will be published. Working title: How Heresy is What the Church needs Now or Rocky & Bullwinkel discover Boris & Natasha infiltrated the Altar Guild.