Presbyterian Church Leaders Use Episodic Future Thinking to Plan for Ministry Challenges
The Presbyterian Church USA Office of Faithful Innovation held an online lab on April 15 where faith leaders practiced "episodic future thinking" to prepare for long-term ministry challenges. Participants identified AI, declining institutional trust, and an aging population as key drivers of change. The next gathering is set for May 20.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Faithful Innovation brought together faith leaders on April 15 for an online lab focused on "episodic future thinking," a method for anticipating long-term challenges before they arrive.
The 60-minute Zoom session was the second in a monthly series called Innovation Network Immersion gatherings. Facilitator DeEtte Decker, manager of the Office of Faithful Innovation, led participants through exercises drawn from foresighting methods developed by Dr. Jane McGonigal and the Institute for the Future.
"Anticipating the future and the problems and challenges that might appear helps us start problem-solving earlier, and it helps us to be a little bit more creative in our problem-solving," Decker said.
A poll at the start of the session revealed that most participants believed the world would get worse and less equitable over the next decade. Many also said their faith communities were not prepared to face future challenges.
Participants identified five key drivers of change using the STEEP framework: social, technological, economic, environmental, and political. The group named AI, declining institutional trust, job displacement, climate impacts, and an aging baby-boomer population as the most pressing forces shaping ministry.
When asked to imagine likely impacts on their churches, participants raised concerns about closures, funding shifts, and the need for new leadership models. They also discussed the rise of hybrid worship and emerging roles like "digital deacons."
Decker noted that MRI research shows the brain treats future selves like strangers. Practicing detailed future thinking, she said, builds new neural pathways and improves long-term planning ability.
The next Immersion event is scheduled for May 20 at 2 p.m. Eastern on Zoom. The session will explore what faithful leadership looks like in a world that feels "increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous." No prior registration is required.
