The Barna Group has released their annual year-end report on trends in the culture and in the Church that wants to impact it.

I encourage you to read the whole report, but here’s my summary of their six megathemes for 2010:

• The Christian Church is experiencing a decline in basic biblical literacy.

• Christians would rather connect with other Christians than do outreach.

• Growing numbers are more concerned about practical living than holy living.

• Interest in community activism is gaining ground.

• A belief in moral absolutes is giving way to a belief in tolerance.

• The Christian Church has an image problem.

Now what

After any institutional self-assessment comes the “Now what?” What are we going to do next to move forward on the issues we’ve identified?

Healthy and vigorous debate needs to take place. But let’s assume for the moment that these findings exist to some degree in the Church. What sometimes happens with large issues like these is that we tend to go back and forth, and in the end nothing much is changed. No fresh ideas are generated, or if they are, they’re not acted on. It’s just so much safer to keep doing what we’ve always done.

The truth is, addressing big problems often requires doing something new and remarkable. Something we may have never done before. That in itself is hard. It takes big faith. But let’s also assume for the moment that your part of a church that is committed to developing new strategies for relating to the people of your region.

Here’s three go-to-market ideas that we came up with in a quick brainstorming session. I hope they will be a springboard to having your own “way out of the box creative thinking sessions.” BTW, media and communications technologies should be used to help facilitate each of these.

Promote Bible literacy

Support the Bible Literacy Project, a non-partisan, non-profit endeavor to encourage and facilitate the academic study of the Bible in public schools. Bring people together — Evangelicals, Jews, Catholics, educators, scholars, and parents who want the young people in your community to learn about the Bible in public schools. Host and webcast “The Bible Belongs in Schools” town hall events. Create an annual scholarship award to honor students completing the course. Feature stories from the students and teachers on your website.

Develop unconventional outreach

Produce live outreach events. The Southeast Christian “Momentum” series is an example. Invite national celebrities who have a unique story of faith to share. Create a non-threatening atmosphere around the events, making it easier for people to invite unchurched family, friends and neighbors. Webcast selected performances. Stage the whole endeavor in cooperation with others, if cost is a factor.

Create a marketing alliance

Convene a group to rethink the process of connecting local churches with the community. Research the collaborative marketing efforts of other nonprofit groups, i.e. Alliance for Audience. Build consensus. Pursue a comprehensive new strategy for inviting people to church. Combine the unique calling of each participating church into a grand story line. Establish a central brand that connects Christianity to these stories of how a real and personal God is working in the lives of people living in the region. Build a jointly managed Internet platform. Make it the primary means for accessing information about the Church in your area and what it means to be a Christian.

Note: This is not necessarily brand management, like the religion makeover ad campaigns being run by several religions, though their innovation and use of online media is noteworthy.

Impacting the culture

You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5

God loves every man, woman and child living in the communities and regions of the country. If traditional approaches in reaching them are not as effective as they once were, the Church has a responsibility to develop new strategies.

Can’t resist adding a couple more from my favorite playbook.

Imagine the increased level of impact your church could have on the community if you had your own Internet broadcasting platform. What could a group of churches accomplish creatively for the gospel if they had a community-based local media network on the Internet to reach and engage youth, teens and adults in their own environments?

The Barna research can be a starting point for coming up with new ways to make your region, as the pastor said, “A place where God’s presence dwells, God’s ways are known, God’s word is a dominant force, and people are changed by the Holy Spirit.”

Questions: What do you think about the Barna findings? What new out of the box ideas come to mind for addressing the issues?