You’re probably pretty aware of which group you’d be part of, I suspect. In my case, I’m generally an F, happiest when I’m planning and thinking about something I’d like to do down the road. My wife, on the other hand, is an N who doesn’t like to think long-term at all. But she’s much better at dealing with the bills than I am!

There are P, N, and F churches and church members, too. P churches might still use an older translation of the Bible, say things like “…we don't do it that way,” or pride themselves in sticking to their “old time religion” or their traditions. They are reluctant to update the ways they do ministry or to spend money to modernize the look of their classrooms. Sometimes they yearn for the glory days of the past when attendance was at its peak. N churches are like cars with bald tires on an icy road. They move forward, but at a pace that quickly falls behind the rest of the cars on the road. Their meetings get bogged down in details with little understanding of the larger vision and goal.

I believe we’re called to be an F church, a future-oriented congregation which seeks to Carpe Mañana (“seize tomorrow”) for God. If we only Carpe Diem (“seize the day”) in this fast-moving, digital world, we’ll only end up seizing air. As church futurist Leonard Sweet has said in one of my favorite of his books, “Aim at today, and you will be caught up in the daily and miss the mission. Aim at tomorrow, and you will hit the mark of God’s high calling.”

Of course, congregations are made up of people in all three of the P-N-F groups, and that’s o.k. In fact, Jesus taught that our individual connection to God is deepest in the present moment: “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own” (Matthew 6:34a, NRSV). But our ministry in this new millennium must seek to make history so that we’re not becoming history.

So how can each of us Carpe Mañana in the ministries we each do within the church? Here are just a few ideas of where to begin…

• Choose curriculum that moves your congregation forward over the long term instead of trendy, topical materials.
  
• When you read stories about new trends and technologies, ask yourself, “How might this affect the church? How can this be used for God’s purposes?"
  
• Be active in your congregation's ministries with young people. There’s no better way to get in touch with our future—your future—than to get to know the millennial generation.
  
• Spend some time at least twice each year visioning, dreaming, and strategizing for the future. Put together a two and five year plan for yourself and your education ministries.

Each of us has a choice during this transitional time of history. Will we be mourners who lament the end of the church as we knew it, or will we be midwives who help to birth a new kind of Christian faith and practice?

~ Tim Gossett