New series boasts fresh research, commentary and expert contributors on people flourishing and church thriving trends
BOULDER, Colo. — Gloo, the technology platform for the faith ecosystem, has announced the State of the Church 2025 Event Series, a virtual gathering aimed at helping faith leaders see and understand the trends that influence their ministries.
The event is part of the State of the Church Initiative, the largest Church-wide initiative in 2025 to educate, equip and inspire ministry leaders with new Barna research and tools that measure church health and support every person flourishing and every church thriving.
“This initiative really has two important components,” said Brad Hill, chief solutions officer at Gloo. “First, we’ll release monthly research that helps leaders see the state of the Church in a very timely way; and second, our church health dashboards will give leaders a common framework to measure the health of their own community. Each event in this new series will highlight the latest trends, helping leaders keep their finger on the pulse of what’s happening and make more informed decisions.”
The free series, hosted by Carey Nieuwhof and Nona Jones, will be focused on specific themes like church engagement, generosity and discipleship trends. Participants will get early access to research findings and noteworthy ecosystem trends in church health. The series will include special guest appearances from a variety of experts, including:
- David Kinnaman, CEO, Barna Group
- Ed Stetzer, Dean of Talbot School of Theology, Biola University
- Tara-Leigh Cobble, Author of The Bible Recap, Founder of D-Group International
- Lisa Fields, Founder of Jude 3 Project and Author of When Faith Disappoints: The Gap Between What We Believe and What We Experience
“The way we gather information, learn, and make leadership decisions is changing in significant ways,” said David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group. “There’s no shortage of information in today’s world, but as Christian leaders, it’s critical to discern the trends that can help us step into this ‘new wineskin’ moment — one where we simultaneously embrace innovation and nurture our roots. Throughout this series, we will examine the latest research and trends in a regular, ongoing way so we can make room for new thinking, new leaders, new models and new opportunities.”
Lead teaching pastor at Westside Family Church, Randy Frazee, has adopted the common framework metrics to measure health and is slated to appear at the March 12 event, focused on Church Engagement trends.
“As a church that uses the church health dashboard to set our yearly strategy, we’ve grown so much,” said Frazee. “Our entire community — from staff and elder board to congregants and neighbors — participates in discovering where God is leading us to see more lives actually transformed. I don’t know of anything else that could be more fulfilling as a pastor than that.”
The year-long series is designed to provide timely insights that align with the church calendar and help leaders be more informed as they plan for Easter, Mother’s Day, back to school time and Christmas. New episodes will be announced on stateofthechurch.com/events, where leaders can learn more and subscribe to the free series.
###
Gloo is the technology platform connecting the faith ecosystem. Gloo connects ministry leaders to resources, people, insights and funding so their people and communities flourish and their organizations thrive. Gloo enables trusted exchange between organizations and people so they can collaborate with greater confidence. Gloo serves over 90,000 churches and over 1,000 resource partners. Gloo is based in Boulder, Colorado.
Barna Group is a leading research organization focused on the intersection of faith and culture. Since 1984, Barna has conducted more than two million interviews over the course of thousands of studies and has become a go-to source for insights about religion, leadership, vocation and generations. Barna is an independent, privately-held, nonpartisan organization based in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas.
Contact:
Sarah Bunyea
Gloo
571-205-1931
[email protected]
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RNS or Religion News Foundation.