10 Cultural Forces that are Dying and will Affect Children's Ministry

Here are 10 cultural forces that are dying.  Some of these are trying to stay alive, but their death is imminent.  These changes normally do not happen overnight, but over the course of several years.

And yes, they do affect your children's ministry because they are key indicators of cultural shifts.  These shifts affect the way we communicate with and reach out to kids and families.

NETWORK NEWS

Between 2002 and 2008, consumption of online news sources increased by one hundred percent, while broadcast network news has steadily declined.
  

MAGAZINES

Print magazines are on the edge of extinction.  Even the most popular magazines are down double digit percentage points.  That's because the content provided by magazines is now available to anyone with an Internet connection.

DIGITAL CAMERAS

Digital cameras are being replaced by phone cameras.  I recently talked to a picture developer and she told me the vast majority of pictures being printed professionally are from phone cameras.

PHYSICAL MEDIA

In the foreseeable future, all media will be digital.  Streaming will continue to replace DVD, Blue Ray, and CD.

NEWSPAPERS

Newspaper circulation is rapidly dropping as more and more people go online for news.

Newspaper ads generate 20 billion dollars a year compared to 70 billion ten years ago.  Google now pulls in more ad revenue than all US newspapers combined.  Newspapers will soon be a thing of the past.

TELEVISION

Televisions as monitors are not going anywhere.  Large flat screens still continue to sell quickly.  But the methods of receiving programming on television monitors is changing.

Companies like Netflix and Hulu are all pointing broadcast networks toward a new business model—one that does not require scheduled programming.

People no longer have to adhere to a network's programming schedule to get the content they want.  With on demand streaming, scheduled programming is losing ground each passing year.

LAND LINE PHONES

Cell phone usage has risen every year since they became available.  This has resulted in a large percentage of people dropping their land line altogether.

In 2012, the number of households with no land line was in the majority for the first time ever.   Many kids today have never used a phone that was not wireless.

DRIVE-IN THEATERS

At the height of their popularity in the 1950's, there were over 4,000 drive-in theaters in the U.S.  Today, only 366 remain.

CATALOGS

While there are still plenty of print catalogs still in circulation - their numbers are dwindling just as quickly as online catalogs proliferate.

All of the largest retailers have made the move to online, and the vast majority of print catalogs still in existence cater to niche markets, and even those serve largely as conduits to orders placed online.

VIDEO STORES

With movies available online, the days of the physical video store are numbered.  Blockbuster had over 3,000 stores 5 years ago.  Today less than 500 remain.