Over the past fifteen years, churches in the US have increased spending on facilities by over 200%, with a discouraging 2% decrease in church attendance to show for it. In addition to this, cynicism towards the church has risen sharply. These unsettling facts provoked several organizations such as Aspen Group to join in a collaborative effort called the Cornerstone Knowledge Network (CKN). This network is a national alliance of organizations who are committed to developing a deeper understanding of the intersection of culture, ministry, leadership, and facilities in order to accomplish our mission:
- To Discover and disseminate meaningful knowledge that radically improves how facilities enhance ministry.
Another compelling development as of 2008 is our partnership with the nation’s
largest Christian publisher, Christianity Today. By collaborating with such a vast resource we have significantly enhanced our ability to develop important insight as well as disseminate that knowledge through the expansive publishing channels at Christianity Today.
Together the Aspen Group, CKN, and Christianity Today fund and resource the following efforts:
- Ongoing national research that helps us understand evolving culture, ministry, leadership, and facilities
- Assimilation of national “thought leaders, ” authors, and educators in order to effectively discern what’s ahead of us
- Learning events with Architects and others to discern and define a new “design typology” for church facilities
We share this knowledge through the CKN website, publications such as Christianity Today, white papers on the CKN website, podcasts on the CKN website, and our industry recognized Cornerstone Conferences.
Check out the video below to hear two of us CKN partners share our passion for what we’re up to.
