Imagine this is the mid-1500s—seventy years after Gutenberg was the first to use moveable type to print the Bible. Over 1,000 print shops have opened throughout Europe. Martin Luther has translated the Bible into the German language and is challenging the church's authority over mediated salvation. Western culture is at a tipping point. Luther and other reformers see power in the new technology of printed media, and they organize to take full advantage of it. We could say the rest is history; however, history has a habit of reinventing itself.

Broadcast media was equally world changing, but the church did not take the lead in this new era as it did during the Reformation. Still, individuals like Billy Graham and Oral Roberts used this new and powerful tool to bring the Gospel to the world on a scale never before imagined. Bill Hybels, attuned to a generation shaped by mass media, was an early pioneer of using a theater venue for church. Some identify this strategy as "seeker sensitive" or "attractional." The fastest growing and largest churches in America follow some variation of this model. Even churches that are more traditional or critical of the seeker strategy have adopted elements of this model.

The digital era brings new challenges. It changes the focus from large-scale, mass appeal to smaller venues with narrower and deeper interests. This change requires different leadership skills, different kinds of facilities, a different approach to preparing the congregation for ministry, and a radically different approach to spending priorities. This does not, however, mean an immediate overhaul.

Becoming digital is as much a mindset as it is technical proficiency. The digital mindset values experimentation, holistic thinking, and boundary-less networking—foreign concepts to those of us raised in the linear, rational world of print or the polished and celebrity world of broadcast. Far from being nameless and faceless, the digital world promotes collaboration and interaction.

Many church administrators I talk to see these changes happening in the business world. Our biggest challenge is busy-ness and our focus on the immediate and often urgent needs of the business at hand. Administrators are tied up making sure the ship stays on course, and pastors, immersed in the weekly preparation for Sunday, lose touch with a changing world.

Everyone works hard to perform their roles, but there is little opportunity to explore and address the implications of such a cultural mega-shift. To add to the challenge, this kind of shift cannot be learned at a conference, read in a book, or willed by leaders. It is counterintuitive to the things that worked well in a print or broadcast environment.

So how can you get up to speed on the new rules of the digital age? Here's what I recommend:

Digital technology levels the playing field and extends boundaries globally. The advantage goes to the agile, networked, and highly cohesive organization. Those who have large infrastructures and hierarchies will be at a disadvantage. To understand more about this concept, read Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat.

Only large organizations could justify the cost of production and distribution of print or broadcast content. But with digital tools and the Internet, a church can now double and triple its reach with relatively little cost. To understand more about this potential, read Chris Anderson's book, The Long Tail.

Rapid, large-scale change often creates a sense of organizational vertigo, which leads to an inward focus, accelerating the decline. To compound the problem, every week a new book or article trumpets the latest rule-changing innovation. Without a framework and perspective it is hard to choose the right strategies. My book, The Millennium Matrix (millenniummatrix.com), provides a historical and theological framework for not only the current transition to a digital era but how print and broadcast significantly changed the rules and approaches to ministry from the past.

Good resources are available to help you better understand the paradigm shifts and process for change. Consultants like me, as well as organizations like Cornerstone Knowledge Network, TAG, and Leadership Network can help you understand digital thinking and how to transition into this mindset at your church.

This is a wonderful and frightening time for the church. If we can remind ourselves how the reformers embraced both the technology of print and the radically different worldview it provided, we will have some insight and confidence for adapting to and adopting our own digital revolution.

Rex Miller is a futurist and the creator of the SWARM (Smart Work and Referral Marketing) Network, a business development approach based on the strategies of tightly aligned corporate coalitions. He consults for business and non-profit organizations and is on the board of Lamar Boschman Ministries.