A recent 60 minutes report focused on a company that finds and funds "the next big thing." The company funded Google and Amazon.com and is all about reinventing items or systems that have become obsolete or too expensive to continue being used—or recognizing totally new things that show great promise for the next generation.

As I watched, I was reminded me of one of the objectives of The Gathering 2010, this April. We will be using much of our general time at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., to explore where Christian retailing is going to be in the next 10 years of this still-new millennium.

There is no question that the industry has undergone some radical changes in the past 10 to 15 years. When I came into this business almost 20 years ago, consumers did not order books and Christian gifts online. They were still dialing 800 numbers and ordering from catalogs or going to stores to get what they needed. You could not find Christian products in most secular stores, and the "religious section" of a general bookstore would have more New Age philosophy than biblically based materials.

Now, it seems that every gift store, bookstore, big box store and even grocery store is handling Christian gifts, books and Bibles. To borrow a phrase from a recent editorial in Christian Retailing, "the perfect storm" of the Internet, secular encroachment and a failing economy has, like a hurricane, changed the very landscape of the industry that we love and work in.

The fact is, we can continue talking about what has caused the change and attempt to blame it on various sectors or individuals, or we can look for "the next big thing." And that is what we are going to be about at The Gathering.

We will have classes that will give you new ideas, methods and systems for managing your store. There will be times of fellowship and sharing that will encourage you and feed your creativity. But one of the elements I am most excited about is the time during lunch when we will talk about the industry and how we can be a part of the solution, a part of "the next big thing" in Christian retail.

I believe church stores are a real part of the reinvention of the industry. Every expert, commentator and/or critic I have read or listened to has pointed to the fact that reaching those in the church is critical. These are the people who are eager for evangelism and Christian living products-the folks who give away Bibles and tracts are in the churches. They are key customers of Christian retail.

What better way to reach them—at least, initially—than with a store on site, as they enter or exit the church? The church store can educate them and encourage them to shop Christian retail in their neighborhoods, or if they are going to order online, to use a Christian Web site that can be trusted to handle biblically sound material.

Our Gathering lunches will provide an opportunity to discuss your ideas about Christian retail and where it might be headed in the years to come. These discussions will be led by some of the most respected and knowledgeable men and women in the industry, and are just one more reason for you to be sure to register for The Gathering 2010, April 21-23.

Unlike in secular stores, we don't have to depend on our own knowledge or instincts, but can look to the God whom we serve, the One who is the beginning of all wisdom. Our worship and prayer times at The Gathering will help us seek the guidance of the One who is all wisdom.

God could already have given you the seed of the idea for "the next big thing"—come and share it with us.

To find out more about The Gathering 2010 and to register, go to https://www.christianretailing.com/index.php/the-gathering/.