Imagine a generation of people who have never seen an Anglican church - never heard its solemn hymns or cracked the bindings of its treasured prayer book. English may not be their native tongue and Anglican values may not be their guide. They grew up on MTV, strain their eyes on computer screens instead of printed page, and seek spiritual freedom over institutional safety.

This, according to William Easum, keynote speaker at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific's annual Large Church Conference May 26-28, describes the audience for which today's church must radically alter its organization and ways of worship.

Mr. Easum, a Methodist, former minister, and now executive director of 21st Century Strategies, a church consulting group, has a clear and challenging message for today's church leaders. Looking to the 21st century, he argues for a church that brazenly leaps into the world of high technology, adapts worship to the language and culture of increasingly diverse communities, and lifts spiritual transformation, not institutional maintenance, as its congregational mission.

"Churches in the U.S. are pretty much the same," Mr. Easum said. "Ones that are doing well function one way, ones that are not doing well function another way, and the difference is as clear as night and day." Much of what doesn't work in churches, he adds, has to do with an inability to transform worship into an authentic experience that engages all the senses of its participants. He also argues that unhealthy churches are often mired in centuries of Anglo-Saxon tradition and preoccupied with efforts to raise membership and funds.

As disquieting as this may sound to those who laud heritage as much as they suspect microchips and MTV, the message was one that captivated CDSP's 38 conference participants as they discussed their own strategies for navigating the 21st century.

The future of the church is a subject about which conference participants had a lot to say. They lead congregations with average Sunday attendances of 500 to more than 2,000 and manage staffs the size of small companies. And although large churches account for little more than 1 percent of all congregations in the U.S., they display prominently on the Episcopal landscape by virtue of the number and diversity of people they serve.

"These rectors are some of the most visionary leaders in the church," said Richard Felton, CDSP's vice president for development and conference coordinator. "This conference is an opportunity for them to discuss issues that have significant impact on the future of the Episcopal Church."

Appealing to younger generations of parishioners is one of the major challenges that these rectors and Mr. Easum agree the church must face head on. Walk into any congregation and there is a marked shortage of 20- and 30-somethings. Among the nearly 15,000 ordained clergy in this country, there are fewer than 300 under the age of 35. Few would argue that traditional forms of worship haven't kept pace with the breakneck-speed, computer-driven world of today's younger generations.

"We must find ways to be faithful to our Anglican tradition while reaching out to people under the age of 30," said the Very Rev. Don Brown, dean of Trinity Cathedral in Sacramento, Calif. "We need to find ways to engage them in worship and encourage them to participate in sacrificial ministry to the world."

Young people are not the only ones these rectors are reaching out to. Large churches, particularly those in urban areas, often serve communities for which Anglo-Saxon values are not indigenous. According to the Rev. Ed Bacon, rector of All Saints' Church in Pasadena, Calif., demographic shifts and immigration influx in the Los Angeles area underscore the dire need for innovative worship.

"Changing demographics give us unique opportunities to reflect the varied textures and colors of God's reign," Fr. Bacon said. "Church growth will depend on our ability to incorporate liturgical offerings that use languages and musical idioms other than those of the Anglo-European tradition."

Across the board, rectors at this conference emphasized the need to find common ground in mission and more effectively preach the gospel to their communities. The Rev. Caryl Marsh, rector St. Paul's, Salt Lake City, suggested that the Episcopal Church may be doing a good job inviting people into the church, but hasn't quite found ways to incorporate them, as they are, into the church's life.

"We've got to find an Anglican way to respond to the current generation and meet people where they are," she said. "We can't be afraid of technology and new cultures unlike our own."