Dan Smith & Mary K. Hucyke: CourageousSpace Newsletter, November 2006
Why Change Is So Hard For Our Churches
Churches typically start off their lives with a missionary zeal.
It begins with a group of people who have experienced the foundational difference
Christian discipleship makes in their lives and who want others to have what
they have. They then commit themselves to creating a place where other
people can be introduced to and nurtured in Christian discipleship.
During a period of creative formation the people eagerly explore such questions
as, "Who are we? Who is our neighbor? Why are we here?"
Once they've formed cohesive answers to those questions, they turn to a fourth,
"Now, what shall we do?"
As the people give themselves to these questions, they experience energy as
they grow in faith, both as individuals and as a community. God is a felt
presence and the everything seems touched by God's Spirit. It is a winsomely
magnetic time and people are drawn to the community and nurtured in Christian
discipleship. As the church develops, administrative and physical structures
are created to support and house the work. At this point in a church's
life, nothing seems able to block them for long. They respond creatively and
missionally to whatever change comes their way.
The church moves into a time marked both by missionary outreach and stable institutional
structures. In this stage of performance and stability, the church is successful
both in introducing people to Christian discipleship and supporting them as
they grow in it. Typically, at this stage in its life, the congregation experiences
the human and financial resources sufficient for creating a highly rewarding
communal life as well as supporting its work of making disciples.
Across time, congregations experience internal change. It just happens. Key
leaders move away. Newcomers arrive with new passions, new gifts. More
significantly, the majority of people who now arrive at the church stay primarily
because of how the church serves their needs. This is in marked contrast
to what attracted the earliest church members – being part of creating
a place that serves the spiritual needs of others. If the church does
not introduce and equip new members in the basic disciple-making mission of
the church, an increasing percentage of church members become consumers of the
church's services rather than providers. At that point, the original "why"
behind their work gets lost.
Without even realizing it, the culture of the church changes - from a mode of
missional zeal and high creativity to one of protective maintenance –
protecting the culture and programs that proved effective in their own lives.
The thinking goes, "It worked well for me and still does, it's what will
work for others." A church in this stage of its life finds even the expected
changes, the comings and goings of pastors, programs, and hymnals, difficult.
At the same time that a church experiences internal change, changes are taking
place in the community around the church. Local industries open and close.
Demographics shift. New people groups arrive bringing with them their
own cultural preferences and unique set of gifts and needs. And beyond the immediate
community, the world shifts.
When the church was at it's best, it was aware of both the internal and the
external changes taking place. Committed to its mission of making and
supporting Christian disciples, the church adapted itself in whatever ways were
needed in order to successfully live out that mission. It focused on being
part of what God was doing and wanting to do.
A church that has moved into "protective maintenance"
however, focuses on protecting what God has done and the forms of programming,
leadership, and ways of relating through which they experienced God. Internal
and external changes are generally ignored or their importance denied.
The energy of the people and the effectiveness of their programming begins to
slip.
As they realize that the church is not as vital as it once was, new programs
are initiated or a new "strategic plan" is developed or a new pastor
is brought in to regain the desired strength. In doing this, they are
seeking answers to the fourth foundational question, "Now, what shall we
do," without addressing the first three questions that provide the needed
information.
Whatever energy and enthusiasm is generated this way will not last if what they've
chosen to do does not reflect a rethinking of the basic questions of
"Who are we are as God's people? Who is our neighbor for whom we
are here? And, why has God brought us together here at this particular
time in history?" Failure to address those questions with a realistic and
honest awareness of current reality leads to the church becoming more separated
from its mission. And as it does, it continues to lose vitality.
Although statistical data may clearly indicate a decrease in participation and
in financial resources, the church can move even more deeply into denial.
Bad weather, sickness, unexpected moves of members, a bad pastor, or the lack
of interest in church in today's culture are pointed to as the reasons for the
decline – which with the right leadership and set of circumstances will
turn around.
Eventually (often about the same time that the endowment fund runs out) the
congregation reaches the point of crisis and confusion and the people begin
to realize that the answer – if there is an answer - lies in something
more significant than simply attempting to improve what is already in place.
The answer ultimately lies in addressing the questions that were addressed as
the church was in its creative, formative stage – who are we as God's
people, who is our neighbor, why are we here? But finding those answers and
moving back into a stage of creative formation, however, requires first that
the people identify and then let go of what they think they know about church
and their assumptions about what the answers will be.
We often find that the majority of members in a church in decline have never
experienced being part of a missional congregation – a church that aligns
its resources towards creating the space and being a place where other people
can be introduced to and nurtured in Christian discipleship. This "evangelical"
mindset may not only be foreign, but even distasteful.
This is why retooling the mission or vision statements at this stage rarely
results in any significant change. The words may be new, but the meaning
people infuse them with has not changed. Pastors trying to lead change
in their congregations in this stage of life are asking people to make fundamental
shifts in their perspectives, their attitudes, and their behaviors.
Added to that is an overwhelming amount of change faced by many of these church
members in other aspects of their lives. The demographics of their community
have dramatically changed. There are shifts in culture, technology and
lifestyles. Feeling buffeted by all these changes and ways they're asked
to adapt, they long for their church to a sanctuary – the one place they
can count on remaining the same. No wonder there is resistance and anger
when they are asked to change the things they've come to count on.
No one can do this work of transitioning the mind and heartset of the people,
but the people themselves. And, for their own sake, the sake of the church,
and the sake of the people the church is there to reach, it's important the
work be done. While the work belongs to the people, it cannot be accomplished
without skilled and committed leaders who know how to help people move through
what is experienced as a terrifying wilderness. Working with a church
that is nearing or in the stage of crisis and confusion, is extraordinarily
challenging for a pastor. He or she must possess excellent relational
skills and must also possess (or develop) the ability to adjust his or her leadership
style to meet the needs of the people in any given situation. We'll be
exploring these very things in future articles.
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