So you want CHANGE ?

We need to make serious changes.
Our leaders have been talking about it forever. Problem is, the hole is deep, and our resources are already strained.

I’m not talking about the world’s current financial crisis. I’m talking about the Church.

As we creep into the 21st Century, there’s a growing skepticism about the church. I hear it from pastors. I hear it from members and non-members. I hear it in my own prayers.  Everyone knows that “change” needs to happen. But some congregations and pastors are just going through the motions -business as usual. They ‘tinker’ rather than truly reform. They rally the troops with a well-meaning program or capital campaign (nothing like a building project to distract a church).  And yet we always seem to find ourselves back where we started.

We’ve been suffering the long term effects of mediocrity for years. Temporary rallies and occasional successes, without long term real change have begun to wear out the church’s welcome mat. In many congregations and communities, people have lowered their expectations, and many churches are sliding from issues of “vitality” into issues of “mortality.” 

You see it in their lukewarm responses to invitations, attendance at events, and in their giving, (-though giving may be the last effect being that it takes less commitment to write a check than to attend or lead.)  You see it in the decline of adult education, the paucity of Bible study.  In one church where I attended for many years, they often marveled at how different the congregation had become over the years –new people coming in to lead, without addressing the huge backdoor in the church where long-time members were exiting.

The economic shockwaves of 2008 and 2009 are slamming into many churches which were barely healthy enough to withstand smaller tremors. Staff are being cut, budgets slashed, and programs trimmed back.  It will take years to get back to “where we were” …which wasn’t in THAT healthy a place to begin with.  Crisis, however, can be the mother of invention…

I’ve never been part of a church that didn’t need to change, or didn’t have problems. It’s the nature of things. “All creation is subject to frustration,” said Paul, and he was right. When you’re trying to create something as complex as a vital church, it will be subject to frustration.  But something new is happening to those with ears to hear. The church is coming to a crossroads in our generation. We’ve heard all the slogans and been through all the previous changes, only to find that the church is still struggling. Many in the church are looking for answer, —but the old answers will not do. This time things are different… Like the campaign slogan, many are looking for “Change We Can Believe In.“  Not more of the same. 

I can imagine what specific changes your specific church needs. But I want to address what some of the answers are NOT:

The answer is not “more money.”  Even if you raise more money -which is still do-able in these days, it won’t necessarily cure what ails you. Case in point:  I was in a church which saw DOUBLE DIGIT INCREASES in its giving for several years in a row. But they also experienced budget shortfalls, had problems paying some bills during that time, and couldn’t figure out how to keep the nursery and Sunday School carpets clean.

The answer is not “faith” …as in, “if we or they only had more faith,” etc etc.  Let me be brutally honest: we don’t need more faith and more prayer. We need more bright ideas and will power. It’s just like that old joke about the guy in the rising flood who sent away the boat and the helicopter because he was waiting for God to save him, and when he drowns and goes to heaven and starts complaining to God about not answer his prayers, God says, “I sent you a boat and helicopter!”  So let us not be distracted by the things we already have (faith) and focus on what God has already ready sent us.

And the answer is not “what’s wrong with THEM?”  There may indeed be PLENTY wrong with “them” …but Jesus told us to first take care of the LOG in our OWN eye. If you have been part of the church, for any length of time, this mess is yours.

A HUGE CAVEAT…

The problem with change is most people can’t put their finger on “what’s wrong” …let alone “how to fix it.”  Too often, churches attempt to fix things without addressing the underlying problems. Take the need to increase membership, for example. They buy a new sign and ads in the paper, but don’t address the cleanliness of the nursery or friendlyness of the congregation to visitors. I was in a church that complained about their lack of growth, but didn’t have a new member committee (duh).  Or take youth groups for example. Some churches shuffle meeting times and events in an attempt to cure what ails them, rather than replace the leaders. Why? Because one solution is easy and the other is dynamite.

Simply put, you can’t have effective change if you don’t know what’s wrong.

Here’s the gospel truth about change:

Change does not begin with a list of great ideas, or attendance at some seminar.

Change begins with confession, – both personal and corporate. 

In 1990 I was involved in the creation of what became know as the “Rotation Model” for Sunday School, a model which has now spread to nearly 10,000 churches across the world. The brainstorm for that program literally began with a FLIPCHART LIST of what we didn’t like about Sunday School. It was a confession. And as we shared that list with others, we discovered it was THEIR list too. The solution didn’t immediately present itself, but we had accomplished the first step in real change, and that was “describing the elephant in the room.”

You want to change something? Get it out into the open. Talk about it. Share lists. It will get everyone on the same page. No more elephants in the room.

You want change?  Then make “evaluation” (confession) a routine part of all your meetings. Debrief. Take responsibility for what didn’t go right.

You want to change something? Then consider the fact that YOU may be part of the problem.

I’m frequently asked for my advice from people who seem to be having trouble finding good volunteers or running a successful program, or getting people to show up to things. And I honestly tell them, “is it possible that people don’t respond to you and your leadership style? (or lack thereof)  Is your leadership style such a mess that you UN-nuture volunteers? 

Ghandi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  You want better leadership?  better communications?  fresh ideas?  -start by being an example of those things. You want a new Bible study?  Lead one. You think your church should do more mission? Start one.  You think your pastor is terrible at visitation and welcoming new members?  Go visiting and start your own welcoming efforts. You don’t need permission to be who Christ has called you to be!  You want to change your church? Start with changing yourself.

Jesus said in the parable of the talents, “you who have been faithful in a little, will be given more.”  Apply that lesson to things like TYPOS in the church bulletin. You want your volunteers to take you seriously? Use the spell checker. You want people to show up to your meetings? Run them well.  Etc etc.  Be faithful in all the small but important things about working with volunteers and programs, and you will be rewarded.

Ok… here some suggestions, though certainly not an exhaustive list….

FIRST Suggestion: 
Find someone who’s a natural listener, and not a natural apologizer. Charge them with a ministry of listening. Think of them as an “ombudsman.” Let it be known that THIS is the person to share your concerns with in private. Let it be known that THIS person won’t divulge the source of the concerns. Ask this person to begin visitations within the church. Train this person how to PASTOR to those with complaints, those who are hurting. 

SECOND Suggestion:
Write confessional statements into your meeting agendas. Discuss events AFTER they happen. Discuss what went right and what went wrong. Ask every leader what THEY could have done to do better. 

THIRD Suggestion:
Invite criticism. Invite outsiders to come observe your programs. Invite someone to watch you teach. Invite the seminary’s preaching professor to come hear your preach and lead a service. OPEN yourself up.

FOURTH Suggestion:
Once you identify a problem within the church, go get outside help. Read. Go to seminars. Go to experts. Ask other pastors and church leaders. The people of Nazareth didn’t want to believe the hometown boy.

FIFTH Suggestion:
Talk to the people who have LEFT your church. Some of their reasons are likely good ones.

SIXTH Suggestion:
Go read some books about change. Pick one, and buy extra copies of it, then form a reading group with several other leaders.

Seventh Suggestion:
Begin a campaign of QUALITY CONTROL throughout the church. Whether it’s a carpet or a bulletin board, a sermon or a newsletter, running a meeting or remember visitors names, do all things WELL, and it will rub off on others.  This includes OPENLY confessing what you should have done better, what you don’t like, what you’d change, and then hold yourself accountable, –and others will see your lead.

Eighth Suggestion:
Er… This is a blog, not a treatise   

If you’ve reached the end of this blog post and are thinking, “Interesting, but my church doesn’t need this,”  then it probably does.