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Great Idea 9: Be an Agent for Change

MICHAEL LOFTHOUSE

You are the salt of the earth

Matthew 5.13

Top Tip: Openly encourage change.

Business Perspective: Successful organizations understand that innovation and change is their natural state.

Anyone who has an itch to make a difference in their local church can be an agent for change. No matter whether old or young, lay or ordained. Consequently leaders and managers of their churches must be vigilant to uncover and encourage those with the itch. They must also be humble enough to recognize that they are not solely in charge of change.

Church people seem to like stability. The reality is that if constant change is not happening in your church it is standing still or worse, dying, or dead.

This is not to underestimate the leadership and managerial difficulty of change. It is a challenging and frustrating process.

Most churches change and grow through a series of changes suggested by people throughout the congregation. This process often happens outside the formal structure of the church. Consequently these changes while important are not maximized profitably. It is important that the leadership of the church recognizes who is driving the change so that it can be nurtured and directed to fulfil the mission of the church.

Such change happens through a balance of good pastoral care and openness to a range of new ideas emerging sometimes from unlikely places within the church.

It will come as a surprise to many that the church has to change and adapt in just the same way as all other organizations. One of the best ways to see that God’s Spirit is moving in a congregation is to see how much adaptation has been made over the last five years. Another measure is to look at how many people have joined and to ask them why.

Too often clergy think that they are structurally bound to lead all change and they become frustrated when people do not respond well to their ideas. The secret is to gain the agreement of key people and groups and to make sure that everyone knows what is expected of them to drive the change into something profitable for the church. It is important to check progress at agreed times on the journey of change. Always celebrate success publicly, thank those who have profitably contributed while evaluating and learning from your mistakes. The process of change inevitably involves both.

Change agents can often be viewed by the leadership as ‘the awkward squad’, always complaining or disagreeing. Successful leaders recognize that all church members are potentially change agents.

A church committed to continual change is like a ship that has left the safety of the harbour and which has to navigate a way across the open seas to new destinations. The crew has to trust their captain and be willing to use their skills to get to the new place. The crew will be encouraged and willing to put in new ideas to make the voyage exciting with actions as well as with words. Too many churches are like ships seemingly stuck in dry dock waiting for something to happen. The reality is, they are never going to sail, and if they put to sea, they will inevitably sink.

For reflection and discussion

1 How is change understood in your church?

2 When did you last stifle a change initiative and why?

3 Who is responsible for change in your church?

4 What suggestions for change are you prepared to revisit?