Change

Why Growth is Harder In a Small Church – And Change Is Essential

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It’s in the nature of smaller groups to find it harder to incorporate new people. Unfortunately, some churches make it harder than it needs to be by resisting even the smallest changes that naturally arise from welcoming new people.

No, we should never change on foundational theology. But we need to realize that everyone who comes into our church will change it a little.
Every mature believer.

Every nonbeliever.

Every long-time church-goer.

Every wide-eyed seeker.

Mature believers will change us in some ways – maybe with greater wisdom. Seekers will change us in other ways – perhaps to be more patient and loving.

But everyone will change us.

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Bungee Cord Leadership: Leveraging Tension to Lead a Church Through Change

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Leading a church through change is hard.

I try to imagine that there’s a bungee cord or rubber band connecting us.

If I’m not asking for enough change, the band stays limp and there’s nothing to pull people. This produces passivity and ineffectiveness.

But if I get out too far ahead of them, it can snap. This produces directionless churches and lonely, frustrated leaders.

They key is tension. Leaders need to keep just the right amount to pull people forward, without allowing the cord between them to break. Staying in the zone between too little and too much tension is one of the most challenging tasks a leader faces.

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7 Steps to Help Your Church Change Before They Know They Need To

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Our church has turned a corner.

We’re more vibrant, healthy and passionate today than we were a year ago.

People feel it and are expressing it. Even if they don’t know what happened.

So what did happen?

Here are 7 steps that helped us turn a corner from not-yet-stale to renewed and passionate before (almost) anyone else knew there was a corner to turn.

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5 Massive Changes Coming to Your Church (If They’re Not Here Already)

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If we’re not aware of how the world around us is changing, we’ll miss out on an opportunity to share the gospel with that world. Not because the gospel will become irrelevant. Quite the opposite. The more everything else changes, the more important the good news of Jesus will be.

But the way people hear, understand and receive the timeless gospel is changing – fast. If we don’t realize and adapt to those changes, the people who may need to hear it the most will be left on the sidelines – at least in part due to our stubbornness and ignorance.

People whose lives are constantly being upended by change are desperate for a permanent rock they can cling to. That rock is the gospel of Jesus.

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Why You Need to Change How You Preach (And 5 Changes I’ve Made)

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People don’t communicate today like they did just a few years ago. I speak differently now because people listen differently now.

And with the advent of computers, smart phones, tablets, Netflix and the like, the pace of change is getting even faster.

The message of the gospel matters so much that we need to communicate it in the best possible way for those listening.

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Churches Can Handle Change, But They Don’t Like Surprise

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Churches can handle change.

If you’ve tried and failed to change things at your church, that may not feel true, but it is.

The problem in many churches isn’t that they can’t handle change. It’s that they don’t like being surprised by changes. And they shouldn’t have to.

Wise leaders work very hard to reduce surprises as much as possible.

The more changes are needed, the more critical it is that church leaders and members know what’s happening and why.

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Don’t Like How Your Church Is Changing? This Is For You

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If you’re a long-time, faithful church member who doesn’t like the way your church is changing, I have one thing to say to you.

Thank you.

For what? We’ll get to that soon. But first I want to tell you a short story.

Trying to Keep Up

“What happened to the clapping?”

The man who asked me that question has been a member of our church since it was founded in 1961.

I didn’t know what his question meant, so I asked him to clarify.

“Well,” he stammered, “it, uh, seems like the way we clap along to the faster songs has changed in the last several years. And I always get it wrong.”

Now I understood. I explained to him how, when he was younger, we clapped to the on-beat, whereas with newer music we always clap to the off-beat. He had no idea what that meant, so I tried to illustrate.

It didn’t work. (If you don’t know what that means either, don’t worry about it. Or ask your worship leader.)

After my failed explanation, he smiled, shrugged his shoulders and told me one of the best things I will ever hear from a long-time church member. “I don’t understand a lot of what’s happening at this church any more, but I do know this. You’re preaching the gospel, the place is filling with young people, and we’re reaching out to the community. That’s good enough for me.”

I smile every time I think about it. Thank you, Eldon.

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Start In the Shallow End: Four Steps to Start Becoming an Innovative Small Church

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Change is hard.

Don’t make it harder than it has to be.

If I could only give one piece of advice to pastors who are struggling to turn a dying, unhealthy, static church into a fresh, healthy, innovative one, this would be it:

Do the easy parts first.

It’s a basic principle of life that we sometimes forget in the church. You don’t start elementary swim classes in the deep end of the pool. There’s too much unnecessary risk. Pools have shallow ends for a reason.

Your church has a shallow end, too.

No, I don’t know what it is, because I don’t know your church. But you know. Or you should.

If you don’t know, find out. The future of your church and your tenure as its pastor may depend on it.

Here are four of the steps that helped me find and make changes in the shallow end of the church I pastor:

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Adapt Or Die: Six Steps To Start Becoming an Innovative Church

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Adapt or die.

The longer I spend in pastoral ministry, the more convinced I am of that truth. Especially in small churches.

The good news is, because of our size, small churches have the ability to adapt more quickly than our larger counterparts. Like steering a speedboat instead of an ocean liner.

Because of our size, small churches have the ability to adapt more quickly than our larger counterparts.
Sadly though, that’s not our reputation. Of all the parts of the body of Christ, small churches have a far greater and more well-earned reputation for being stubborn, static and refusing to adapt than any other segment of the church.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We can be the innovation leaders, as we have been historically.

For instance, every year when Americans celebrate our Thanksgiving holiday, we’re reminded of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower, 37 of whom were members of the same small church. Yes, a small church founded the United States of America!

There are many instances of small churches changing world and church history, including the Azusa Street revival and the collapse of European Communism, several of which I mention in The Grasshopper Myth.

Today’s post is an updated version of a previous post from this site, Adapt Or Die: 6 Ways to Create a Change Culture In Your Church.

But this is not just theory or history. It’s a present-day reality. In the last 23 years, I’ve watched as the church I pastor has transformed from a static, dying place into a vibrant, innovative change agent. And there are many other small churches doing the same.

And no, we didn’t compromise our core values to do so. They’ve actually been strengthened because of it. (See point #3, below).

Here are six steps that many innovative small churches have taken to become nimble and adaptable.

1. Figure Out How to Say “Yes” to New Ideas

This may be the #1 way for a church to become adaptable and innovative.

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The ABCS of Church Change (Always Be Changing Something)

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Change is healthy. Change is good. Change is normal.

All living things change. Or they die.

The church is no exception to that.

No, we don’t change the essential doctrines. They are our foundation. Messing around with the foundation doesn’t bring change, it causes collapse.

As I outlined recently in Kill Your Church Traditions Before They Kill Your Church, everything but our biblical essentials must be subject to change.

Just as churches that change the essentials will collapse, a church that isn’t willing to change on non-essentials will die.

But how do we implement change in a church that has always resisted it? That is one of the great challenges of pastoring.

One key element in that is what I call the ABCS of change – Always Be Changing Something.

Here’s an example.

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