SPEAKING OF CHANGE

My thanks to Lynn Hargraves for sending me word of this great article by Mark Martof on Confronting Transition. Here are some random quotes from it-

Transitions are a fact of life, and churches have three basic choices: they can instigate them, accept them, or fight them.

I believe the churches that fight appropriate transitions lose; I believe the churches who only accept change miss part of God’s larger calling; and I believe the healthiest churches actually instigate transitions and change.

Too often, churches confuse the “unchanging Christ” with an “unchanging formula” for expressing Christ’s message. Since Jesus Himself adapted His communication styles to fit the needs of the people around Him, why aren’t we doing the same thing?

A key component to redefining relevance is humble, change-ready leadership. When pastoral leadership acts on statements such as: “This is God’s church and all I want is for this congregation to be what God purposes for this church,” then they have the capacity to provide the true leadership that sustains relevance.

The churches that consistently have relevance and meaning in their communities are the churches whose leaders consistently instigate change. They don’t allow personal pride, tradition, power structures or budgets to stand in their way. Leaders and churches instigating change can trust God’s leadership enough to know that if He directs the way, He provides the means.

Now that's one smart cookie!