Leading Change Part 1
You may be looking at an impending change on the horizon, or are in the middle of a change. The change may be small or large. You may be change averse or the ultimate risk taker. What I know for sure is: whatever change you make will change you.
Change should be the one constant in your church and ministry. Pastors are in the business of change. We want to see people’s lives change. As pastors, we come to church every week prepared to see people’s lives changed, thinking changed, and beliefs changed.
Ironically and painfully, most churches cope very poorly with changes.
Whether its changing the service time, song selection, lighting levels, volume levels, carpet, paint colors, changing pastors, the length of a service, the length of a message, the use of a different translation of the Bible, the Church Constitution, etc. Each of these changes can go badly for leaders in churches.
We know change is necessary so we can’t back away from it, but we also know it’s going to be really hard for some people, and that a lot of difficult conversations probably lie ahead.
Unsuccessful changes and even successful changes will change you as a leader. As a leader, you don’t have to like change but you need to lead change. Change comes with the job. Embracing calculated risks should be in every leader’s job description.
How do you manage change in your church? We will be exploring this in the next few blog posts.
Bob Jones is the founder of REVwords.com, an author, blogger, and coach with 39 years of pastoral experience. Bob is also an Advance Coach with the ABNWT Resource Centre. You can connect with Bob here.