Erwin McManus

Lead Pastor of Mosaic in Los Angeles, California

Create expectation for change. The rate at which you change determines your church's culture. When you move slowly, you filter out the entrepreneurs, the risk takers in your community. And when you move quickly, you filter out people who resist change, people who like predictability.

The question is not dealing with specific changes, but asking what kind of culture you're trying to create. If you have leaders whose dominant value system is to resist change, every change seems substantial. But if you have a leadership base that sees change as God's invitation to create the future, then changes become the norm.

At Mosaic, we've worked hard to create a change culture. In the early years, we resolved to make every worship service unique. We rearranged our worship units—drama, Bible reading, singing—every week. I remember having a crisis the first Sunday we decided not to do a welcome; I thought I'd get ...