Our adult Sunday school was losing people through the cracks. We already had two kinds of classes: electives and age-graded classes. But some people -singles, international students, DINKS (double income, no kids), and folks like my husband and me who enjoy a diverse crowd – didn’t feel at home in any of them. The DINKS didn’t want so much talk about diapers and schools, and the singles felt uncomfortable with so much emphasis on family and home.
The problem was, none of the categories of “misfits” contained enough people to start its own class. So a small group of us got together to ask the question, “What if … ?” That’s where the common denominators of ministry and career arose. Perhaps we could try a new adult class that examined the concerns we shared.
We proposed the idea to the pastor and our Christian education board. The fact that my husband and I had taught adult electives and served on the CE board didn’t hurt our case. We received a green light to initiate the class as an experiment.
Remembering who our constituency was, we tailored the class to build relationships and focus on our ministries both in the church and in our workplaces. We kept away from family subjects. Our job was to forge a united group out of many subsets of people. Through joint projects, progressive dinners, and socials, we worked to relabel as something good what some thought might divide us: our variety.
It worked. Our class is going strong and feels cohesive. Probably the best indicator of that success is the comments we hear from time to time: “We finally fit!” “I’ve learned a different perspective from others in the group,” “This group feels right for my needs,” and “I don’t feel like I’ve been put in a box.”
As a lay leader at least partly responsible for this and other innovations, I feel good about effecting positive change in the church.
Not everyone shares my enthusiasm for change. For some lay leaders, the sounds of consistency and dependability are as much music to their ears as the traditional organ. For instance, in a recent business meeting at one church, the no-change faction vetoed coffee and doughnuts in the Sunday school classrooms because it had never been done before. And the idea of putting a soft-drink machine in the church basement is blatant sacrilege. This group finds change discomforting, inappropriate, threatening.
Even among those who want change, not everyone feels able to effect it. I know people still frustrated that they were outvoted regarding pews in the sanctuary. They were shut out again in a church name-change decision, and again in a verdict about two worship services. They never seem to get what they want.
When you think the youth program needs revamping, how can you make your voice heard? When you feel as though you’ve brought up the need for a marriage and family focus for the twenty-ninth time and no one is listening, how can you break the sound barrier? Here are some of the strategies I’ve seen employed with success.
Take Time for Assessment
Be realistic about how long change takes. Most people remain unmoved by a sudden shower of ideas, especially when the ideas are not theirs and they’ve been given scant time to consider the possibilities. Many people’s attitudes don’t open immediately to just any idea that may suddenly blast in. The formal and informal power structures in the church need time to consider change. Better than blurting out ideas in a business meeting or pouncing on people in the parking lot, I’ve found, are a systematic approach and an anticipatory style.
Take the case of our church’s parenting class. From the first time its advocate, Trish, conceived of placing such a class opposite the children’s club program, nearly a year passed until the implementation of this double program. During that time she actively moved people toward change by demonstrating her competence and by spreading information to everyone around her.
Assess the need for change. Our church is strategically located between a low-income and a middle- to upper-class community, and we need to reach both strata. Within a few miles are various senior citizens’ apartments and a community college with numerous international students. So taking into account our church’s philosophy of ministry – to be a bridge into the community and to make multiple use of our real estate – we need to reach out to seniors and international students. Such ideas as a seniors’ Saturday lunch ministry or an international students’ holiday dinner would receive a hearing.
In contrast, an idea to start a bus ministry to bring in kids from the inner city probably wouldn’t get far. Why? We’re only scratching the surface of the nonchurch families in our own community.
Need, however, may be perceived differently within the same congregation. At one church, a couple in the choir found a great deal on an organ, and they ran to the deacons for approval of the purchase. They couldn’t believe the deacons’ negative response.
Why would the deacons turn down this opportunity? They didn’t perceive it as a need since it didn’t fit the direction they saw the church heading. According to the deacons, the church was moving toward contemporary worship with guitars and choruses. Besides, with a missionary emphasis and two new candidates to support, there was no money for an organ, even if it was a good deal. Different perceptions; different responses to change.
Assess the climate for change. Is lay-initiated change all that common in your church? One pastor told me, “There’s no way lay people can effect change. It has to come from the top down.” We experienced this in a previous church. Change came only if it was the idea of certain key leaders. Lay conceived change had little chance for a long life.
In our present church, on the other hand, the huff and puff of movers and shakers nearly drowns out the music. Change is constant; it’s the way we effect ministry goals. But even though our church accepts change, the changes that do occur follow the direction set by our philosophy.
Therefore, when the idea came up to mesh part of the international students ministry with the emerging college/career fellowship group, it was a fairly easy change to accept since it followed the church’s philosophy. On the other hand, an idea to build a large sanctuary rather than continue with two services met opposition since it was inconsistent with our philosophy.
Sometimes the climate for change itself changes. Following change in every stage of church growth, some of our people are tired. Different times of services, new classroom locations, a revised constitution, and a recent merger with another church spell fatigue and not fun to some of our staff and congregation. As a consequence, the tired troupe is now more apt to drag its heels when approached by new ideas. That makes timing important.
To assess the climate, I ask questions: What is the church’s attitude toward change? How much change is currently happening? Who holds the reins of change? These and other questions help me decide the best church season in which to plant the seeds of change.
Prepare for the Change
Do your homework. A Sunday school teacher was interested in reaching senior citizens in the community. He visited several of the manors and apartment complexes, talked with supervisors, and asked how they felt about the church’s coming in to do a Bible study. Then he visited a seniors’ Saturday lunch at another church and talked to leaders there. By the time he went to the church leadership, he was prepared for their questions and could lay out a specific plan for how this would work in their church.
Trish, who wanted to begin a parenting class, had done her homework, too, including getting firsthand experience in another setting. She had taught the parenting classes at a social services center. She knew the possibilities and the pitfalls of putting together such a program. When she went to the pastor, she could tell him the pros and cons of setting up the program, as well as how parents’ lives had been influenced.
Both Trish and the Sunday school teacher could lay out a map for change. By doing their homework, they turned an abstract idea into a concrete plan before advocating change.
Develop a track record. A pastor sat behind his desk listening to the enthusiastic church member. “Pastor, I have this great idea for a summer day camp here at church. All I need is some money and … ” The pastor’s mind drifted away from the words to his experience. Yes, this individual was enthusiastic, but he lacked stick-to-itiveness. In fact, his last idea never made it out of the starting blocks. Part of the problem was that he carried the idea by himself and wouldn’t share it with others.
Meanwhile, another pastor listened to several people who wanted to have the Christian education superintendent removed. Was there a personality problem? A power play? The pastor evaluated the people as well as their suggestion. For several years they had been active in the church, working steadfastly with various programs. They were doers, not complainers. Today their attitude reflected their desire for peace, yet at the same time the need for increased educational effectiveness. They had earned the right to be heard, and the pastor listened as they presented specific reasons for this change.
Establishing a track record is particularly important for younger leaders. Before being able to effect change, they may need to pay their dues by patiently working alongside other leaders or by diligently carrying out smaller tasks.
Cultivate your contacts. Change needs to travel the channels of authority and power within a church. So we need to ask, Who are the change makers in the church?
A man new to one church couldn’t find a Bible study that fit his needs and interests. Could he just start one? He watched people and assessed the informal power structure. Then he went to one of the perceived leaders, explained his idea, and asked for suggestions. Together they organized a men’s breakfast Bible study. Contacting the right person helped the newcomer create change.
Whether church power resides in the deacon board or the “old guard,” asking this group for suggestions and then keeping them informed of your progress can facilitate change making. For instance, I had some ideas for a series of marriage retreats over the summer. I dashed into our pastor’s office anticipating a green light. I hadn’t done my homework, and my ideas didn’t appear as workable as I had thought.
What could I have done? Initially, I should have gone to him for input concerning scheduled summer church events, the profile and economic status of his young marrieds’ class, the needs he had perceived from his contacts, and anything else he thought I should be aware of. Then I could have better determined if my idea was, indeed, a good one and presented a strong case for a workable idea.
The leader for our “Life Unlimited” (crisis pregnancy) ministry considers continuing P.R. important. She takes the time to inform her Sunday school class about the girl who came from out of state and found Christ through the ministry.
In like manner, Trish now describes in the worship service how the police had enough confidence in our ministry to refer a couple to the parenting class, giving people the sense that this class is reaching into the community.
The leadership can see these lay people are carrying out their plans, meeting needs, and furthering the church’s philosophy.
Making Change
Let your idea be heard. “They’d be crazy to let people tramp around in the church. No church would want the traffic this idea would bring.” A social worker discussed his apprehensions with his wife.
“You won’t know until you’ve asked,” his wife encouraged him. The social worker called his pastor about the idea of bringing in a Santa Claus Workshop, in which volunteers would refurbish used toys and offer them inexpensively to low-income families. He was surprised by the pastor’s consent and the congregation’s support. Yet, he would not have effected change had he not found his voice.
Unless the idea is heard by the right people, however, the voice may be just ineffective rumbling. An usher walked over to a small group of people talking between church and Sunday school. “It seems no one cares what we think,” one man was saying. Another man agreed, and soon the conversation became a tirade about the church’s weaknesses.
“Whom have you talked to about your feelings?” the usher asked. The group admitted they hadn’t talked to anyone, yet they expressed their consensus that “it wouldn’t do any good anyway” – exactly what the social worker had thought about the Santa Claus idea. A generally broadcast grumble is counterproductive, but a well-aimed suggestion may do wonders.
Suggest a trial run. Trying to get the church power structure to agree to permanent change sometimes seems as difficult as persuading Pharaoh to release the Israelites. A trial-run approach increases the potential for change since it is less threatening to the leaders, it allows the lay person to work out the bugs in the idea, and it provides everyone a graceful way out if the idea flops.
Trish requested a trial run for the parenting class. The Sunday school teacher suggested a trial run for the Bible study at the seniors’ center. The Sunday school class for the international students was begun on a short-term basis. I presented the concept of inhome newcomers’ get-acquainted dinners as a “let’s try it once” idea.
One of these changes has become permanent, another idea was discontinued, a third was modified, and the last idea is still in its trial period. And nobody has lost face.
Much of the stress and strain within the church arises from the tension between change and stability. Why is it that one lay person can speak to a listening crowd, while another gets as much respect for his ideas as a drippy faucet?
Each church situation differs, but perhaps where someone has effectively introduced change, that person has taken the time and care to give birth to ministry in a natural, nurturing way.
Naomi Gaede-Penner is a speaker and writer active in the leadership of Centennial Community Church in Littleton, Colorado.
