Unless an organization encourages regular and thorough internal challenge to what it has been doing, it's unlikely to be able to keep up with the changing world.
—Speed Leas

One Presbyterian congregation of 150 members worried for years about its Sunday school program. Many members believed the church was losing potential members to two neighboring Presbyterian congregations (each of which had over a thousand members) because their church didn't have a large enough Sunday school program to attract and hold young couples with children. They would often apologize to newcomers about the insufficient Sunday school, promising they were working on enlarging it.

When the church called a new pastor, the members began lobbying him about the need for a larger Sunday school program. So the pastor went to work.

He attended some church growth seminars, read literature, did some demographic studies, and finally came up with a plan. He presented it to the board.

"Within two miles of our church, in all directions," ...