I've been in a series of discussions regarding change recently, and it's always such an interesting issue in ministry. Several days ago, our staff joined with other church staff members to view some of the sessions from Catalyst regarding the issue of change and momentum. They were great! Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel do what they always do: speak clearly and inspire. Today, we're going to spend some time in our staff meeting discussing and unpacking what we learned.

I love change. I really do. It energizes me, motivates me, fills me with hope and excites me. Early in my career, I often would change things just to change things, without much forethought or process to it. This is such an undermining action. I never understood how many people did NOT like change, and I yanked them around all the time. It was not healthy. There have been tons of books written on that concept, so I won't go into it here.

One thing I do not hear a lot of discussion on in ministry is how to grid the source of the change. Here is what I mean: We will hear someone speak, such as Andy or Craig. They will make a compelling argument for change. They will use Scripture to show how the change they are describing is theologically correct. They will lay out values and methods, as well as review tools for people to succeed. The presentation is extremely methodical, clear and powerful. We then return home with a set of notes and a lot of hope. We're going to do it! We plan, pray, work hard, set up the system, begin to move forward; then it fails. We assume it's because we went too fast, too slow, didn't communicate well, or a host of other things. The communicators will tell us that if we fail, it's probably because of these things and that we need to try again. We do. We work diligently, faithfully moving forward. Yet, we hit the wall again; it doesn't work. It doesn't produce the results we felt sure we were supposed to see. We're conclude that either we are failures as change agents and leaders, or our people are unwilling to be led or changed.

What if neither of those things are true?

What if we simply missed the cultural pieces that underlie the whole process? Through the years, I have noticed that very few of the communicators bring their culture to bear on the process. I'm not sure if it's because they assume we will do it ourselves, are unaware of the uniqueness of a given culture, or are not comprehending the impact their culture has on their leadership/change process. Having worked in churches of all sizes (275 to 20,000 members) in suburban, metro, rural and small town areas, I can tell you with certainty that culture plays a huge part. So does the church culture that's created by the leadership of the church.

Organizations will take on the personality of their leadership in time. Churches are no exception. Whoever the true leader(s) is/are in your church, if they are in leadership long enough, your church will reflect their values and personality in time. If your church is lead by a senior pastor and he/she stays long enough, the people who attend the church will resonate with his/her personality, strengths and weaknesses. Those who don't typically will find new church homes. In your setting, it may not be the senior pastor. It might be the chair of the elder board, a finance team leader, the head of the deacons, etc. It's not necessarily about who has what title. It's about who has the influence in your faith community.