Leadership Questions

Richard L. Hamm suggests in his book, Recreating the Church: Leadership for the Postmodern Age, that church organizations in general "tend to serve the needs of the previous cultural context."

I find this thought by Hamm to be convicting.  Instead of the church leading the mission of Christ in a changing and challenging culture, we find ourselves focused on the past, or "what was."  It feels like today's church is working hard getting people to "like" or to be "conformed" to the way it used to be instead of discovering new expressions of Christ's body (which is the church), and relevant avenues of worship and ministry.  Don't get me wrong, I liked the way church "used to be."  But I am finding many who are looking for church to be different for them than the experiences and forms to which I personally grew accustomed.

Is it possible that God has commissioned us to discover new ways to connect worship, ministry, and service to a cultural context that has changed, to a people who think differently or value experiences differently?  This does not mean minimizing worship and service, and certainly not commitment, but it may mean that church may have to change forms or practices.  It does not mean that we adjust the gospel to accommodate culture, but it may mean we adjust methods in order to accommodate cultural shifts in regard to time, schedules, and yes, even certain values.

The Dutch Theologian, Gerben Heitink writes in his book (Practical Theology: History, Theory, Action Domains), "The church...has the responsibility to search for a credible way of 'being church,' for new forms of Christian community, that calls for a counterculture against an extreme individualism and an anonymous bureaucratic collectivity."  One of the challenges of Heitink's comment is "will the church or the leadership of the church take this responsibility seriously?"  Or, will we (the leadership of the church) continue to pretend that we need not spend our time, energy, or resources on paradigm shifts that continue to challenge our comfort levels?  Maybe the real question is "will we lead or not?"

Leadership Cohort Case Study

For several months, the council of First Church had been discussing how it might make the morning worship service more friendly and hospitable to visitors. After lengthy discussion, they finally voted to introduce an informal time of greeting prior to the official beginning of worship. This was announced the next Sunday and began the following week. People were asked to take opportunity to greet someone they didn't know or hadn't seen in some time and to have a few moments of conversation.

Two weeks into this new approach, the folks who came early and who normally sat in the back of the auditorium began to circulate a petition seeking to end this "disruption of the service," as they saw it. By the third week, representatives of this group visited the pastor at his home, presented the petition, and insisted that the council change the decision that had been made. Interestingly, this group had even gotten a visitor to sign their petition.

The council met in an emergency session later that week and decided to withdraw the decision they had made five weeks earlier. At their next monthly meeting, council members engaged in some reflection on this experience. Two insights emerged. First, someone noted that they appeared to have given away their power as a council in capitulating to a vocal minority in the congregation. Second, another person observed that they had likely also given away the issue of introducing any further changes in worship, and that it would be a long time before they would have the freedom to try to introduce any other innovations.

(This Case Study comes from Chapter 7 (Spirit-Led Growth and Development) in Craig Van Gelder's book, The Ministry of the Missional Church)

Questions for reflection:

1. If you were the pastor, how would you have handled this situation differently? Or would you?

2. If you were one of the council members, how would you have handled this situation differently? Or would you?

3. What does this case study say to you about addressing change in the church?

4. As a leader, what do we learn about your role in addressing change in the church?

Ken M