A timely read....
Have you ever read a book and felt like it had been specifically written just for you, just for right now? I just finished Steering Through Chaos by Scott Wilson, and it is that kind of book!
Some of the principles are familiar to someone who seems to continually be in churches that are transitioning, but some of the things he says are new, fresh, and extremely timely. Right now we're in the process of trying to revitalize a church in decline because they had been comfortable with the way they had done things and not put any thought towards the future. In fact, there was so little forward thought that the building itself is falling apart (in many cases, very literally!) because nothing had been done to change it since the '60's. Now, as their youth and worship pastor, I find myself in the middle of the transitional process as one of the major reasons we are transitioning is the contemporary service I head! If that service wasn't growing there would be no need to add technology to the sanctuary and there wouldn't be any discussion about, gasp, changing worship times. With that as background, can you see why this book came as an extremely timely read?
Wilson brings his considerable experience as a leader in transition to help those of us in transition. The most eye-opening point comes early, because he is bold enough to suggest that leaders not wait until decline to transition, but to begin the process while the church is still growing! If the leadership has the vision and is forward thinking, the church doesn't need to experience decline but can continually grow (which is more the New Testament model than grow, contract, grow, contract, etc.). If more pastors/staff thought this way, it would save a lot of heartache, stress, and trouble! I know the transitions I've implemented in youth ministries would have been easier if I had tagged them in to our periods of growth rather than waiting to make changes until things had reached a critical mass. However, that point isn't the only truth that can be gleaned from Wilson's experiences and wisdom.
He also addresses leadership characteristics for staff and pastors in the church during transition. When I resigned from my previous church, I thought the issue was one of capacity within the church (they couldn't/didn't want to pay me what I was worth after growing the ministry exponentially) while the reality of it was that the issue was my capacity! I wouldn't have been able to continue what I had begun because of my own capacity for leading had reached its wall. The growth ceiling that had plateaued our church was in part due to me! Was it easy to leave? No. Was it what I really wanted? No. Did I think they would really let me go? No! But, it led me to a position where I have grown as a leader and become more the minister God made me to be. Would that have happened if the church leadership hadn't been willing to do the hard things? NO! If nothing else, learning to ask the right questions of leadership (whether our own or others) is well worth the price of the book and makes it a more than worthwhile read.
As someone in the middle of transition, I devoured this book. The moment I finished reading it, I passed it on to our senior pastor. Personally, I'm leaning towards buying every member of our session of elders, trustees, and deacons a copy. Why? If we're all on the same page as the leaders of the church, the rest of the congregation will come with us. If that happens, we can become who God made us to be and be fruitful in His service instead of being a stunted shadow of His grander purpose. If that wasn't our goal, we could do what some of the older folks in our church have suggested and "wait until they die off to make any of 'our' changes." However, the idea isn't to lose an important part of our church because of change but to see our church become the church God meant it to be and watch it move into the 21st century instead of dying off because it was stuck in the 20th century...
Some of the principles are familiar to someone who seems to continually be in churches that are transitioning, but some of the things he says are new, fresh, and extremely timely. Right now we're in the process of trying to revitalize a church in decline because they had been comfortable with the way they had done things and not put any thought towards the future. In fact, there was so little forward thought that the building itself is falling apart (in many cases, very literally!) because nothing had been done to change it since the '60's. Now, as their youth and worship pastor, I find myself in the middle of the transitional process as one of the major reasons we are transitioning is the contemporary service I head! If that service wasn't growing there would be no need to add technology to the sanctuary and there wouldn't be any discussion about, gasp, changing worship times. With that as background, can you see why this book came as an extremely timely read?
Wilson brings his considerable experience as a leader in transition to help those of us in transition. The most eye-opening point comes early, because he is bold enough to suggest that leaders not wait until decline to transition, but to begin the process while the church is still growing! If the leadership has the vision and is forward thinking, the church doesn't need to experience decline but can continually grow (which is more the New Testament model than grow, contract, grow, contract, etc.). If more pastors/staff thought this way, it would save a lot of heartache, stress, and trouble! I know the transitions I've implemented in youth ministries would have been easier if I had tagged them in to our periods of growth rather than waiting to make changes until things had reached a critical mass. However, that point isn't the only truth that can be gleaned from Wilson's experiences and wisdom.
He also addresses leadership characteristics for staff and pastors in the church during transition. When I resigned from my previous church, I thought the issue was one of capacity within the church (they couldn't/didn't want to pay me what I was worth after growing the ministry exponentially) while the reality of it was that the issue was my capacity! I wouldn't have been able to continue what I had begun because of my own capacity for leading had reached its wall. The growth ceiling that had plateaued our church was in part due to me! Was it easy to leave? No. Was it what I really wanted? No. Did I think they would really let me go? No! But, it led me to a position where I have grown as a leader and become more the minister God made me to be. Would that have happened if the church leadership hadn't been willing to do the hard things? NO! If nothing else, learning to ask the right questions of leadership (whether our own or others) is well worth the price of the book and makes it a more than worthwhile read.
As someone in the middle of transition, I devoured this book. The moment I finished reading it, I passed it on to our senior pastor. Personally, I'm leaning towards buying every member of our session of elders, trustees, and deacons a copy. Why? If we're all on the same page as the leaders of the church, the rest of the congregation will come with us. If that happens, we can become who God made us to be and be fruitful in His service instead of being a stunted shadow of His grander purpose. If that wasn't our goal, we could do what some of the older folks in our church have suggested and "wait until they die off to make any of 'our' changes." However, the idea isn't to lose an important part of our church because of change but to see our church become the church God meant it to be and watch it move into the 21st century instead of dying off because it was stuck in the 20th century...
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