| Being an Effective Advocate for Change
Perhaps the one issue the modern North American church is dealing with regularly is change. What changes should we make, and how far should we go? What changes are good or bad? What changes take us away from our core beliefs, versus what changes improve our relevancy and ability to communicate with the lost world? Styles, structure, means, ministry--all are open to discussion when it comes to change. Even the most "traditional" churches are undergoing constant change, albeit in ways that may not be readily apparent to observers.
Initiatives versus change. New initiatives are different from organizational change. A church may periodically try a bold move in a specific area to encourage extraordinary results. But organizational change has less to do with individual initiatives. A change advocate works to enhance ministry through purposeful shifts in the underlying structure. Real change has to do with updating methods and means without compromising the message. Change affects the long-term strategy and ministry of the church body.
Change agents. Leaders make the best change agents or change advocates. Unfortunately, it is more often the case that a non-leader on your team will be the most vocal advocate for change. To effectively administer change, you must be able to see and explain the benefits of change, then lead to organization through the change itself--seldom is this accomplished by one person. If you are in the position of "change agent" or "change advocate," you will be most effective as you develop the skill of clearly defining and explaining the need for specific and meaningful change to others.
Seeing change. Before changes can take place, someone must first see it as both a need and potential benefit. A change advocate is more than someone who is "up with the trends." It is someone who can marry a trend with a credible benefit for ministry. A person who advocates change because "everyone else is doing it" or "it's obviously the trend" is not leading, but following. Seeing change means grasping the "big picture" behind individual trends and events.
It also means being able to evaluate those "big picture" movements against your core mission and purposes. Will a change in a particular area enable you to more effectively fulfill your mission? Another question you must ask is "What's the downside?" What could you lose in the transition? A good change advocate considers all sides of the option. Seeing change is looking at trends, spotting the underlying movement and then evaluating it objectively.
Defining change. Change must be specific and measurable. "We need to move to more contemporary worship" is vague. That statement creates more variables than it controls, has no timeline and no stated goal or objective. Start with the goal--"I believe we have been called to reach our local population--a population which has grown younger in recent years." Now define the change: "For this group, it might be more effective to have both the adult and children's teaching be along the same vein, to encourage parents and children to talk to one another about what they are learning spiritually." Then propose a measurement--"Let's try a 4-week lesson series where adult and children's teaching mirror each other, then ask our leaders and some of the participants if this method was more effective."
Hearing change defined often means wading through phrases like "throwing it out," "wholesale reorganization," and "cleaning house." This kind of talk only creates fear of change and intimidates those whose support you will need to be successful. A change agent functions like the rudder of the ship--you only need to make a small adjustment to change course. Change agents take the long view, using change as a "course correction" that can be defined and measured so as to lead to a specific destination.
Explaining change. It's important to be more than a voice for change. Organizations are filled with "Chicken Littles" who cluck constantly about the sky falling. What they say may have a kernel of truth, but their voice alone is not enough. When pressed, talkers often reveal they know little about the sky, or what makes it fall, or how to do something about it. Change agents must not be simply repeaters or amplifiers of others' ideas. They must be able to explain change in the context of their church and ministry.
Explaining change means having a fundamental understanding of how a ministry or program works before you can effectively advocate adjustments. Only when you are involved will you begin to sense the hearts of those who are leading a ministry and uncover possible barriers to change. You will likely find that change is needed in areas you had not considered--or even that change is happening and you didn't even realize it.
"Outsiders" make poor change agents--so becoming an "insider" before advocating change. Failure to research a ministry is the primary reason most change agents fail. Effective change agents actively involve themselves in ministry to gain an understanding of it, and advocate change within the context of their involvement.
A common example of this is the unending battle over "worship style" in many churches. Many advocates of change in this area do not regularly participate or lead in worship. Worse, most have not taken the time to fully explore what the Bible says on the subject, drawing conclusions based on trends or emotion. Lack of involvement or desire to fully understand "where we are" with respect to an area of ministry is why few find successful change. It's also why so many churches fail with the "worship style" issue--a common target for change that is rarely seen fully, defined succinctly or explained effectively. Instead, passion and personality often substitute for meaningful discussion. The result is a rudder that swings both ways, taking the church nowhere and leaving everyone frustrated with the experience.
The necessity. If a church is going to reach multiple generations of people for Christ, growing them in faith and involving them in ministry, then a culture of change is an absolute necessity. Consider this axiom:
Change keeps us from getting into stale ruts in our lives individually and as a church. It helps us use our resources more effectively. Change is evidence of growth and maturity. Change moves us forward. A church that refuses to change and adapt purposefully will eventually die.
The change advocate is often seen as a tour guide--speaking loudly, pointing forward but really doing nothing more than reading lines that someone else wrote. If you want to be an effective agent for change, become the sage, the provocateur. Study up, get involved, ask smart questions, look at trends, see the big picture, find the advantages, understand the context, explain yourself fully and help others take measured steps in a new direction. Sound like a big job? It is! But there are few things more thrilling to a change agent that seeing the positive result of a meaningful change.
About the Author. Eugene L. Mason has more than two decades of experience in ministry communications and technologies. More...
Copyright Eugene L. Mason. All rights reserved. 031109
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