As your church’s new pastor, you will most certainly implement a number of changes during your tenure at the church. However, if you want to start well, you will need to be intentional in how you introduce any changes in the early days of your ministry. In fact, you would be wise to spend a lot of time on the first four priorities of starting well (live well, love well, learn well, and listen well) before attempting the final priority of leading well in implementing change.
However, there will come a time when you begin to introduce change. Over the next few blog posts, we will discuss how you can lead well in doing so. In the weeks ahead, we’ll discuss the following steps in leading well through change: (1) Determining the nature of the change, (2) determining the necessity of the change, (3) determining the church’s readiness for change, (4) determining the degree of the change, (5) evaluating the pacing/timing of the change, (6) determining the presentation of the change, and (7) understanding the emotional cycle of change.
These components will be critical in leading well while implementing change. To begin, it will be helpful to understand the nature of the change you are proposing. What type of change is it, and how will the church embrace it?
To help you think through these questions, ten general categories of change in the church are included below, along with several examples for each. Please note that the wisdom, necessity, or timing of the examples will not be discussed in this post. This is simply a description of the types of changes that you might seek to implement in your church.
Doctrinal Changes
As the title states, these are doctrinal changes you may attempt to introduce in the church. Keep in mind that any proposed changes to the church’s doctrinal identity will likely face significant opposition and resistance. (And rightfully so if those changes differ from the clear teaching of Scripture.) Here are some examples:
- Introducing teaching different from the church’s adopted statement of faith.
- Changing your personal doctrinal convictions about second or third-order doctrines.
- Leading the church to adopt a new, different, or revised statement of faith.
- Leading the church to take an official stance on third-order doctrines (such as end times).
Financial Changes
Changes in this category concern the church’s financial practices, policies, or position. Examples include:
- Major budget cuts or increases.
- Significant/large purchases.
- Changes to financial accountability practices or policies.
- Incurring significant debt.
- Leading a capital fundraising campaign.
- Introducing online giving options.
Missional Changes
This category includes changes to strategies or ministries related to helping the church accomplish its mission more effectively. Examples include:
- Changing or developing an intentional local evangelistic strategy.
- Adding or removing ministries or programs.
- Planting a new church.
- Adopting or merging with a dying church.
- Changing or developing a church mission and/or vision statement.
- Changing or developing an intentional discipleship process.
- Changing worship styles to better reach your church community.
Moral Changes
This category does not mean that the church will change its moral standards; however, situations may arise from time to time that may require the removal of church leaders for moral reasons. In addition, you may introduce changes to address moral failures. Specifically, here are some examples of “moral” changes:
- Changing or introducing a robust church discipline process.
- Removing a church leader from their position due to a moral failure.
- Removing a teacher who introduces blatant false teaching.
- Changing the requirements for service to better protect the church from immoral/sinful behavior.
Personnel Changes
These are any changes related to the paid or volunteer servants in the church. Specific examples include:
- Calling you as the church’s new pastor.
- Staff changes (including voluntary or involuntary resignations).
- Removing or replacing other church leadership positions.
- Removing or replacing church volunteers.
- Changing leadership expectations.
Physical Changes
These changes primarily have to do with your church facilities and could include:
- Changes to the worship space (such as replacing pews with chairs).
- Relocation of the church facilities.
- Renovation of the church facilities.
- New construction or expansion.
- Significant cleaning and/or decluttering of current facilities.
Practical Changes
This category of changes is usually implemented for solely practical reasons, often to make things more effective or efficient. Examples include:
- Changing small group curriculum (could be for doctrinal, financial, or preferential reasons).
- Changing the church’s hospital visitation practices.
- The increased use of technology.
- Transition to multiple services (due to space or other reasons).
Preferential Changes
This category is slightly different from the practical changes listed above. These changes are based less on practical advantages and more on the preferences of the pastor and/or other church leaders. Here are some examples:
- Changing the church’s practice of “patriotic” services and the display of the American flag in the worship space.
- Using a different preferred Bible translation from what the church has used in the past.
- Changing the order of the worship service.
- Redesigning the church bulletin (or shifting to a digital bulletin only).
Procedural Changes
These changes relate to the church’s policies and procedures. Some examples include:
- Revising the church’s Constitution & Bylaws.
- Revising or developing other written church policies and procedures (such as a wedding policy, facilities use policy, or child protection policy).
- Changing the business meeting schedule (i.e., shifting from monthly to quarterly).
- Making changes to church membership requirements or expectations (such as requiring attendance in a New Members class).
Structural Changes
These are changes to some of the established organizational structures in the church, such as:
- Changes to the worship schedule (new morning worship start time, or shutting down Sunday evening services).
- Transition to an elder leadership model.
- Making changes to the church’s committee structure.
- Introducing ad-hoc ministry teams to address a specific topic.
Other Considerations
As you consider different changes, take some time to determine which category best describes each change. Also, determine if the church has ever experienced a change in that same category before. If so, how were those changes received? While the outcome might be different this time around, this information will be extremely valuable.
Another consideration is whether the proposed change is permanent or temporary. Church members will be less resistant to a change if it is proposed as temporary. For example, a small-group curriculum change could be introduced as a temporary measure. If the teachers or participants like the new material, you can stick with the new curriculum. If not, you can switch back in three months. While not all changes can be temporary (such as a renovation or relocation), many can.
One final consideration regarding the nature of the change is its scope. Will it affect everyone in the church, or only a specific ministry, program, or group? Again, this information would be extremely helpful as you consider making the change.
Understanding the nature of the change is a good place to start, but you need more information if you’re going to lead well in implementing it. We’ll explore the next component of the change next week with a discussion of the necessity of the change. See you then!
