Seek. Love. Serve.

By Julie Anne Turner

My dad is a songwriter. A storyteller. He is also a pastor and teacher, and through the years he has used his gifts as a songwriter and storyteller to preach and teach. He also has a love for country music, and all of these things culminated into the creation of Bible story songs set to old country tunes. The story of David and Goliath set to the tune of “Please Help Me I’m Falling” and the story of Jonah set to the tune of “The Battle of New Orleans.” Occasionally, he would write comical songs about church life, about people falling asleep in church and others refusing to tithe.

One of the songs that I remember best was a song based on a book by Ralph Neighbour, Jr. Both were titled The Seven Last Words of the Church.

Those seven last words were “We’ve never tried it that way before.”

The book, and subsequently the song, took a look at the attitudes that make people resistant to change, specifically in the area of church and ministry. And while my dad’s song certainly focused on the humor that could be found in that, even pointing out that during the rapture, surely there will be some people that disapprove of being physically caught up to be with Christ in the air (since we’ve never done it that way before), there is something to be said for accomplishing effective change in a church.

There are real opportunities to do it well and see methods of ministry change to increase our effectiveness for the cause of Christ.

At the same time, there are also opportunities to disregard people and to unnecessarily cause hurt.

Change is inevitable, even in the church world. Maybe even especially in the church world.

Churches grow and need new facilities. Pastors resign and new pastors are hired. Old methods become stale and need to be updated. New music is written and begs to be implemented into a worship service. Buildings are remodeled. Pews are removed from sanctuaries to make the room suitable for multiple purposes. Service schedules shift. And while God-ordained change can be a catalyst for growth in a body of believers, if it is not handled well, it can be the very thing that causes a church to suffer.

So how do we prepare people for change?  How do we walk the fine line that lies between being obedient to God in boldly moving forward and steamrolling our way into the next new thing?

Here are some things I believe we should keep in mind to help navigate times of transition.

• Communicate the “why” before you communicate the “what.” When our children’s ministry restructured the way we scheduled our volunteers, it was essential to clearly explain the why. They needed to see my vision for our ministry. They needed to know where we were going. When I explained the why, and it made sense to them, the what was far easier to accept. In fact, the what really did not matter once they were on board with the why. They were invested in the change because they saw what could come from it. When people catch your vision, they will follow you in the change.

• Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. Period. At our wedding reception, people filled out cards with prayers, verses, and pieces of marital  advice. One of the cards said those words. And I got it. Communicate. During times of transition and treading unfamiliar waters, letting your church family know what is going on, as it is going on, is essential. It makes us trustworthy. Are you removing a long-standing church fixture like hymnals and replacing them with projectors and screens?  Talk about it. Be announcing a date for the change. Communicate through email, social media, church bulletins, and announcement time. Talk about the processes. What will be done with the old hymnals? Will they be donated to bless another ministry?  Where is the money coming from for the new equipment? Communicate the details. Be open and transparent. A church member that misses a few Sundays should not be blindsided when they arrive back and see the change. Communicate early and often.

• Be prepared for resistance. Most people do not like change.  I feel safe in saying that there is going to be some resistance to any change a church makes. The larger the change, the greater the force of resistance. This is the time for compassion. This is the time to allow people to talk. This is the time to really listen. This is the time to pray. To communicate in the Spirit, not in the flesh. People sense the difference. Know that most resistance is rooted in fear, not in conviction or real opposition. This can be used as a teachable moment. Teach your people. Love them enough to tell them that the place where God leads may be unfamiliar, but it is not to be feared. The beautiful thing about God-ordained change in a church is that the Spirit of God can be working within people to change their hearts and to relieve their fears.

• Know that everyone will not go with you. Wherever it is that your church is going, know that the journey may not include your entire body. There are some people that won’t go with you, can’t go with you, even. The family that spent years in house churches may not be able to get on board with your church’s new four million dollar Family Life Center. The retired missionary may not be able to understand why you are dropping the majority of your missionaries that you support at $100 a month so that you can pay three missionary families’ entire monthly income and invest wholly in those three ministries.  Some people will not go with you. God moves people. He does. I can look back on my thirty-six years of church experience, and I can see the ways that God used different churches to teach me different things.  Each church family played a valuable part in my spiritual growth. And sometimes, church transitions were the thing that God used to release me and urge me on to the next thing.  That is not bad. It is not wrong. It just is. It’s okay to feel the loss of the ones who leave. Honor their years of membership and service. Acknowledge it to your people as the moving of God in their lives. Walk your people through the loss of their brothers and sisters in Christ from your particular fellowship.

I could go on. Really, I could.

I would like to tell you about how to form teams comprised of pastoral staff and lay leadership to be the cheerleaders for growth and development.

I would also like to tell you that you not have an all-male team design the new church kitchen, and that the children’s area should be decorated and laid out by the people who actually work in children’s ministry.

But what I really want you to hear me say is that the church is not the four walls. It is not the building we want to sell or remodel.

It is made up of people. People with insecurities and fears and reservations.

And as pastors and shepherds, our hearts should always be to teach and protect and lead gently, gently, gently.

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Julie Anne Turner lives in Tennessee with her husband, Jake, who serves as a worship pastor. They are expecting their first child. The Turners have served as ministers at churches in Texas and Tennessee. In her free time Julie writes blog posts, songs, and plays music at local coffeehouses.  She is an Alabama football fan, a traveler, and a lover of God’s Word. Follow Julie’s adventures on her blog: The Potluck Diaries.