THE COMMON THREAD...Change and Transition
Over the past ten days, I have had the opportunity to work with two different groups of congregational leaders. The first group consisted of a learning network of local pastors on the east coast who were studying the life cycle of a congregation. The second group was the staff and lay leadership of a large Midwestern congregation who are trying to take their church to the next level of mission and ministry. Flying home last night, I reflected on the issues and questions raised by both groups and realized that a common thread to both groups, and also one that seems to be inherent in most of my conversations with congregational leaders these days, is dealing with change and transition.
Social institutions and movements have a natural life cycle that parallels our human development. In very basic form, the stages of a life cycle are embryonic or beginning followed by a period of growth, then a period of maturity followed by decline. The key issues that correspond to the stages are discovery, more, maintenance and survival. There are a number of models that extend and elaborate on the stages, but these four are the common building blocks.
My time with the pastor's learning network focused on helping them understand more fully the principles of the congregational life cycle. The most extensive model with which I am familiar is the one developed by George Bullard. Through the years, Bullard has continued to refine his original model based on his consultations with thousands of churches. The latest version is what he calls "Congregational Passages: The Life Cycle and Stages of Congregational Development." His model is built around four organizing principles of vision, relationships, programs, and management and includes ten stages of development: birth, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, maturity, empty nest, retirement, old age, and death. The model explains the important and changing role of the four principles at each stage and also identifies the key characteristics of each stage. According to Bullard, for a congregation to continue developing and growing, they must focus on the organizing principles of the stage ahead.
The staff and lay leadership of a large Midwestern church with whom I worked are trying to take their congregation to the next level. In so many ways, they are typical of thousands of churches planted across the United States over the past 40 years. They were founded 37 years ago by an entrepreneurial pastor who had a compelling vision to reach the new suburban community that was being created as the metropolitan area grew. Their "target population" was very clear and after beginning in a school, they moved to their first permanent building five years later. As they continued to grow, they expanded their programs and ministries, all of which were developed with a high degree of quality and excellence and also enlarged their facilities. In time, they have become a multi-staff, "full service" congregation and have a membership that numbers in the thousands. They have reached a level of "success" and lived out the founding vision. In the Bullard model of a congregational life cycle, they are in "prime time."
This church is at a critical juncture in its life. Like the Chinese characters of danger and opportunity that illustrate the word "crisis," this congregation is facing the challenge of what is next. The founding pastor retired five years ago and the new pastor has led the congregation to dream a new dream. Yet the old mental models of what the church and community were in the past are preventing them from seeing clearly and focusing on the new vision. The lack of clarity and focus applies to both staff, many of whom were a part of the first vision, and to the traditional lay leadership of the church.
In the course of our discussions, we talked about the importance of understanding where the church was in the congregational life cycle. The next stage beyond adulthood prime is maturity and the beginning of a downward aging phase unless they intentionally intervene. The danger is that the old mental models will remain in place and the desire for the safety and familiarity of the past will win out over the opportunity of the moment to embrace and live out a new dream. We also talked about the importance of acknowledging change as loss and understanding the difference between change and transition. Change is the event (the first vision is realized, the founding pastor is gone, the community has changed) and transition is the emotional, psychological and social response to that change. In most situations, not enough attention is paid to the transition side and leaders often move forward without realizing that the congregation and/or staff is not processing the changes at the same level they are.
Finally, we talked about the need to communicate the vision and align all the resources (staff, facilities, budget) and ministries of the church with the new compelling vision. While the theological and philosophical underpinnings of the new vision are rich and the documents that support them are printed and available, the vision must be communicated in simple language that captures the intended vision and new future. And it must be communicated consistently, at every opportunity and with far greater intentionality than the leaders realize.
What about your congregation? Do you and your leadership know where you are in the congregational life cycle? Do you have alignment between the resources and ministries of your church with your vision? Are you helping people to process the transitions that accompany change? ______________________________________________________________________
LN RECOMMENDS
The following books and web sites are all excellent resources for understanding the life cycle of a congregation, and change and transition.
CONGREGATIONAL PASSAGES: The Life Cycle and Stages of Congregational Development, Fall, 2001 edition, by Dr. George Bullard. mailto:BullardJournal@cs.com; 828-256-2126, ext. 3302
TO DREAM AGAIN by Robert Dale. Broadman & Holman, 1981.
THE LIFE CYCLE OF A CONGREGATION by Martin Saarinen. The Alban Institute, 1986.
TRANSITIONING CONGREGATIONS is an online learning community for congregational leaders interested in dialogue on issues of congregational transition such as staff, committees to teams to communities, philosophies of ministry, use of facilities, multi-campus ministry possibilities, staff evaluations, rethinking our definitions of effectiveness and success, etc. Eddie Hammett moderates this learning community. To connect, send an e-mail with the message "Connect" to mailto:TransitioningChurches-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
TRANSITIONS, Making Sense of Life's Changes by William Bridges. Go to http://www.wmbridges.com
EXPLORER Lite is a free brain clip of Leadership Network's e-publication, EXPLORER...field notes for the emerging church. To subscribe to EXPLORER, go to http://www.leadnet.org/store/publications.asp
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