Congregational Culture: Change--or Cure?
by Charlie Halley
Charlie Halley lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was formerly the Executive Pastor at a large Presbyterian Church in Raleigh that doubled in size to 2000 during his 8 year tenure. He formerly served large churches in Michigan and North Carolina. Charlie Halley utilizes his unique combination of church and private industry experience to serve the local church as an independent consultant. He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan. He believes that the key to changing the culture in a church is basically a spiritual process that can lead to systems and structure changes. He says his strength is to prepare the culture of a church for an equipping style of ministry. His contact information appears after his article:
Everywhere I turn--whether the daily paper, television or periodicals--an endless dialogue on the increasing speed of change in our world assaults my eyes and ears. Even when I narrow the scope of my attention to the Christian world, I see and hear much the same thing. Church leaders talk incessantly about the need for something new within their congregation and as a consultant, I am often asked to assist in designing a related process.
Currently, I find that pastors are most interested in cultivating congregational transitions in one of four ways: 1) from "modern" to "post-modern", 2) from command-and-control to permission-giving, 3) from volunteerism to lay mobilization, or 4) from multiple agendas to a vision grounded in Kingdom priorities. All of these focal points for change are worthwhile and often needed.
I would submit, however, that quite often an even more fundamental "cure" is needed to promote a healthy, vibrant body of Christ--an ongoing transition from being members-centered to being Christ-centered. I call this collective process of change "congregational discipleship."
One of my mentors, Bob Tuttle, Jr., defines discipleship as the process of exchanging a world where we are at the center for a world where God is at the center. I love this wording because it succinctly captures Jesus' specific instructions on the nature of transformation. Over and over, Christ's invitations to discipleship reveal the intriguing point that accepting them involves a two-step process: dying to our natural preference to be the center of our own world and living so that God is enthroned at the center of our world. Note carefully the process: die and live. There you have it. Accepting Jesus' many invitations to be a Kingdom citizen requires us to take not one, but two distinct and radical steps: first, we have to let go of our world and its ways, and second, we must embrace God's Kingdom and its values. No other cure for our spiritual needs exists.
Once we recognize the two-step invitations of Christ to exchange our worldly culture--that is, our behavioral norms--for God's Kingdom culture, we discover yet another truth. We--the community of faith--also need to be cured through an ongoing, transformational process. Our agenda must gradually give way to the Creator's. Our self-centered norms must be replaced with servant-centered ideals. Once again, I call this curative process congregational discipleship--a never-ending, life-changing journey of faith.
The need for our discipleship should come as no surprise. If the Church is nothing more than the sum total of Jesus' disciples, what's true for every one of us individually must also be true for all of us collectively. In other words, the church is saddled with an enormous problem: people just like me. All of God's children are still in the process of growing up in the faith--letting go of the world's priorities and learning to embrace God's.
In recent years, I have come to recognize that the dynamics our journey together as a Church closely parallels my individual journey of faith. In other words, discipleship--the process of spiritual transformation--describes both me and us. I find the similarities starkly evident:
* Our journeys are both ongoing--a never-ending process of transformation. * Our journeys are both relative--uniquely our own with no two alike. * Our journeys are both purposeful--each has a clear Kingdom destination. * Our journeys are both contentious--sustaining faithfulness is a struggle for me and us. * Finally, our journeys are both cooperative--we have a Partner, the Holy Spirit, who empowers our next steps of faith.
Unfortunately, I find that congregational leaders often fail to consider the spiritual dimensions of transformation. In their efforts to improve a church's health, leaders tend to begin with change initiatives that focus on the symptoms rather than their church's deep-seated collective ills. If it were only that easy!
Don't misunderstand me. I am not at all discounting the value of moving from modern to post-modern, from volunteer-based to servant-based, or from fuzziness to clarity. For the vast majority of congregations, these kinds of changes are called for and long overdue.
I am suggesting, though, that the most basic need for change within the Church is always spiritual--turning away from a taste for Burger King and acquiring a thirst for the King of Kings. You see, with Burger King, I have it my way. With the Kings of Kings, I bow to His way. And when Jesus is increasingly the center of the church, the movement of the Spirit is strong, the power of sin submits to the cure of obedience, and God's grace is evident to all.
Want to give Charlie some feedback? Please contact him directly at (919) 786-1113 or http://www.charleshalley.com/.