Churches and Transition (1)

I know you have heard some version of the following joke:

How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb? What? CHANGE??

It is not just true of Baptists -- all types of churches struggle with change. Transitions are rarely neat and clean. Change usually comes because it is forced upon us. Often it is characterized by more fits and starts than strategic implementation of well planned ideas.

Regardless, change is inevitable. Transitions are in the future of every healthy church.

I grew up in a very conservative Baptist church in the deep south during the Civil Rights Era. It was a tumultuous time, to say the least. I was in the second grade when racial integration became a reality in Birmingham, Alabama. I can remember the strain placed on all societal institutions in those days. I wasn't old enough to understand the dynamics at play, but I was aware of the tensions that existed at every turn.

Frankly, our church struggled to manage the sweeping transitions occurring around it. It held on for a long time as a bastion of its tightly construed reality. Finally, a few years ago, the church disbanded and the facility was assumed by another church. I lost touch with any connections in that community years ago. I have not been aware of the status of the new church and its ability to be a viable witness in a transitional community.

Today, my brother sent me some recent photos of the demolition of the church buildings that used to house our church (and the new one, as well). I don't know what has happened there -- but I did find the rubble recognizable. After all, I spent the first 21 years of my life attending that church. I was saved in that sanctuary. I was baptized there. I was called to ministry there. I preached my first sermon there. I was married there. I was ordained into the ministry there. I can close my eyes right now and see that sanctuary. 

It was a bit shocking today to see that building in ruin. But, in all honesty, that church had been in ruin for a long time prior to this. It refused to change. It refused to acknowledge the ministry needs all around it. It chose to protect what was precious to it, rather than embrace what it might also discover to be just as meaningful.

I have been serving as a pastor now for over 30 years. I know how difficult it can be for a congregation to hold fast to conviction and embrace necessary transitions. I have led my fair share of efforts aimed at changing a church's strategy and identity in mission. I know how threatened a church can "feel" when changes are occurring at blazing speed all around it. Technology, demography, ethnography and economic changes can radically alter a church's ministry context. Sweeping changes can overwhelm local church leaders.

So - how do we manage our way through the shifting cultural sands and inevitable transitions that need to happen in order to provide both a prophetic and viable Gospel witness in a given community? That is what I want to explore in the next few blog posts here. Stay tuned . . .