Home Outreach Leaders Articles for Outreach & Missions Of Course We Want Our Church to Grow—We Just Don’t Want to...

Of Course We Want Our Church to Grow—We Just Don’t Want to CHANGE

6. Draw a line and call it for what it is.

At some point, you have to stop talking and start doing. Here’s my suggestion to help your church change. If you’ve been in an honest dialogue for at least a year and are not making progress (that is, you haven’t made a plan for change you are ready to act on), you have come to a moment of truth.

At some point, you just need to tell everyone where you have landed.

So, our plan for change is to implement X, Y and Z by this date. Let’s do it!

Or …

So, essentially we have decided that we will not grow. We are content with the status quo. We will not change. And we will live with the consequences of stagnation, decline and decay.

Guess what? Ninety-nine percent of leaders will never utter the second statement. And that’s why they’re stuck. That’s why they’re perpetually frustrated.

But that second statement is exactly what you need to say if that’s your reality. And then—are you ready?—you need to decide whether you want to lead that organization.

This isn’t easy at all, but I do think it can help leaders who feel stuck leading an organization that says it wants to grow but doesn’t want to change.