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Perspectives: Change -- managing needs, reasons, and unanimity

27/1/2013

Here is the third in our first "perspectives series" on change ... three views over three weeks on change as it relates to us in our church community

No perspective is definitively wrong or right, each is just a perspective. But each also reflects a thoughtful consideration of the challenge of change: now, what's your perspective?

Perspective 1

My reading this morning was from 1 Samuel Chapter 4 where the Israelites made the mistake of treating the presence of the ark (not Noah’s boat but the sacred box carrying the tablets of the law) as a guarantee of God’s blessing. It was an easy mistake to make because previously when they carried the ark into battle they had spectacular victories. The lesson was clear: sacred objects do not guarantee the Lord’s presence.

The Bible reading notes amplified this by saying correct theology also does not guarantee the Lord’s blessing. As I reflected on this I realized the danger of relying on something that worked in the past to guarantee God’s blessing.

Before I go any further let me say that correct theology is important. So are a whole lot of other things we do in church or in the community around the church, such as good sermons, good worship, good social events, good methods of outreach and evangelism.

The danger is in thinking that because it worked in the past it will automatically work in the future

So there is a sensitivity needed here. It would be foolish in my opinion to say for instance that the Alpha Course worked last year but let’s try something new this year when God is longing for us to use Alpha.

But if we only use what has worked in the past we will miss what God is doing today and yesterday’s blessing could become today’s outdated tradition.

Perspective 2

Do we need change? If God is asking, then of course.

Can we change without unanimity? Of course. We can self destruct in conflict … that's still change.

The point is, do we need unanimity before we undertake God's change?

Need: ideally
Desire: certainly
Require: no

Our challenge is to be courageous and honest enough to ask:

does God want us to change
will I follow even at personal cost
what must change?

This is the difference between being a fan of God, or a follower of God.

If you're a fan of God, then the pleasant trappings of the fan club, the club logo, the club traditions, the club songs, the club social culture ... these are what are important to you. If you're a follower of God, then these same things are at best distractions, and at worst a hindrance.

I want to follow Jesus. And I am willing to let him set the agenda. When He called the disciples and said "follow me", He did not give them a safe social context. The disciples did not know they would have to go find a donkey, stay up late at night, be intellectually challenged, face hostility, act in faith when their best intuition said otherwise, and discover their own little community in conflict with one another!

Is it any different for us? Like to all who Jesus says "follow me", He's asking you and I to follow despite what we want. I'm not sure I'm brave enough, but I'll trust Him for the courage.

Perspective 3

Change for some people is particularly difficult… so I doubt, in the church context, if all people would agree with all suggested changes.

But my experience thus far at StB is that there is a high level of openness to change amongst the leadership team. There is an openness to making innovative changes… and the grace to acknowledge that, at times, we may not get it exactly right.

Consider changes made in the last 24 months…

This website forum has grown and evolved… and judging by the increased volume visiting the site, the changes made have been most welcomed.

We have welcomed Stephen Middelkoop onto the team. His style is different to Brian’s Hill’s teaching style… but diversity is good.

We now include a rich mix of visual material into our Sunday worship experience. This is certainly different to what was done before… but has been well received.

The church is even using an “electronic sign” to project ministry and important messages to the surrounding community. This is another change brought about by giving prayerful consideration to new ways of doing things.

Our worship teams are unique… and different in the ways they lead worship, which leads to a rich diversity. This morning our worship leader read a creative poem, which is another new form of expression not recently seen.

Finally in the 8:30 service we are trying to introduce backing music when no musician is available. Sometimes it has worked very well… other times we do not quite get it right… but we will keep experimenting to improve the worship experience for all.

Perhaps the most gratifying point of this whole discussion however is that my sense is that all suggested changes, from whatever quarter, are made in an endeavour to genuinely improve our worship services… and grow the church.

We should therefore continue… as we have seen a 25 – 30% increase in attendance in the last 18 months. Thanks be to God!

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Fan or follower?

24/1/2013

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"Christianity, by definition, embodies the glorification of Christ. Social media has for its purpose mostly self-glorification, and therefore can be viewed by the most staunch of Christians as Satan's tool since it detracts from Godly matters and focuses on personal matters.

Such issues as bad hair days, cherubic infants and relationship statuses (good, bad or ugly) are at the top of the list of social media priorities. Not Christ."

Read the rest <here>

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Perspectives: Can the church survive without changing?

20/1/2013

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Survival ... a question few of us have ever have to really deal with. But survival of our practices, our ideas, and our institutions ... these are things we fight for daily.

However, when we ask about survival of the church, we need to ask what it means for a church to survive, why it should survive, and how it should survive. This weeks perspectives follows on from last weeks topic, and asks whether change is needed for survival.

Perspective 1

I have noticed over the years that within the church people react to change in very different ways.

Some people seem upset by even the slightest change and others will happily try anything new – the more outrageous the better!

It follows that if change is not managed well it can easily divide the congregation. It also follows that those people who struggle with change need to be careful that they do not hinder the work of God when a change is needed. On the other hand those people who love any change need to make sure they know why the change they want is necessary.

So why then do we want to change things in the church? One good reason is that what we do in the church might be unfamiliar to the people we want to draw in or worse still may be totally irrelevant to them.

Those of us who have been around for a while need to have the courage to ask why we do things alike we do and does it still communicate what we think it communicates.

An example could be robes worn by clergy. About twenty years ago I realized that these robes were a hindrance to some of the people we were trying to reach so I stopped wearing them at one of the Sunday services. Some will think this is a big change and others will see it as trivial.

What are the really big things we need to change? How will we know what they are? These are questions I believe we should be asking?

Perspective 2

Absolutely not. And of course yes! Change in the church must not happen, but it is essential that it must.

Makes sense? Well, the question needs to be clarified -- what are we really considering? Well, there are three categories where change may occur:

1. The fundamental elements of our faith: if we change these then we are making a religion out of our preferences. So NO, this must not change.

2. Our collective expression of our fundamental faith: the model for this is Jesus. Through the ages wherever Jesus has strongly moved, His people changed their expression for the purposes of reaching others. Think Paul in 1 Cor 9, or think the hymn writers using the musical style of the day, or ...

3. The action of the individuals in the church: the apathy and preservation of preference that is prevalent in the western church, is killing it. The attitude that expects non-believers to fight through the ritual and language to find God, flies in the face of Jesus' command "go and make disciples" ... He expects us to go and meet the people where they are, not wait for them to find us. What we do in church that undermines this needs to change.

If Jesus was in charge of our church (he is, theoretically), would he do everything the way we do. I doubt it very much.

But Jesus says we must become like Him.
Thus, if by "the survival of the church" we mean a Jesus-honoring community and not the institution, then we must consider how we collectively and individually are out of step with being Jesus to the world.

If we don't, then as a visible presence of Christ in the city we will die.

Perspective 3

This is a very easy question to answer. In fact, I would use a phase not commonly known in my home country (the U.S.A.) that South African’s seem to love… it’s a “no-brainer”!! No… the Church will not survive if it does not adapt… and change.

This year I celebrate my big 60. I tell you this to give this blog a time context. In my short life it is interesting to reflect back on some pretty major changes made by the wider church. For instance, I clearly remember the controversy around the move in the Catholic church from Latin only services… to ones held in the local vernacular. Similarly, I remember the stir that was created in the 1960’s when we first heard about “folk music masses” being held in the same church.

As I reflect on the topic, I am extremely grateful for visionary men & women in the church who dared to make bold changes. As a small child, the King James Version of the Bible was the only translation found in my home. But as a teenager, I was so enriched by translations like “Good News For Modern Man”…and JB Philips Bibles. To be able to read the Bible in modern English made a huge impact on my spiritual life.

As someone who loves music, I am also grateful to the spiritual leaders over the years that saw the need to adapt the instrumentation used in worship to align with popular culture. While I love classical music and the church organ, I must confess a well-constructed electric guitar riff can quickly send my heart soaring in genuine Worship.

It has also been a rich source of blessing to me to investigate other forms of worship which are new to the church. For instance, I belonged to a church that had a worship dance team… where creative dance choreography was offered up as worship. I have also always had an appreciation of Fine Art… and it is spiritually uplifting to see Christians today share their faith with the use of oils, charcoals and canvas. I know another Christian whose main form of outreach is created through the lens of his digital camera.

My prayer is that we, at St Barnabas church, will constantly ask ourselves how we can communicate our faith in fresh, new and impactful ways. I also pray that we will have the boldness to “break from tradition” and “the way it has always been done” to explore new expressions of our Faith.

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Perspectives: What is the purpose of change

12/1/2013

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This is a new development in StB: Perspectives. With this blog entry we are starting an activity where members of our congregation present perspectives on topics that are pertinent and relevant to what we are facing as a church. We will be drawing on many people in the church.

We have 3 contributors for this posting. Each tries to stay within 250 words, and their views are presented in parallel and anonymously so you don't have preconceptions based on who they are (although you can probably guess!). No contributor looked at the other entries before writing, so these are independent thoughts.

We encourage you to read, think, and consider. Comment at the end if you'd like to add to the discussion. The comments are anonymous so that you can read them without preconceptions.

Without further delay, here is the first of our 3-way perspectives:

What is the purpose of change?

Perspective 1:

The church has changed quite a bit since I first came to know the Lord many years ago. Just as well as I would not enjoy having to robe up with a robed choir every Sunday night and work my way through sung evensong (you can still do this at Kings College Cambridge)

The church has changed many times in its history. It changed when Jews were joined by Gentiles. It changed when it became the official religion of the Roman Empire. It changed at the Reformation. It changed when John Wesley an Anglican priest/presbyter found his “heart strangely warmed” and wanted to share this with others.

But if “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), why should the church change? Do we proclaim a different gospel or a modern gospel adapting it to the times we live in? Do we remove those parts which modern or post-modern people find objectionable?

I think most of us at St Barnabas would not want to change the Bible message, but we would probably differ as to what changes are necessary or desirable to make this good news relevant to the people in our neighbourhood.

So as far as what we do already (Sunday worship, Alpha and small groups), I want to suggest that to begin with we try to understand the people who do come and those who do not come and see how different we may be from each other. And then we can begin to look at what should change.

Perspective 2:

I have come to accept that change is an inevitable part of life. In my career as an audio visual producer, I have had to completely change the way I work three times. The slide/tape shows of the 1980’s are gone. The analogue tape videos of the 1990’s gave way to new digital technologies in the 2000’s. I now face a second wave of new media technologies since 2010. Each decade I have had to both re-equip my studio … and my skills to stay current. Had I not … my business would be no more.

I am not alone… the American electronics giant Westinghouse recently announced that 80% of their current turnover has come from products which did not even exist just 5 short years ago!

I find change invigorant? I also believe we need to ask what are the “fresh forms of expression” that would attract and keep a new generation of Jesus followers at St Barnabas church.ating… not a burden. I grow as a person when I force myself to accept change. With change comes new learning opportunities… and growth. One can so easily get into a “comfort zone”… or perhaps even a “rut” by not embracing change. So… perhaps one purpose of change is growth.

In Hebrews 13:8 we read, “Jesus is the same yesterday, and today and yes… forever! This verse is a great comfort… as we take confidence in the unchanging love Jesus has for us.

I believe as a church, however, that we must give careful consideration to changes we could be making to keep our ministry fresh, alive and relevant? I also believe we need to ask what are the “fresh forms of expression” that would attract and keep a new generation of Jesus followers at St Barnabas church.

Perspective 3:

What is the purpose of change? To keep us from getting bored! No, seriously, I think this question is only hard because we don't like the answer.

First, if I personally don't change, I'm stuck with the inadequate person I am and I can't be all I was created to be. Second, if my circumstances don't change how can I grow in wisdom, experience, and service? Third, we only know value by the contrast that comes from change.

However, this post is about StB. This requires courage because we fear change. Change weakens our sense of control … we fear losing our comfort zone.

Yet it is one of the eternal paradoxes that our unchanging God is ever doing something new. That means, if we stay still we miss what He is doing. And He does new things for His purposes, and that is our very being: to worship Him and serve as we see the Father move.

Not all things change … we have valuable traditions. But think: tradition exists only because something was once new. If we idolize our traditions, we deny the very purpose of tradition which is to embody the fact that once upon a time there was a change!

If we let tradition undermine God's change, then we deny the reason tradition exist ... thats hypocritical. To really hold to tradition in the deepest sense means we must look for, and embrace God's change.

And my conclusion? Hold what is true, embrace what is new. God is constantly doing something new to reach all into our community: let it be said that we worked with God.

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2012 to 2013: fiery change

2/1/2013

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Approaching mountain fire

2012 is receding at a rapid pace. And before its gone, think about the stories you've made.

My 2012 was such a mix, I would not have been able to invent it. "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't" - Mark Twain.

My almost-vacation over Christmas was because a fire burned the house from inside out ... a fitting end to a year of surprises. In 2012 I experienced deaths, losses, stresses, fights, frustration, missed opportunities, houses lost, hospitals visited, and more figurative punches than I ever expected. But I also experienced the serious joys of marriages, pregnancies, gifts and pleasures, rare moments, successes, friendships and deep satisfactions ... blessings.

These are the fires of life ... they are unexpected, bring dramatic change, cleansing and renewing, and interrupt the moments of reflective calm. The calm of life is there to help us grow into the changes. Sadly, too often we instead seek those moments of stillness as refuge from change.

2013 already has a heavy foot on the accelerator, and my limited ability to anticipate the experiences of 2012 is likely to be no different for 2013. So I know there will be surprises ... I just don't know what they will be. It's my choice whether I'll work with change knowing that "... for those who love God all things work together for good" (Rom 8:28) -- not my good necessarily, but for good.

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