RENOVATE 2017 ORLANDO
LEADING CHANGE AND MANAGING CONFLICT
IN THE REVITALIZING CHURCH
DARWIN MEIGHAN, D.ED.MIN
, 480-489-0190
- The Eight Step Process of Successful Change
John Kotter – Our Iceberg Is Melting
Set the Stage
1)Create a sense of ______.
2)Pull together the ______.
Decide what to do
3)Develop the ______vision and strategy.
Make it happen
4)Communicate for understanding and ______
5)______others to act.
6)Produce ______- ______wins.
7)Don’t ______
Make it stick
8)Create a ______
- The Reality of Change
Change is an ______of all our lives.
Change Happens:
Human Life Cycle Stages
Business Life Cycle Stages
Product Life Cycle Stages
Technology Life Cycle Stages
Church Life Cycle Stages
What parallels can we draw?
“The rationale you articulate to explain why things are broken, how things are not working right, and the urgency of the risks if solutions are not addressed. It is the first homework of any change agent.” –Hans Finzel
- Why Change is Like a Slinky
1. You have to take it out of the box to have fun with it.
2. It comes in many styles and colors.
3. Somebody has to launch it on its way.
4. The course it takes once it begins is entirelyunpredictable.
5. It routinely gets stuck halfway down the stairs.
6. It is messy, noisy and chaotic.
7. Before it is launched, it has stored potential energy- when launched, that energy force becomeskinetic energy.
8. You really don’t control it once it begins its journey.
9. It rarely lands where you predict.
- Leading Change in the Church Sometimes Gets Messy
Think of a time when you successfully led changein your church.
Why did it go well?
Would you be willing to share your story?
Think of a time when you led change in your church and it didn’t go so well.
Why didn’t it go well?
What were the obstacles?
What have you learned that you might do differently next time?
In your efforts to bring fresh energy into your church, you will be attempting to sweep your church clean, to shake things up, to get the church moving, to implement changes.
-Gary McIntosh
- The Urgency for Change (the great need of our day)
80-85% of our churches today are plateaued or declining.
Would anybody miss us if we were gone?
What are we going to believe God for?
Our culture, communities and country are changing – we are missionaries in a foreign land.
- Leading Change God’s Way – Nehemiah’s Leadership
The Strategy of the Enemy – External Opposition
1)______, Nehemiah 4:1-2
2)______(sarcasm), Nehemiah 4:3
3)______, Nehemiah 4:7-8
The Strategy of the Overcomer – Gaining victory over External Opposition
1)______, Nehemiah 4:4-5
2)______, Nehemiah 4:6
3)______, Nehemiah 4:9 - As the opposition intensifies (from ridicule to mockery to force), Nehemiah steps up his strategy for prayer.
The Strategy of the Enemy – Internal opposition
Three Things Opposition From Within Will Try To Do:
1)Depletes ______, Nehemiah 4:10
2)Distorts ______, Nehemiah 4:10b
3)Deflates ______
The Strategy of the Overcomer – Gaining Victory over Internal Opposition
1)A common ______, Nehemiah 4:13
2)A united focus ______, Nehemiah 4:14
3)A ______approach, Nehemiah 4:15-17
4)An intentional focus ______, Nehemiah 4:19-22
- Real Life Obstacles to Change
Pride, Egos and power struggles
Unhealthy relationships
Blatant opposition and resistance to change
Complacency and apathy
Sense of loss and security
Living in the past
Disobedience and habitual sin
Lack of compassion for others in the community and world
What else?
“Declining churches are addicted to habitual, self-destructive behavior patterns. The church cannot simply be renewed - it must be transformed. No programmatic change will overcome addiction.” - Thomas Bandy, Kicking Habits
“To lead is to struggle. In a world such as ours, in history as we know it, to choose the path of leadership is to be on a collision course with conflict.” - Leighton Ford, Transforming Leadership
- Leadership Do’s and Don’ts
Things Not To Do As a Leader of Change
Take things ______
Let the ______get to you (losing your cool)
Fail to go directly to the ______of the problem
Share too much of the ______too soon
What else?
- Things To Do As a Leader of Change
______to leading change
______, ______, ______
Build a ______– don’t go it ______
Discover your Church’s Unique God-given ministry ______and ______
Know and understand your church’s context
Context: the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs, environment or setting
Know and understand your church’s culture
Culture: the heart, core values and character of your church
How do you know and understand your church’s unique context?
How do you know and understand your church’s unique culture?
Be willing to make ______and the tough ______
Seek to Gain _____ - ___ and ______
Sometimes go ______, sometimes go ______
Be ______
Equip staff, team leaders and members for ______
Evaluate ______
What else?
- Why Change Must Happen
(The Great Commission) Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
We will abandon it all for the sake of the call
No other reason at all but the sake of the call
Wholly devoted to live and to die
For the sake of the call
-For the Sake of the Call, Steven Curtis Chapman
- Questions
How much is your church willing to change in order to welcome new people into the kingdom of God?
Does your church have a passion for welcoming a crowd of spiritually hungry people to the table of God’s mercy the way Matthew invited others to his dinner party?
How willing are we to change our ways in order to fulfill our mission – specifically the mission of sharing the love of Jesus Christ with people who do not know him yet?
For all that has been – Thanks!
To all that shall be – Yes!
This is a simple but bold and courageous statement which combines gratitude for the past with hope and confidence for the future. For all that has been – for all the things which have shaped us, all the things which have built us up, all the things which have tried to tear us down, all that has made us who we are - we say, thanks! And to all that shall be – to all those promises yet to be filled, the expectations yet to be realized, the hopes which energize our future – we say, yes!
- Markings, Dag Hammarskjold
1