by David Brock

A leader or manager may see a need for change in his ministry before the others around him see it. Just this morning, I came from a meeting discussing how we could help our staff see the need for change. When I first entered the ministry, I came out of seminary with all kinds of ideas and views of how ministry should work. One of my faulty ideas was that I could come into a ministry and change things, and people would want to follow. What I soon found out was that people did not like change; therefore, they did not look very highly upon me, the instigator of change. I quickly learned that change is not done overnight but over a process of time. One of the primary questions asked when a leader begins the process of change is, “How do I help my folks see a need for change?” Change is not a favorite of anyone, but sometimes change is necessary.

Before change can occur, it is important for you the leader to know why a particular job is being done the way it is done now. Perhaps there is a good reason. Leaders to new ministries struggle with this because they think they know how it should be done, regardless of the ministry’s previous history. Once you understand why it is done a particular way, ask yourself what about the process needs to be changed. Now the difficult part is helping the people you lead to understand the need for change. Change is emotional, and your people must see why they should change. The following are a few suggestions that may help you.

The first tool is team building exercises—doing an activity that reveals to us how we need to change. One exercise entitled “Win As Much As You Can” teaches that everyone must be willing to sacrifice or everyone will lose. Activities like this can be found in team building books and in Ironwood’s The Working Brain. These exercises usually bring out people’s true character and thoughts because they are reacting to each other. Many times, a staff member will make the comment “this is not who we really are” when the staff is verbally tearing each other apart so that their “team” can win. The reality is that this is who we really are. How people react to a game is how they react in life. One thing to remember is that you will put in much more time discussing the exercise and how it applies then actually doing the exercise. As your staff sees how they reacted in the exercise and how that relates with ministry, they will begin to see how they personally and the ministry as a whole need to change. You must take the time to put your staff back together and resolve issues before the exercise is completely over. It is not profitable to leave with hurt feelings and unresolved conflicts. [See Team Building exercise on pages four and five.]

The second tool to use in change is book discussions. One book our ministry has used is Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard. It is a story about some mice who had their cheese moved from where it normally was and how different mice reacted to the change. We went through the book in a week by discussing a couple of chapters a day and how they applied to our ministry. This could be done with deacons or paid staff over the course of the year. A couple years later now, we still refer to people moving our cheese and our being willing for our cheese to be moved. This type of discussion allowed for people to think through change on their own and then come together to discuss its application.

The third tool is to provide purpose. It is amazing to me how many people and ministries have no purpose or direction. If you do not know where you are going, then people will not see a need for change. If you cannot summarize your purpose in one sentence, you probably have not thought through God’s purpose for the ministry in which He has placed you. Invite the leaders in your ministry to get away together for a couple of days to discuss the purpose of your ministry. Do your people know why your church or ministry exists? Spend time in prayer beseeching God to give you wisdom as you chart the course for His ministry. Brainstorm and discuss the purpose for your ministry, then summarize your findings and place them in one sentence. Most mission statements are best if they are less than fifteen words. If your ministry is doing anything that is outside that purpose, then change needs to occur; if you are not doing something that would help accomplish your purpose, then change needs to occur. The purpose of our church’s college ministry is to develop selfless servants who glorify God, live by biblical principles, and reach out to others. Everything that our college group does must be derived from this statement; it gives me and those I lead direction and reason for change. As we considered this purpose, we knew that we had to change if we were going to do what God had called us to do. It was no longer about personal opinion but about God’s will for us as a group. The hard part is not discovering the purpose but putting it into practice.

Change is mandatory for any ministry that is going to thrive and grow. Good change will never occur on its own, and it must be worked at regularly. These three tools for change are not exhaustive, but they have been effective in helping us change to what God wants. We must be willing to change—are you?