Searching for the Holy Grail of Church Transformation

What is the key, the Holy Grail, in transforming a church?

Is there one?

In the work of evangelism training, I’ve been asked on many occasions about the role of evangelism in helping a church get out of the rut, get unstuck, or get excited about inviting others to follow Jesus.

From pastors, this question is likely to be worded as:

How do you lead a church from

• being apathetic to excited
• being concerned about survival to concerned about souls
• being inward focused to outward focused?

Today we have a guest article by George Bullard of The Columbia Partnership that ponders this question.

He and I spoke last week about the Spiritual Strategic Journey and the 100 days of discernment portion that can help congregations transform.

See Dr. Bullard’s bio at the end of this article for contact information.   It is reprinted here with his gracious permission.

The part that speaks to me the most is this line:

It is difficult to underestimate the value of evangelism actions that exhort preChristians to consider a life-changing spiritual encounter with the Triune God. A theology of evangelism, acceptable methods of evangelism, and the ability to execute actions of evangelism divide congregations who transform from those who do not.

Enjoy this article.  It has made me think a lot over the last few days.

Chris.

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Searching for the Holy Grail of Church Transformation
Dr. George Bullard
The Columbia Partnership

Since the mid-1950s, when demographic shifts in North America caused by the population boom that followed World War II began to wane or change direction, congregations and denominations have been looking for the Holy Grail of congregational transformation.

What is the key to congregational transformation? What empowers some congregations to transform in the midst transitions and changes, and others to age and perhaps die? Should there not be one right answer? Should we not have found the best answer during the past 50 years?

Perhaps we have and have not recognized it.

In any case, the search for the best solution to the challenge of congregational transformation is an illusive search similar to the search for the Holy Grail—the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper. There is mythology even about the search; much less never-ending debate over whether or not the solution has been found.

A List of Approaches Attempted

As I began to think about the various approaches attempted over the past six decades, I began to make a list. At first I tried to list them by the decade of their apparent greatest popularity. That did not work. Then I tried to list them by the type of approach or intervention they represented. The categories were way too blurry and open to much interpretation.

Finally I just decided to list them as they came to me, and then to pick out the ones I find most promising. Are you ready? Here is the list.

1. Standards of achievement organized around the various program emphases of congregations.
2. Rallying the congregation by raising money and constructing a new building.
3. Developing a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and/or multi-cultural ministry.
4. Adopting an assertive church growth strategy.
5. Engaging in church growth or strategic planning consultation processes.
6. Changing pastors to get the right pastor who brings visionary leadership to the congregation.
7. Engaging in social action and economic development that results in community transformation that leads to new openings for congregational transformation.
8. Focusing on church health, fueled by the use of a church health survey or diagnostic.
9. Escape the current context by relocating, merging with another congregation, or ignoring the context by primarily reaching people who live somewhere else.
10. Or, more deeply invest in ministry with families/households in your current transitional setting.
11. Use of process of spiritual discernment to determine God’s leading for the transformation of your congregation.
12. Address conflict issues through mediation or management to free the congregation to move forward after dealing with the bad parts or people from the congregation.
13. Address the family emotional systems in the congregation to develop non-anxious people in a healthy congregational system.
14. Vision casting processes that involve the pastor, staff, and people of passion and position in the congregation forming an enduring visionary leadership community.
15. For the congregation to engage in a process that modifies their behaviors through making them accountable to an outside third-party.
16. To engage continually in evangelism activities intended to draw preChristians into the congregation.
17. Intentionally move from a traditional mindset, methods, and manner of governance to one of innovation.
18. Making the move from traditional worship to innovative or contemporary worship.
19. Involvement of senior pastor, and perhaps other staff and key lay leaders, in peer learning communities that search and share for solutions to congregational transformation challenges.
20. Use of personal ministry coaches for the senior pastor, staff, and key lay leadership teams with the congregation focusing on the strategic framework of moving the congregation forward.
21. Planting one or more new congregations of a different people group, and perhaps nesting them in the church facilities. Ultimately these new congregations could own the facilities.
22. Planting new congregations within the context of the church community, or in other locations or among different people groups so that the congregation lives through other congregations.
23. Engage in church and/or lay renewal processes.
24. Utilize small groups as a means to revitalize the programs, ministries, and activities of the congregation.
25. To use action/reflection among congregational participants following engaging them in missions trips to a radically different culture somewhere in the world. Such action/reflection could long-term result in a whole new mobilization and motivation for mission within the congregation.

Where is the Holy Grail?

Twenty-five approaches are probably enough to list. It is certainly not all that have been attempted in the past six decades.

Which one is the Holy Grail of congregational transformation? Are any of them the Holy Grail? Is there actually a Holy Grail of congregational transformation?

Which of these approaches has your congregation attempted? Which of these approaches have you attempted during your ministry? Have any of them worked? If it worked in one place, would it work in another? Or, are congregational transformation solutions congregationally specific? What works in one place and time may not necessarily work in another.

Which Approaches are Most Promising?

From my perspective the most promising are the cluster of seven approaches represented by ideas 14-20 on this list.

Review these for a minute.

Here are some of my understandings of these principles.

Vision is the fuel that drives the transformation of a congregation. Such vision must be owned by at least 20 percent of active participants in a congregation. This ad hoc group of people is known as the Enduring Visionary Leadership Community. The initiating leader and key voice of vision is the senior pastor.

For a congregation to remain focused on the necessary transitions and changes, they must voluntarily make themselves accountable to an outside authority knowledgeable about their opportunities and challenges. Few congregations will continue to make less than the most popular choices and actions without a third-party holding them accountable.

It is difficult to underestimate the value of evangelism actions that exhort preChristians to consider a life-changing spiritual encounter with the Triune God. A theology of evangelism, acceptable methods of evangelism, and the ability to execute actions of evangelism divide congregations who transform from those who do not.

Congregations who transform are able to innovate on their historically traditional mindset, methods, and their manner of governance without losing their core values as a congregation. They never allow their long-term traditions to keep them from doing new things that both honor their base and empower their future.

Further, they are willing and able to move from their longstanding traditional worship in the direction of innovative or contemporary worship. Often they stop at blended or convergent worship, and that typically is enough.

The pastors, staff members, and key lay leaders of these congregations are continual learners. They gladly participate in peer learning communities that are discovering and implementing various strategies and tactics of congregational transformation. Further, they use personal ministry coaches to help them individually stay focused on effective actions.

So, are these seven the Holy Grail? I would not lay claim to such. Based on thirty years of working in the area of congregational transformation, they are the ones the make the most sense to me at the current time.

What works best for you?

Copyright 2007, Rev. George Bullard, D. Min.  Reprinted with author’s Permission.

George Bullard is a Ministry Partner with The Columbia Partnership

George’s vision is to use his spiritual and strategic giftedness to empower congregations and congregational champions to fulfill their vision for Kingdom growth.

George is Senior Editor for The Columbia Partnership Leadership Series, a book series with Chalice Press. [George’s first book in this imprint is Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation]

George is widely recognized as an advisor to denominational leaders, a futurist, a strategic planning expert, a group process facilitator, a church growth strategist, an authority in conflict management, and a writer. He has extensively developed a life cycle model for congregations, which helps congregational leaders know what types of assistance they may need to best facilitate growth.

Visit www.bullardjournal.org or www.thecolumbiapartnership.org

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