8 Principles to Help You Lead Through Change

In times of change godly leaders are the key factor in leading for the positive and minimising the negative impact on the flock. Therefore the key question is: what do leaders need to bring to the table to build trust and confidence in new direction or a new initiative?

Here are a few principles:

  • Leaders help the flock with their core motivations - aligning them to Christ and Christ's purposes through teaching, encouragement and godly role modelling
  • Leaders clarify future challenges and needs with gospel vision
  • Leaders care for the flock when uncertainty comes. We need to be able to express how change will affect people positively and negatively so they know we will help them when they feel weak and afraid
  • Leaders communicate clearly in order to help the flock embrace godly opportunity. People respond to concrete vision not vague vision
  • Leaders build team and gather resources for the task ahead, focusing people with our enthusiasm and joy in God
  • Leaders smooth transition with wisdom and the affection of Christ
  • Leaders expect to absorb angst with prayerfulness, compassion and kindness. In doing so we minimise future distress and disturbance
  • Leaders help the flock celebrate successes and mourn failures constructively

Leaders are always sensitive to the people they have and what goals and timescales for future change are realistic. We cannot change what we do not have the level of trust to change. In addition we cannot change things in Christ-centred ways unless the church shares a Christ-centred, disciple-making view of its purpose. We lead change in order that he is better magnified through the church making disciples. If that purpose is not central we will simply default to running everyone's favourite things.

6 Factors in Bringing Christ-Centred Change

Over time churches can become quite change-averse communities. There are some positives to that of course - stability is important in any family. But sooner or later an aversion to change will prevent any community carrying out its purpose. People will join because they like it as it is at present not in order to join themselves to a vision for the future. They invest a large part of themselves in creating something they like and enjoy. Structures, activities and expectations build up over time until you get a mismatch between the church’s purpose - reaching its area with the gospel - and the structures that are meant to assist it. Maybe they were good 25 years, but they aren’t now and they aren’t easy to change.

Churches can suffer from inertia in the following ways:

  • Individual inertia: Individual self-interest, and self-perception about why I am here
  • Structural inertia: Activities are perceived to be the essence that makes church attractive rather than gospel vision; outdated but unchangeable structures and strategies from a previous age
  • Vision inertia: Lack of clarity of purpose
  • Leader inertia: Factors that make leaders unwilling or unable to lead

All of which are likely to demotivate change and to paralyze. 

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Leadership Lessons: The Leader as Change Agent 1

Kingdom growth involves constant change by definition. A church that wants to be in exactly the same place in 10 years time is extremely complacent and will atrophy. Leaders are the people who mainly expect to receive and shape God-given vision and direction for where the church and its mission can and should be in the future. Change, however, is the biggest threat to stable organisational life so being able to lead through change is critical to church and kingdom growth. Whether leaders are allowed to lead for change, and how they do so, will determine whether a church develops for future gospel extension or concretises itself in a past reality.
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