| Transforming Congregations Getting Ready
By Rev. Kendall M. Taylor,
Executive Director Office of Congregational Transformation
 The
two months of my life as director of the Office of Congregational
Transformation (OCT) have been full of mind- and spirit-stretching
experiences. I have had the time to reflect and write about things
that, heretofore, I only had time to think about in between other
responsibilities. You can find the results of that work on the
conference Web site at http://www.flumc.org/OCT/
One of the documents there is titled “A Beginning Process of
Transformation.” I hope you will find it to be a good primer for
your next steps as a leader in your church.
What kind of help can you expect from
the OCT? We are about change in the congregation’s life process. Our
help will be about engaging the minds, hearts and spirits of the
people to help in discerning God’s way for them. Ongoing work will
center on developing new perspectives and new habit patterns.
We will walk with you through this. We
will bring the best available resources of coaching, teaching and
inspiring to your congregation as you decide how and when. Funds from
the OCT budget will contribute to the attendant costs. We are not
about buildings and land, so money for those things will have to come
from other sources.
As promised in my last article here are
more “understandings” about congregational life.
Churches are “communities of miraculous expectation.” That is the
result of a faith walk with a miracle-working God! Read the book “Recovering
the Great Commission” (pp. 50-54) by Claude Payne for an elaboration
on what this can mean.
Churches are complex organisms. Simple linear thinking and planning
will not produce the desired and expected results. Our attempts at
change produce unexpected and unpredictable results. So planning and
implementation should be most like disturbing the congregation’s
equilibrium and watching carefully what happens. We assess and disturb
again, introducing experiences that are our best discernment about
what will move the congregation in the desired direction (remember the
vision?). It is a repetitive lengthy process.
Transformation is a long process, six to 10 years.
Transforming becomes the way of life for a healthy congregation.
A requisite of transformation is that the people of a congregation
will literally be “in love with” the people to whom God calls them
to minister.
Until next time. Responses are welcome
at ktaylor@flumc.org. |
