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Change is complex

'Transformation is not a simple process,' says Bonem

by Corey Schlosser-Hall

BIRMINGHAM, June 20 — "Churches provide an extra level of complexity when we talk about change," said Mike Bonem, President of Kingdom Transformation Partners and co-author of Leading Congregational Change: A Practical Guide for the Transformational Journey during the Churchwide Transformation luncheon held Tuesday.

One reason change is so difficult in churches is because they are "volunteer dependent," Bonem observed. "If they don't like the direction of the change, they can leave. Or sometimes, to make it worse, they can stay."

Another reason is that the church has rich traditions, and people fight over those traditions. "What kind of hymnal to use, how you will worship . . . all those tradition questions are complicated by a theological overlay," said Bonem, "it can be experienced as changing how we relate to God, and people internalize it more deeply."

Other reasons Bonem gave for the complexity of change in a church include unclear motivations for change, confusing governance structures (just how do decisions get made here) and churches tend to be notoriously poor at giving and using feedback.

"So we say, ‘Tom just loves God.' And what we're not saying is that Tom is a terrible Bible teacher. Or ‘Sally just loves children.' And we're not saying, ‘But the children don't love her.'"

"Transformation is not a simple five-step process," Bonem cautioned listeners.

"When we started in Houston we said let's get a plan, be clear about that plan and follow that plan," Bonem explained. "We failed miserably."

Bonem shared a model of transformation that takes into account the levels of complexity associated with change in a church. Central to that model is "spiritual and relational vitality."

"Change will always produce conflict." Citing the food distribution conflict in Acts 6, Bonem explained, "When you have a healthy level of spiritual and relational vitality, when conflict emerges it can be life-giving. When you don't have it, conflict becomes life-threatening."

"Spiritual vitality produces a holy dissatisfaction with the church where members are not going to accept the status quo. However, many changes do not grow out of spiritual vitality," Bonem warned, "they grow out of a survival mentality."

Second, after spiritual vitality, Bonem said another key to leading people through change is personal preparation. We need to be asking ourselves, "God, what are you calling me to do? How are you equipping me to help make this change?"

A third key element of helping to lead congregational transformation is developing the vision and the vision path. Vision is capacity to see the big picture. "Vision path is the steps to move toward the vision."

Bonem took pain to warn transformational leaders not to settle for compliance with the vision — "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it" — but to seek commitment — "I'm willing to take this hill with you."

Finally, he noted that leadership teams need to be learning together. "It is far better to go to one conference with five people than to have one person go to five conferences. If we're not learning together," Bonem reflected, "it's far too easy to fall into the posture of ‘Pastor, you tell me what to do and I'll do it.'"

Instead, Bonem suggested, "Begin asking the hard questions together: Why are we declining? We've had 25 visitors who have never come back. What does that mean for us?"