How to Transition Your Church’s Worship Without Dividing the Church, Part 6

I’ve been talking about healthy worship transitions for the last five weeks. Today, I bring this series to a close.

The fifth step is to LEAD WITH TRANSPARENCY.

As you lead in worship change, not only should you cast vision by educating, informing, and doing it constantly, but you should lead with an openness that people know what is going on along the way. This breeds increased trust throughout the process. Realize that this requires spending time with people and building relationships.

The sixth step is to STRIVE

Strive means to “make great efforts to achieve or obtain something.”

David Manner, in another post on this blog, describes this in a powerful way:

The legend is told that when Alexander the Great and his men arrived on the shores of Persia they encountered an enemy that drastically outnumbered them. Since it was clear that the odds were against them and the future was uncertain, his men pleaded with Alexander to retreat to the boats and the safety of their homeland to regroup and get more men. Alexander was so certain that their course of action was the correct one that he ordered his men to burn their boats. As their only means of retreat went up in flames Alexander turned to his men and said, “We go home in Persian ships, or we die.”

If your congregation has determined that initiating change is necessary for you to retain those people you already have and gain those you don’t have yet…then conversely, failing to initiate change when change is necessary will kill your congregation. The death is usually a slow one…but still terminal.

Failing to initiate change when change is necessary will kill your congregation @dwmanner Click To Tweet

Conviction and collaboration are the unifying factors that inspire leaders and congregants to refuse to retreat, go all in, and burn their boats even when the implementation of needed change is often frightening and the end result is rarely certain.

Earnie Larson is credited with saying, “Nothing changes if nothing changes, and if I keep doing what I’ve always done, I’ll keep getting what I’ve always got, and will keep feeling what I always felt.”

We must set our eyes on the vision God has given us and move forward without looking back or falling back.

Closing Words

Change is not easy, but change is usually necessary for the church to remain a lighthouse to the community. This series of posts on transitioning the church’s worship will help you in navigating the waters of change in a healthy, God-honoring, and people-loving manner.

Also, take a look at this excellent post, 10 Leadership Mistakes in Transitioning Your Church’s Worship by Chuck Lawless.