Change for the Sake of Change

Yesterday I said that staying the same is tantamount to being ignored. So that means that I'm obviously an advocate for change all the time, right? Hold on there, Sparky!

Change for the sake of change has the same net effect as staying the same for the sake of staying the same. You end up overwhelming people's ability to connect with what you are saying and doing. If everything is different every Sunday people will walk in and need to re-orient themselves to the situation.

Change needs to be purposeful. If we know why we're changing things, then others will know too and be more comfortable with the change. For example, changing the seating in a church is a scary thing, but having people sit facing each other to show the power of community in a service focused on community is a change with purpose.

Change needs to be visionary. This is different from being purposeful in that a vision carries one into the future on a trajectory. You can have a purpose for one Sunday, but a vision is where you see the church being in five years and that informs your purpose for what you need to be doing now. So, if you want to move the chairs so they face each other, that's great, but where is this taking your church? What's the vision?