Church Change

In my overview, I stated that there are four general categories that hold the mechanisms for becoming dechurched - excluded from a church or faith community: Differences in Doctrine, Church Change Decisions, Power Plays and Social Popularity.
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In my overview of this topic I stated that churches do not like change. Let me expand that: people do not like change. We are creatures of habit. Think about a time when the electricity was off in your house for several hours. How many times did you unconsciously flip the light switch, even though you knew there was no power? I see a few of you nodding and smiling. Now then, let’s elevate that sense of habit to the way we worship God and the surroundings in which we worship Him. If you thought a power outage was inconvenient, imagine being told a way you’ve long loved worshiping God is being changed.

Whereas difference in doctrine can split entire denominations, church change decisions usually affect a small group of people within a congregation. Typically, this group of people is either the few who want to “keep things the way they are” or who are the vanguard for change. Seldom do the people in the middle majority get hurt. The middle majority just wishes “someone would make a decision” and get on with things.

I believe there are four areas where Church Change Decisions create the most conflict:

It’s not that other organizations don’t run into these problems, especially with finance and organization, but there are elements in play within a religious community that create strong undertows that can wash people away.

“The church is the people, not the building.” Oh, yes, I’ve heard this said many a time. The reality is that people become very accustomed to their worship surroundings. They like the pew or chair layout, they like the ornate or the stark décor, they like the cathedral or the “little brown church in the wildwood.” When people attend for a very long time, memories become part of the structure. Church memories often surround significant life events: baptism, christening, marriage, and funerals to name just a few. Think about a time when you moved out of a house you had lived in for a lot of years. There is a sense of sorrow and sadness and you have to close that chapter of your life. Now, imagine you are being evicted because of a development project. That’s pretty much how changes in the church building – particularly the sanctuary, are often felt by people who want things to stay the same.

Let’s look at the flip side. Imagine the home of your dear, deceased grandmother has been cleaned out and sold. A new family moves in and they want to renovate the whole house. They want the kitchen and bathrooms remodeled, an addition put in back and the large family room divided into two smaller rooms in order to make the whole thing a Bed and Breakfast … but, the neighbors have signed a petition to keep it a historic landmark with no changes to the structure. That’s pretty much how resistance to building changes are often felt by people who are the vanguards for change.

Organizational structure change problems are not unique to churches. Any organization which needs to streamline processes, amend constitutions or bylaws or eliminate or add positions is bound to run into conflict. Different factions within a church will have differing views on the needs and ways they are governed, and they are going to be vocal about it. Such is democracy.

Finances are an issue with any group. Some of the unique problems with church finances stem from the idea that money is being directed toward “God’s work.” So, if he budget is tight, which missionary is going to get the financial ax? Why are we spending so much money on heat? Why does the pastor and secretary and accompanist need a raise? Also, the money is raised voluntarily each week by being put into an offering plate. I think this creates a perception that the money somehow still “belongs” to the one giving it, vice having been relieved to the church as an organization. “I’ll stop giving if you don’t do ______________ with MY money!”

Music is interesting. You can’t touch it, but it can move you. Because it does move so many in worship, music becomes nearly symbiotic with our worship experience. If you don’t like the music, you’ll find it hard to worship. Battle lines are quickly drawn when issues arise around the organ vs. keyboard, guitar and drums or choruses vs. hymns or silent times vs. praise times. Very often, the differences are significant enough that the best solution is having two services. “You worship your way at 8:30 and I praise my way at 10:00.”

Okay. That’s enough background. Let’s work through an example to see how these changes can end up excluding someone from church.

First Church of My Holy Imagination needs to make a decision. The congregation and the pipe organ are both aging. There aren’t as many young families as there once were and the grand old gal’s pipes need to be overhauled. Three new families are of an idea that they could put together a small praise team with a keyboard, guitar and drums. The keyboard has a pipe organ setting that the accompanist could run through a sound system to produce the familiar sounds.

At their next meeting, the Trustees get two proposals: one is for an overhaul of the organ to the tune of $185,000. The other is a sweet sound system, instruments and new music for $48,000. The annual operating budget of the church is about $250,000, of which 65% is facility care, 25% is salary and 10% is ministry and missionary related.

Let’s say in this example, the Trustees side with the organ group. The three families make a plea asking why the church would want to invest over four times the amount of money into an old organ when they could make music and update the sound system for much less. “Poor stewardship,” they say. The organ folk are upset by this. They’ve served on the church governing boards for years and saw the church through many a financial crisis. Most of the money going toward the organ has been raised by personal pledges. In fact, only $25,000 has not! Therefore, the organ is really the cheaper way to go. The young families counter that the raised money for the organ has been at the expense of regular donations to the church, which is the driving reason the church budget is tighter than it’s been in years.

If you’ve been to a church meeting, you probably can put voices to the words above.

In the end of my example, the old guard win the debate. The organ gets renovated. (By no means is this always the case, I’m just making an illustration point.) The young families stick around for a little while, but feel like they were shut out. Pretty soon, another friend from another church invites one of the families to their congregation. They go. Now only two young families are left. The husband of one of the remaining families is transferred to another state. They go. The remaining young family now feels alone and disconnected. Relationships have cooled with some of the old guard. The middle majority has long put the whole thing behind them and doesn’t even realize the third, remaining family is still feeling stung by their rejection. In the end, they attend less and less and finally quit attending church altogether.

When you see changes occurring within a church, please remember: churches hate change! Identify the group of people who are in the minority point of view. If they are the “keep it as it is” group, then do your best to acknowledge the value of what has been and try to include them in the change process. If it is the vanguard of change group, encourage them to think about ways to honor the traditions and history that are tied to longer standing members in the church. These tips will not solve all problems, but they can help in getting a group through them.

If you are someone who has been excluded from your church because of such a situation, please know there is much truth in "The church is the people, not the building (nor the constitution, nor the music, nor the finances, nor God!)." Please take a chance and look for a group of people with whom you can share your faith and your story. Of the various ways people become excluded from their church community, this one is really one of the easier ones for Christ and new friends to redeem.