Some wag once said that the only person who wants change is
a baby with a dirty diaper. And I once heard a comedian indicate that that
person may have questions about wanting change with the statement, “Leave it
alone. It’s my mess. I made it; and I want to keep it.” However, change is
inevitable if we want to exhibit life.
We see how change shows life if we watch the rose bush we
planted last spring. We want to see growth, buds, flowers, and even the falling
of the flowers. We want to see the plant go dormant for a season so that it can
come back to growth, buds, and flowers again in the spring.
In church life, change must happen if the church is to exist
to see the next generation become a part of our congregation. The principle is
that the church must change or die. This is true not only for the church in the
urban or suburban setting where the community is changing around them, but it
also applies to the rural or small town church where the community itself seems
to be drying up. If we are to exist—to continue to be effective in our
communities—we must see where change is necessary, and make change.
With this in mind, I would like to recommend the book Leading through Change to pastors and
leaders in country, rural, and small town setings. With shelves of books on
leadership, church growth, and change for the good of the church in bookstores
today it is difficulty to choose the one that fits for you. This book addresses
the need for change, but more importantly it gives advice (not cookie-cutter
process) on how to approach change that will remove lifelessness and add life
to the local Town and Country church.
Section one of the book sets the foundation explaining the
need for change, indicating the difference between change that works in the
suburbs (which is addressed by most of the volumes on change available) and
what will be helpful to bring about necessary changes in a rural setting.
Section two develops some of the key ideas about change that will help the
leader of a small-town our country church breathe new life into a church that
needs to reach new people.
The authors, representing over 100 years of ministry (most
if not all of which is in the small town or rural setting), develop nine steps
(some “spiritual” some “cultural”) to approaching change in the church. A basic
idea is not to force change, but to “lead through
change” (as implied by the book’s title) by adapting to the change that is
going on around you in your community.
This is an invaluable book for the pastor of the rural
church. It includes encouragement (reminding the pastor/reader that just
because some statisticians are bemoaning the decline in membership of churches
as a sign of death without taking into account that some specifically rural
communities are experiencing decline in population), and some practical helps
about having a vibrant ministry in a culture that once was but is no longer the
“preferred” culture of our society. Country living is still a viable option.
Here are some of the plusses about the book: It is short.
Pastors (many who are bi-vocational) don’t have as much time to read the
300-400 page textbooks available on church growth and health. It is written by
men who are part of the culture to whom they are writing, including real-life
examples of what worked (and did not work) in their own ministries. And it is
practically biblically based. We can see the Bible foundation for the actions
taken as a church ministers in the midst of change, and the practical
application of that Scripture.
One more bit of advice concerning leading through change. If
you get a copy, start by reading page 77. This will give a good picture of
leading change and leading through change in the small town and country church.
It will also give you a good snapshot of what is to come as you return to page
one and read the entire book.
For the small church, country church, rural church pastor,
this is a must read and will be a positive resource throughout the years of his
ministry in such a setting. I give this resource 5 out of 5 reading glasses.
—Benjamin Potter, October 24, 2017
