New England Synod

The Evangelism team hosted an event at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Arlington, MA on Saturday. Leading Change in the Local Church.

Below is the outline of the presentation by Pastor Jim Hazelwood.

Leading Change in the Local Church

Pastor Jim Hazelwood

Rules for Dealing with Resistance to Change

Rule # 1 - Just remember that no one wants change,

Rule # 2 - When you introduce any kind of change to a system, there will be forces at
work cheering for failure.

Rule # 3 - Criticism is a form of Pursuit

Rule # 4 - When introducing change, don’t use the word Change

Rule # 5 - Convince the Influencers and the rest will follow

Rule # 6 - Being more mischievous than the mischief makers is a helpful and fun tool

Rule # 7 - Change is not about logic, it’s about relationships, in fact everything is
about relationships ergo nothing is logical, especially in the church.

Rule # 8 - Why glad-handers go far, but get lots of colds

Rule # 9 - If you have a serious antagonist, you need to decide how much you want
this change.

Rule # 10 - The longer you go without any change, the tougher it gets. So start
changing little stuff.

Rule # 11 - There is no Rule # 11 – but probably should be.

Rule # 12 - Ultimately this is about Leadership and the 51% solution

Rule # 13 - If you wake up feeling great one day – Watch out.

Rule # 14 - Pastors: Grow where you are planted. Nothing really happens until year 7

Rule # 15 - Rely on the depth of our Tradition, 5,000 years plus

Rule # 16 - Go for it

Resources: Antagonists in the Church by Ken Haugk Generation to Generation by Ed Friedman, works of Peter Steinke, Jon Kotter’s Leading Change. Lyle Schaller’s work, Shakespeare, the Film 12 Angry Men, Old Testament books of Genesis, Kings & the prophets, and, of course, Jesus, the ultimate change agent.

It seems like the rest of the world just might be catching on with this idea that part of our calling to be on this planet is to make it a better place. In our language, that would be about the business of building with Christ the Kingdom of God.

Even Google seems to be on board????????

Tim Keller is an interesting figure in the modern Christian movement. Kind of a 21st Century C.S. Lewis. I've heard him speak, and he can weave Luther, St. Paul, Calvin, Sociology & Kierkegaard in a way that is quite accessible. His new book The Reason for God has been receiving wide acclaim. Despite his Evangelical Presbyterian roots, Lutherans can engage with him.

The lecture at google is a nice intro into his thinking as well as the content of the book.

Save the Date for the Leading Change in the Congregation event.

Saturday, October 4th

St. Paul's Lutheran Church
Arlington, MA