Leading Change
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.