Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

I was asked yesterday what I thought the most important lesson was in leading change successfully. Our congregation has managed to hang in there for quite a lot of change in recent years, despite a well-earned reputation for having resisted change for many years.

After thinking a bit, I responded that it is essential to stay close to the people with whom you are trying to move, and pay attention at every step of the process. Listen and watch carefully. How are people responding to proposed or developing changes? Who’s with you? Who’s hanging back? Who is actively resisting?

Sometimes as leaders striking out in a new direction, we find ourselves walking alone. The rest of the congregation hangs back; unsure if they want to follow the path we have chosen. They may wish us well, and send us on ahead, even packing us a snack in case we get hungry. But they don’t come along. At that point, it’s good to turn back pretty quickly, and work on coming up with a plan that more people are willing to try. Try to find out what people might need in order to feel like they can come along. A better map? A less steep route? More provisions? More accommodations for those who will struggle with the walk? An entirely different direction? This last may be very disappointing for leaders with vision, but also may be better than remaining stuck in one spot.

Much more troubling than the polite send-off is when we discover that we have struck out ahead on a path of change, and that the people who have stayed behind are not just watching, but rather beginning to build a wall to shield themselves from the disasters they fear will come from the change we are proposing.

The beginning of that wall is a critical moment.

When you see the wall start to go up, you have got to get back on the other side of it. Do not, if you can possibly help it, ever end up on the other side of the wall from the congregation you are trying to lead.

Head back over the wall while it’s still small enough to step over. Stand very close to anyone who looks like they might have been planning to throw things over the wall in self-defense, however misguided. Inquire about the building plans. Make it clear that you plan to stay with the congregation, that it is more important to you to be with them than it is to win this particular battle, or walk this particular path.

This process can be frustrating. It may feel like change will never happen if someone doesn’t strike out ahead. But finding yourself alone on the path with a granola bar in your pocket, or worse yet on the other side a wall, with no way to communicate other than throwing things back and forth? Neither of those is going to bring the change you want and hope for. For better or worse, if your congregation is going to move, you are going to have to move together. Some in the lead, some in the middle, and some behind, but all going in more or less the same direction.

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