“Change is unavoidable, Transition is chosen.”
Nowhere in our lives, our jobs, our churches, our families, do situations stay constant for very long. People we love move, get sick, even die. Jobs and responsibilities come and go. Families blend, grow, splinter, reconcile. Politicians and institutions rise, decline or are replaced, bringing upheaval.
American society is faced with accelerated rates of change, it seems to me. We see this in many of our industries, various technologies, scientific discoveries, and environmental catastrophes. Incredible quantities of digitized information are available immediately to anyone with internet access. National and international news, divisive opinion pieces and ridiculous hoaxes go “viral” in hours instead of days or weeks. No wonder that anxiety levels are on the rise!
Churches — of all sizes — feel the stress like everywhere else. Worshipers have a variety of expectations when (if) they come on any given Sunday. And when the experience doesn’t provide a “fix,” or at least some relief, more and more parishioners are choosing simply to leave rather than have an honest conversation with leadership. Some look elsewhere, more just stay home. As I know from personal experience, parish clergy are feeling pressure to “Grow the church or else!” and, since that rarely happens, they are treated poorly by their stressed-out laity. Bishops and other judicatory leaders get caught in the cycle too, receiving and doling out harsh words.
Does all this Change doom us to more anxiety, stress and reactivity?Not necessarily.
One of the clearest opportunities to address change in the church is when the settled, long-term {Rector, Pastor, Priest-in-Charge, etc.} decides to leave. The circumstances of the leaving have an impact, of course. It might be {happy retirement, unhappy resignation, removal due to misconduct, etc.} Once the farewells have been said, in whatever tone of voice, the congregation enters a new phase of its life: Transition.
Occupational Development guru (the late) William Bridges dubbed this “The Neutral Zone.” I found this a helpful description, because there are different forces at work when an individual, a company or a church is in “neutral” than when a course has been set by leadership.
You might enjoy this article by Bridges, which really opened my imagination:
https://wmbridges.com/featured/articles/getting-them-through-wilderness/
I see my role as helping a congregation to recall the joys, sorrows and life-lessons of their past; reevaluate the current situation in keeping with the Gospel; and get pointed toward a hopeful AND realistic future.
In short, I want to help a congregation to see the ways God is equipping them for the future during the time of transition. I bring skills for discerning the pathways that are newly possible.
Your wise words remind me of the book, Love Heals, by Becca Stevens, an Episcopal priest. We are reading it in our St. Philip’s Readers of Romeo group. The author offers spiritual, scriptural, practical, and social ways to move toward healing.