All change?

I’ve been thinking recently about how we respond to change. Some of us seem to enjoy endlessly rearranging furniture or refreshing our wardrobes and seek out the changes in the seasons. For others, we long for familiarity, consistency and reliability, avoiding change at all costs. In reality, most of us fall somewhere between the two. 

As we have the privilege of walking alongside churches as they explore new ways to be more intentionally missional within their communities, the theme of change often comes up! It has reminded me of a couple of stories from rural churches in years gone by. 

The first came from a conversation between two church leaders. The first had seen significant growth in the size of the congregation, with many seekers arriving at the church and the second wanted to know the secret. When the first broached the subject of needing to make some changes, the second responded, ‘I don’t think we’d like to change anything!’ 

The second story took place in a church we were visiting. The preacher asked a volunteer from the congregation to come to the front and handed them three tennis balls to hold. As she did so, she explained one represented the past, one the present and the final ball represented the future. ‘Now,’ she said ,‘it’s quite a struggle to keep hold of all three isn’t it? Which one do you want to let go of?’ ‘The future,’ she responded, surprisingly, ‘I know where I am with the future.’ Sadly, this illustration over time came to carry far more weight; the church closed, but thank God reopened to another local, growing congregation. 

When I faced uncomfortable changes in my own life, my mum would remind me of a favourite expression; ‘the only things that don’t change are dead.’ Perhaps this is a helpful reminder to our churches too. As the spirit of God lives and breathes and moves in our churches, we must expect there to be changes; evidence of life and growth. 

Of course, tradition, stability and age old truths are vital too, this isn’t about change for the sake of change; it isn’t all change! But perhaps we all need to be reminded to hold things loosely, asking for wisdom to know what we should hold onto and what we need to let go of, remembering Ecclesiastes 3, and God’s perfect timing. So, what are you holding onto? What are you willing to change?