Who Moved My Pulpit?: Leading Change in the Church by Thom S. Rainer

Author:Thom S. Rainer [Rainer, Thom S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion/Christian Ministry/Pastoral Resources
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Published: 2016-05-31T23:00:00+00:00

Pastor Edwin in Kentucky told me he planned to leave his church even though he had no place to go. He was beaten up, despondent, and discouraged. The church members were discouraged as well. To a great extent, they were mirroring the emotions of their pastor.

He began immersing himself in the Bible. It got to be such a habit that he could not imagine a day without reading God’s Word. Typically he spent about thirty minutes reading the Bible each day.

He then asked God to give him a hopeful attitude and the ability to communicate God’s hope and grace to the church. It was not easy. There were some mean people and vicious critics in the church. The pastor persisted though. And church members began to sense a change in Edwin.

Twice a month the church offered food and clothes to the needy in the community. It was an older ministry in the church faithfully led by only four women and two men, all of them elderly. Most of the church members forgot it existed.

Edwin showed up toward the end of a day where the unnamed ministry had served needy people in the community. He asked one of the leaders how many people they had served that day. To his amazement, the leader showed him the names of 225 people. He also told him they typically served a few more people than that.

The pastor did the math. The church was serving at least 225 people in the community twenty-four times a year, or fifty-four hundred ministry needs met every year.

He shared the numbers with the congregation during a Sunday worship service. The congregation had no idea of the impact of this ministry. They would later learn that twenty-two people had become followers of Christ through this ministry.

Within weeks, donations of clothes, food, and money began to pour into the ministry. More than thirty people asked to be a part of it, including twelve Millennials. The ministry grew rapidly. The church moved from a state of hopelessness to hope.

And the pastor is still serving there—three years later.

The church finally decided to name the ministry. It is called HOPE, helping other people eternally.

Hope Must Accompany Vision

I know. You really want to lead change in your church.

You want to be a part of something that is making a difference.

You want to make a difference.

Some pundits will tell you to create a vision statement and move fast forward. They aren’t wrong in their exhortation; they are simply not telling the full story.

Vision is critical to lead change. Vision statements are likewise important in the process. But leaders who shape a vision without a foundation of hope are not doing the church any favors. Such is the reason I shared the hope factor first.

Now let’s talk about vision.

It can be a confusing topic. Definitions of “vision” and “mission” abound. On this topic of change, allow me to expand on vision in two ways.

The Guiding Vision: The Discipleship Process

Many years ago, Eric Geiger and I wrote Simple Church.

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