Leadership Insight: Navigating Shifting and Crisis in Ministry
When I was moving from Oklahoma to Texas after college, someone gave me the use of their old pickup truck to help move my belongings and travel to my new city. They dropped it off and I loaded it up to leave town. As I got in, preparing to drive away, I realized that this truck had a manual transmission on the steering column (this was the early 80’s). I had never driven one of those before!
There were a few things I needed to learn very quickly. I had to understand the gear layout which wasn’t posted anywhere. (Nowadays, it’s more conveniently located at the top of the gear shift handle.) I also had to engage a pedal on the floor with my left foot called the clutch. Instead of one simple pedal to accelerate, now I had to use two pedals and two feet. I had to shift and engage at the right times to change gears and drive forward. If I let go of the clutch too early, it made a loud grinding sound like I just scraped a brick across the hood of the truck. It sounded painful, it felt broken, and there was a whole lot of shaking happening.
In the church or ministry, when navigating huge changes or crisis situations, it can feel like learning to drive a manual vehicle for the first time. Uncertain, shaky, complex. People can be shuffled around, some are let go, the ministry can feel broken, and everything seems to be shaken up. But here is some good news. No matter how I grinded out those gears, I eventually found the way to lock it in and move ahead. It wasn’t the most pleasant trip, but I did arrive at my destination. Getting there was part of the adventure, and I learned that shifting is never boring!
Let’s face it, if you work inside of a ministry organization for long enough, you are going to have to learn how to work and lead through change (sometimes even crisis). We will need to know how to be brave and strong through transition. Why? Because ministries and churches are always shifting and are made up of imperfect people that may sometimes behave outside of the character fitting of a follower of Jesus. Ministry leaders may make unpopular decisions, and your team members may be impacted as a result. You may be affected, too! When you are tasked with navigating a job or a team in the middle of a shift, transition or crisis, there are two things to be aware of: it is never fun, and it is never popular.
It's never fun: In the middle of challenging times, everyone is emotionally and mentally in a different place regarding how they are processing what is being collectively experienced. This means that the network of opinions and emotions will likely cover a wide spectrum that cannot be fully appeased as concerns are understood and addressed. As someone leading through the change, transition, or crisis, it is quite likely that you will not realize complete buy-in from your whole team at any point. There may always be someone that disagrees while another group may be fine with the decisions that are being made.
It's never popular: When everyone is feeling and behaving in different ways, solutions are illusive. Nothing seems to get resolved in the middle of crisis, it’s just managed and hopefully moved forward. And that is what we as leaders (or workers) need to be aware of…moving forward. And remember this: forward is forward regardless of the pace. We will get to where we need to be as well! As followers of Christ, we must trust the process and often must go along for the ride. We may not always agree with the people that are driving, or those on the ride with us, and we may have to fight off the desire to open our mouths and comment on the way they are shifting through these changes.
Learn the art of staying supportive. Nobody likes a backseat driver! Change is hard and huge shifts in an organization present many difficulties, but we need to realize that they also bring us many beautiful opportunities for growth and development.
Let me provide a couple ways for us to be intentional about how we can bring health back to our culture:
Encourage the people in your circle of influence. Don’t miss an opportunity to dispense hope. When you encourage, you “put courage” into others.
Empathize with what others may be feeling. Consider what they are going through during the changes. Support them by keeping your attitude positive.
Be present and available to jump in, collaborate or just listen whenever necessary. Being in the moment, steady and ready, positions us for whatever need may arise.
How we handle ourselves and communicate with others in these seasons will determine just how far we can go and where we end up. No one likes change. When shifts and transitions take place it can be unsettling. Don’t be afraid of it. Lean in. You will come through stronger and wiser every time.
Joe Jones
Guest Writer and Pastor of Online at Gateway Church
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