Seven Things to Do When Making Changes to an Existing Ministry
Roots and Wings Edition (June 29, 2023) | Featured Article | Sermon on Psalm 45 | Book Recommendation: "Pastors, Jesus is Enough"
Pastors of established churches often come into said established churches with varying ideas, cultures, and agendas–ready to unleash these ‘incredible’ ideas on the church. Regardless of how needed or solid these ideas are, pastors of these churches should take a couple of breaths and consider these steps before making changes:
Pray, seeking God’s wisdom. After all, it’s His church!
Find out the history of the particular ministry. If that person who began that ministry is still in the church, talk to them and tell them your heart as their pastor. This goes a long way into them seeing that your thinking is not simply arbitrary, and you show them you care about them, not just your vision.
See if the initial purpose of the ministry is being met either in that ministry or somewhere else. Every program or church has a shelf life. Many fall in love with the program for its own sake, even if its shelf life expires. Talk with other key leaders to see if this ministry is being met elsewhere.
If not, can we find ways to meet that need in another way or another lane that refreshes this Great Commission purpose? If you have two mission programs or ministries, bring them under one umbrella. If you have Sunday School and small groups, find a way to marry them or to pour into one or the other.
How do we communicate this lovingly and well? Teach about the purpose from Scripture. See, change is tough for established church members. Communicating lovingly and thoroughly is critical for the unity and harmony of the church. Not everyone may understand the need for change, no matter how well the pastor or leaders communicate.
Listen to the heart of the people. Many times, leaders only hear what their parishioners are saying, rather than what they are saying. The ‘thing’ that may be upsetting them may not be the main ‘thing.’ Established churches have a history. And with that history comes fear, hurt, and every other kind of painful emotion because of the various ups and downs that happen. The longer the history, the more probability of hurt. Plus, every ‘thing’ that any pastor does look similar to a hurtful ‘thing’ that happened in the past. Reminders are everywhere, good and bad. Listen to the heart of your people. Love them. Pray with and for them.
Once the change takes place, move forward, going at the speed of God. If the changes do take place, continue to look back at how this is in line with everything the church stands for in the Great Commission and Great Commandment, but look forward and move on to the next area and repeat these steps.
What steps have you taken that help move change along in established churches?
Sermon: My Heart Overflows with a Pleasing Theme (Psalm 45)
As we approach Psalm 45, we see that this is a unique Psalm in that it is described in the title as “a love song.” But this is no ordinary love song. Look at verse 1:
My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
This is a wedding song for a king! See? Even 3000 years ago, people still loved weddings.
Many of you here remember your wedding. My parents celebrated their 67th anniversary a couple of weeks ago. They only knew each other for four or five months (depending on who you talk to) and eloped at a Justice of the Peace in Angola, Indiana. It’s lovely watching grooms watch their brides come down the aisle.
This has been described as a royal messianic wedding psalm, meaning that this wedding song is not just for any king and any bride. Royal dealing with the king over God’s people. Messianic means that this Psalm is a prophecy about the coming Christ--one who would not come for another millennium. The wedding of the groom-King to his bride is a beautiful picture of Christ married to His people not “until the day you die,” but forever.
I say that there won’t be any marriage in heaven in the sense that we have in earth, but that marriage here on earth is a picture of Christ and the church. In Ephesians 5:31-32, we read:
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
In this passage, the groom is the eternal king, Jesus Christ. And the bride is the church--as Ephesians 5 helps us understand. This morning, we will look at the majesty of the groom, Jesus Christ, and the beauty of the bride, the church. As a result, you will see the relationship Christ calls us to and the union we need with him and each other.
Highly Recommended Book: “Pastor, Is Jesus Enough?” by Jeremy Writebol
Utilizing the template of the seven churches of Asia Minor from Revelation 2, Writebol provides pastors with Christ’s perspective on their calling and their overall walk with Christ.
In the introduction to this book, Writebol writes:
These seven letters are love letters from Jesus to pastors, and the more I think about it, the more that seems right. Certainly, they aren’t syrupy and sappy romantic letters, but they are nonetheless evidences of Jesus’ care and concern for the pastors who lead his church. The introduction to the book of Revelation reminds us that it is from “him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Rev. 1:5). These letters are the very Word of God for pastors today, like me and you, striving to be enough and yet forgetting to remember that we have a Savior who is absolutely enough. And you, pastor, belong to him (7).
Pastors, get this book. Deacons, secure this book for your pastor. And, dear Christian, you’d benefit from this as well!
Purchase here.