Is your church in chaos right now?
In this series of posts, Chaos to Calm: Nine Seasons a Scrappy* Church May Face, I will provide some insights to help you navigate and understand how to help you and your church make it through the chaos.
If your church is experiencing chaos right now, that stinks. I am sorry.
If you have not experienced chaos in the church, I will describe it. (For those of us who have experienced it...trigger warning ahead.)
Describing Chaos in the Church:
Imagine one evening you are relaxing in your recliner at home. Your children are asleep upstairs, and your spouse is out with friends. You are snuggled under a blanket with a nice cozy fire in the fireplace, reading your bible, and experiencing peace in your relationship with the Lord. You hear a rattling at the window, but you dismiss it as branches or your imagination.
You were wrong.
Suddenly, standing in your home is a thief. His masked appearance is frightening, and his intrusion into your home strikes a deep fear in you. Your children are upstairs. Will he harm them? Your spouse may return any moment...what will he do to them?
You do not fight. You do not run. Instead, the fear urges you to freeze.
Immobile, you are frozen in your recliner. Your heart is beating rapidly; your breathing is shallow. Your mouth dries. Your eyes are glued to the thief.
The thief stands in front of you, places his finger over your lips, and whispers, “Shh.” In less than two minutes, the thief carries out your valued possessions. Then, he is gone.
You never trained to protect your home from a thief so confident...heck, you never trained to defend your home from a thief, period. And before you could devise a plan to stop him, he has already left with your property.
You did nothing, and now fear, confusion, and relief settle in.
In the aftermath, you are grateful your family was unharmed, but now you are suspicious about your neighbors; you feel nervous around those in your neighborhood you do not recognize. Over time, you struggle with trust and wonder if you and your family should move out and find a new home in another neighborhood.
This is what a church in chaos feels like, right? (Please share your story of chaos in the church in the comment section, it will be cathartic for you to share, and I would love to know how to pray for you.)
Maybe you saw the chaos unfold right in front of you. You didn’t know if you should step in and try to help, and now you are wondering if it is time to find a new church home.
As a Pastor for the last 26 years, I have stood behind the same pulpit of Pastors whose departure was sudden and created chaos. Some degree of chaos will always be experienced when a Pastor leaves a church, but the degree of chaos is elevated when the departure is a result of moral or ethical failures, a disagreement of theology, a coup, a witch hunt, or a forced resignation.
Cringe.
So, it is from this perspective I developed these "Nine Seasons a Church May Face."
Over this series, I will dive into each of these phases with greater detail. For now, here are the Nine Seasons and a brief description of each one.
Nine Seasons from Calm to Chaos in a Church:
Chaos: A significant unexpected event occurs with leadership in the church, and the growth, momentum, and direction of the church is cast into chaos.
Confusion: The immediate fallout and questioning. Questions abound, and answers are scarce. The church grapples with uncertainty and fears about the future. Who is going to lead and make decisions?
Crutch: The church implements a temporary fix. It is makeshift, urgent, and necessary to prevent a collapse, but it is important to recognize this crutch is a short-term fix. The crutch could be an interim Pastor or revisions to the bylaws of the church that enable people to make important decisions.
Clarity: The short-term solution has been successful, and new Leadership has been found. The search team has presented the Pastoral candidate, the church has voted, and the Pastor has answered God’s call to serve the church.
Communication: Conversations begin. The new pastor listens to the challenges and problems that developed from the chaos that emerged when there was a lack of leadership. The new Pastor begins to understand the cracks in the foundation that led to the chaos and the church hurt associated with the chaos, begins to pray for God’s wisdom, and develops a path of healing for those hurt and a vision for the church.
Correction: Clarity and communication lead to change. The new direction begins to take shape, albeit with growing pains. The need for correction and new direction is clear. If the church never makes changes, the church will continue to get the same results. If the church has a pattern of chaos in leadership, the church must be willing to change and trust the new direction and vision that the new leadership brings.
Core Values: Through the phases of communication and correction, the new leadership understands the amazing milestones of victory the church has experienced throughout the years. Every evangelical church that seeks to honor God will have seen God working in great ways through five basic non-negotiables: The Bible, Fellowship, Grace, Joy, and Serving. The new leadership will seek to define precisely how these five areas have been demonstrated historically in the church and frame the core values around the history and vision to move forward.
Collateral: The church will experience collateral that is both positive and negative. Chaos in the church brings hurt, and change in vision and in core values can bring hurt, too. Some church members resist, and some leave, but the majority of the church remains committed to the refined vision, values, and direction and supports the new leadership of the church. Those who left may try to bring others with them and may be successful. For a season, collateral, both good and bad, is felt among staff and leadership. By remaining committed and unwavering in the new direction, God is honored, and the church begins to grow healthier.
Calm: The church finds its stride in a new rhythm and grows stronger and more resilient. The church emerges from the chaos recovered and revitalized.
I've experienced the pain of chaos and the journey to calm within the church. This framework isn't merely theoretical; it is a strategy I created and developed to remind myself that change is a process and takes time. If I grow frustrated because the rate of change is not as rapid as I want, I pull out the nine phases, take a deep breath, and embrace the chaos. :)
I hope you stay engaged with me through this series of posts as I lean into the particulars of each phase. And if you personally find it helpful, please share your own experiences in the comment section.
As always, I invite you to share this post on your social media pages and engage with others in the comment section.
*The term 'Scrappy Church' is derived from Dr. Thom Rainer's concept of a 'scrappy church' as described in his book 'The Scrappy Church.' If you have not read the book, you should! You can purchase the eBook at this link.
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