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Leading Change -- Communicate the Vision

John Kotter's third step in Leading Change is ... Communicate the Vision. Kotter suggests the leadership should estimate how much communication of the vision is needed, and then multiply that effort by a factor of ten. WOW!!! Do not limit it to one congregational meeting, a sermon, or a couple of mailouts to members. Leaders must be seen “walking the talk” -- another form of communication -- if people are going to perceive the effort as important. “Deeds” along with “words” are powerful communicators of the new ways.

Triads

Sharing the Gospel with unreached people is not programatic, but is a function of personal, informaln relationships. The concept of Triads, which is explained in great detail in Neil Cole's book: Cultivating a Life for God. It is a simple idea: three people, one of which is a seeker, meet regularly around prayer and scripture. Meetings of three people are informal, need no facilities, and are easliy coordinated among their various schedules.

Triads arise out of the initiative of individual Christians, not church programs, and become a non-threatening place for seekers to ask questions, share concerns and meet the personal Jesus. While the church cannot program and control the activities of triads, it can encourage church members to form these basic building blocks for sharing faith, which will ultimately bring new people into the Kingdom of God as well as into His church.

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Leading Change -- Create a Vision

John Kotter's third step in Leading Change is ... Create a Vision. Successful transformation rests on a picture of the future that is relatively easy to communicate. A vision helps clarify the direction in which an organization needs to move. The vision functions in many different ways:

• It helps spark motivation
• It helps keep all the projects and changes aligned.
• It provides a filter to evaluate how the organization is doing.
• It provides a rationale for the changes the organization will have to weather.

“A useful rule of thumb: if you can’t communicate the vision to someone in five minutes or less and get a reaction that signifies both understanding and interest, you are not yet done with this phase of the transformation process.”

Ask yourself ...

• Do you understand the importance of vision in a congregation?
• Are you praying for clear discernment of God's vision for your congregation?
• Are you willing to "pay the price" to accomplish the vision?

It's About Kingdom Expansion

I'm still reading Phil Stevenson's book, The Ripple Church. A couple things jumped out at me today as I was reading. In talking about churches that are ready to launch a daughter church Stevenson listed a number of characteristics. One characteristic ... A Kingdom Mindset.

Ultimately, parenting churches is not about denominational survival or local church vision. It is about Kingdom expansion.

How true that is!! As much as we desire churches healthy enough to multiply small groups & churches our ultimate goal is churches healthy enough to multiply disciples. That’s Kingdom growth!

Leading Change -- Guiding Coalition

Let's explore the second step John Kotter lists in his book Leading Change ... Form a Guiding Coalition. Change efforts often start with just one or two people, and should grow continually to include more and more who believe the changes are necessary. The need in this phase is to gather a large enough initial core of believers. This initial group should be pretty powerful in terms of the roles they hold in the church, the reputations they have, the skills they bring and the relationships they have. Regardless of size of your organization, the “guiding coalition” for change needs to have 3-5 people leading the effort.

Do you see the connection to your Refocus Training Team??

Leading Change -- Create Urgency

In his book on Leading Change, John Kotter says the first step in leading change is to “create a sense of urgency.” The question is … How can you help others see the need for change and the importance of acting immediately? You may ask, “When is the urgency level high enough?” Kotter suggests it is when “75% of your leadership is honestly convinced that business as usual is no longer an acceptable plan.”

Ask yourself …

• How many in our congregation are ready to make a significant change and move boldly in missional outreach?
• Am I ready to move boldly in missional outreach?
• What can I do differently today to be more missional in my focus?

Be sure to check out Kotter’s latest book and website … Our Iceberg is Melting.