The mechanics of transformational change

Let me make a bold statement. The problem with transformational change is leadership.

Transformational change is ALWAYS the result of leadership—usually the dynamic leadership of just one person.

In the church, we look for that leadership to come from the ranks of clergy. That hasn’t been happening in recent decades. With few exceptions (our apologies, Pastor Muhlenberg) it may never have been the case.

Church leaders tend to be suspicious and get territorial when leadership comes from the ranks of laity. Although Lutherans believe in the equality of clergy and laity, we don’t often practice it.

Synods in particular get really nervous when lay leaders show leadership that isn’t  following clergy. In our experience, they plot to remove their influence. That’s supposed to make it easier for pastors but it just results in distrust. Everyone can see what happens to lay people who exercise leadership. So no one leads.

The Nature of Leadership

Leadership is not one person issuing orders to a loyal and obedient army of followers. Leadership —especially transformational leadership— is usually one passionate person who is tenacious enough to reach the heart and soul of other leaders. Those leaders can then organize pockets of leadership known as a movement. These movements can empower the longed-for transformation. It doesn’t really matter who takes credit. We can be sure it won’t be the laity.

Do some research and find out where the Vacation Bible School and Sunday School movements got their starts. Here’s a hint: it wasn’t by clergy. In fact, Sunday Schools often had a governance entirely independent of the rest of the church. Separate bank accounts. Separate officers.

It is time to look anew at religious education. It is good time because education in general is in the throes of reinvention.

The State of the Church Leadership

Here’s what we have learned from our 73 Ambassador visits.

Most of the people attending worship today are over 50 years old. This is true in large and small churches. Many (most in our experience) have no children present in worship. Some have a few very young children. Older children, youth and young adults are scarce. Even the larger churches we have visited have confirmation classes that are half or a third the size of 40 years ago.

These are very important statistics to any denomination that wants to still be around in 20 years. Yet they are not recorded in the ELCA trend reports. There are racial breakdowns but no age statistics. There are worship statistics but no education statistics.

Congregations are not the only thing aging. Most of the pastors we encounter are also over 50 years of age. In 73 visits, we have encountered only about five pastors under 50. A growing number are second and late career students, which means that they are less experienced in church leadership and more inclined to be followers.

2×2 is concerned about the state of our church (the one which kicked our statistically young congregation out the door).

Where Do We Look for Change?

The proposed remedies to decline have been remarkably similar and ineffective. Adult education became adult forum. Sunday classes became limited to ages 10 and under. Vacation Bible School is now limited to about ten hours of instruction, again for the very young. Confirmation is often a right of passage that often ends the young person’s religious training. We try to interest youth by joining forces to create Youth Ministry. The involvement in these programs is heaviest among suburban youth who have parents to cart them around. City youth NEED neighborhood efforts as youth are often on their own for transportation.

As brilliant as our young Lutherans may be, there is only so much ten-year-olds can implement into their lives that will carry them to their senior years. Faith must be nurtured.

Every year, we lose more of the knowledge base among the laity that was fostered 40 and 50 years ago. Increasingly churches are working with people with no religious tradition or a weak religious tradition and being led by less experienced professional leaders as well.

Krypton Community College

2×2 is cooperating with such an effort as hosts of Krypton Community College which holds it first meeting October 1. We will be one of 10,000 groups meeting on this day in this ambitious experiment, a project that grew from the passion of marketer Seth Godin. If you think that’s an odd place to look for thought leadership consider the influence of the Kahn Academy, now backed by Bill Gates.

We hope our involvement in this experiment will lead us to a long overdue renaissance in religious education.

The failure of the modern church may very well lie in the failure of its ability to teach.

It’s a big problem! We are going to start talking about it next Tuesday with others with a general interest in education—not necessarily religious education—to see if we might find some answers. You are welcome to join us. Drop us a line for details. creation@dca.net