Notes from WCA’s Defining Moments: My Biggest Ministry Blunders
In the last big transition his church went through, Rick was not in touch with the lay leaders of the church. He wanted his church to move more toward a seeker-sensitive, contemporary mindset.
Because he was so busy preaching and doing other things, he didn’t invest in his leaders and help them understand the changes. When the transition rolled out, the church lost many people.
What Rick would have done differently?
He would have invested more time and energy in making sure everyone was on the same page with the transition. Communication from the pulpit is not intimate enough; often face-to-face communication is necessary for people to open up about how they feel. He was relying too heavily on the trust factor he thought he had built over 14 years pastoring the church. He had to take a couple of years to rebuild relationships and trust with people in the congregation and build systems that would make sure the same thing wouldn’t happen again. He was tempted to go back to the old way of doing things, but he thankfully didn’t.
