Group Mind

How does a church continue to do new things and take risks in culture for the sake of Christ?  Yesterday I sat with a group of colleagues of mine who were asking that very question as leaders of their congregations.  How do we innovate in worship and community life to make an impact in our community for Christ?

We talked alot about trends, people, relationships, ideas, etc…but I came away with the realization that most pastors and church leaders have these conversations, but most people who are part of our communities don’t.  If they do, unfortunately, we’re not a part of their conversations…and vice versa.

A couple days ago, an article “Managing Innovation” appeared in the Wall Street Journal.  The subtitle, “How to get the most out of your company’s big ideas.”  While it is written for corporate America, the insights in the article apply to life as the church in America today.

The journalist interviewed a few top business leaders to answer the question of how to  get businesses to innovate.  Douglas Solomon, chief technology strategist at IDEO, an innovation and design consulting firm said, “Corporations inherently have antibodies that come out and try to envelop and kill any innovation.”  Mr Solomon, it’s not only true in corporatations, it’s also true in the church!

The business leaders finally got to the point that continued innovation with an organization comes from tapping into its collective intelligence.  Every person within the church needs the opportunity to share their innovative ideas for mission and ministry,  and leaders help create a culture where it’s ok to act (and sometimes fail) on those ideas…making them come to life.

How do you gain input and innovative ideas for ministry and mission from the folks in your church?  What “tools” have you used?  Where have you started?

It seems to me, that when a local congregation fails to innovate, the result is stagnation and eventually death of that community.    Churches, like businesses, will only be motivated to change and innovate new ideas when they are aware that change needs to occur.  Otherwise, people say, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  Most people just want to leave the church alone because it “meets their needs.”

In a rapidly changing society, how do established churches move forward boldly?