Your Church’s Adaptive Transformation

by Rev. Mark E. Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader

In the Clergy Collective this year, we are engaging content from Shift 2.0… pathways for church transformation in this post-pandemic world. I’ve shared the statement above several times, followed by robust discussion around it’s meaning and application. Though no one statement describes the full truth, I believe there is truth for churches and their leaders in this one. Let’s unpack it a bit.

The degree to which we believe the world has irrevocably changed…

Before the pandemic, even though we were making the Modern to Postmodern Era shift, we spent much energy to making the case for change. The tendency to deny the world was shifting was still rampant. Post-pandemic, there’s less of that, with more recognizing the world IS changed. When that’s the case, openness to adaptation rises, lowering our resistance.

Never returning to what it was…

Denial is a skill human beings have perfected over time. That’s why we need this phrase in this statement. One form of denial is to stubbornly hold onto the viewpoint that if we wait long enough, society will return to what it was before. Perhaps there’s enough truth in this to believe it when change is incremental, slowly rolling out over time. But when change is nearly cataclysmic like during and after the pandemic, more of us recognize that returning to the past is an illusion.

Directly influences the degree to which we will participate…

These first two phrases describe how our grip on the present is loosened, lowering our resistance to change. Those who recognize we are where we are, unable to rewind time and cultural conditions, are positioned for participation. As you know, participation is more active than observation. When convinced it is impossible to recreate the past, then many people want to help create the present and future. Remember the old story about Desoto having his crew of adventurers burn the ships in the bay, removing the possibility of returning from whence they came? When that happens, we often move from observers to participants, leaning into the present and near future.

In our church’s adaptive transformation…

It’s a beautiful thing when spiritual imaginations are firing alongside an openness to transformation. When all three of the phrases above are embraced, then we are far more likely to engage holy experiments, willingly adapting our approaches to being church.

Now that I’ve unpacked this statement, I wonder how your church leadership would interpret this? A dialogue on this statement may be a fine way to begin your next lay leadership team meetings, or staff meetings, or even committee meetings. What does this mean and where are we as a church in relation to this statement?

Blessings to you as you try it on for size.