Turn It Around

I spent a fair amount of time yesterday, thinking about organizational development, and in particular, how companies and operations handle times of struggle and difficulty. 

In the marketplace, there is a great niche of people, known as "turnaround consultants", people who are brought in for the purpose of making the tough decisions and bringing a company back from the brink on dysfunction and perhaps even, the inevitable going under.

Often times, they will have experience in a particular field for which they are known, but when a system or organization is broken, the purpose of bringing an outside perspective is to have someone who can bring an unbiased look at what is taking place and apply a rational and logical filter as to what is working and what is not, and how things should be working as it makes sense to that company. The principles and practices carry over, across many platforms... there often isn't room for, "well that won't work for us."

Turning around churches, isn't really all that different. At least to a degree. The difficulty for churches, is that there is an element in which churches won't be identical, in their purpose and ministry and culture for the "market" they are trying to reach. The spiritual influence and super-natural dynamic of a ministry must be taken in to account when a church's operations are analyzed and assessed for areas of improvement and recovery.

It's very easy to say "we need to do this because other churches are doing it and it works for them and looks awesome". They may not be what God has in store for a particular church. So, indeed, the conversation to "turnaround" a church is different.

These times of change and the process of sorting things out and implementing change are by no means easy, nor should they be taken lightly. But obviously, many churches struggle and are in trouble operational, just as much as companies who find themselves losing importance and relevance in a crowded marketplace.

Communities need their churches. They need the church to be healthy as much as the church wants to impact their community back to health, spiritual and otherwise.

Pray, this #deaconThursday for churches struggling... to keep the doors open, to minster effectively, to work efficiently; to accomplish the plans and purposes God has called them to fulfill. May God bring insight and clarity as to what and where changes need to be made; may He grant courage and boldness to make the hard choices and have the difficult conversations that may be necessary to turn things around. Pray for wisdom and unity; that the changes that need to be made, would not be done so out of comparison or trends, but because of a true leading and prompting that it will increase and improve their ministry and the impact the church has on its congregation and community. May they seek the face of God first and foremost, not in fear of what is going wrong, but confident in the handiwork of God to use them mightily for the cause of Jesus Christ.

From good to great
From losing the battle to gaining victory
Operating with purpose and anointing
For the glory of God
And the advancement of the gospel.

- PNC

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