When Jim went to his church as the new pastor, he told me, “They have a bad history. Every two years they run the preacher off.” He paused and said, “Let’s see if we can change that.”

He didn’t.

Two years later, in spite of the wonderful growth the church was experiencing, a little group informed him that his work there was done and it would be better if he left.

I served one church where a small group of leaders–some elected and some not–met from time to time to make important decisions for the church. The poor pastor had little or no say. When I, the new preacher, suggested that this is the type of thing a congregation needs to know about and make the decision, the spokesman said, “We don’t like to upset the congregation about these things.”

These days in my retired-pastor mode,  I’m in a different church almost every Sunday and see all kinds of arrangements in congregations. In one, the pastor seemed to be an appendage and was considered irrelevant by the lay leadership. In another, he was the good old boy expected to not make waves.

Since my ministry in a church (as the guest preacher) is usually confined to preaching a sermon and then heading home, there are a few things I try to discern before the service begins:

–what is the congregation expecting from me today?

–are they responsive during the sermon? If they are, I see that as a great compliment to the pastor. No congregation suddenly begins listening and responding to a sermon when a guest preacher arrives. If they are listening to me well, it’s a sure thing they listen well to their pastor too.

–are the people responsive during the invitation? Do they come to the altar area to pray without coaxing from the preacher? If so, that’s a great sign.

–are the people joyful, glad to be alive, happy to be in church, excited to be with each other? Or are they just enduring this hour?

I don’t ask about these things, but just pay attention.   I’m trying to get the temperature of the congregation.

I’m trying to assess the culture of this particular church.

Here’s what I wrote after one church experience: I rarely have a greater joy than visiting in a church that is alive and healthy. The people love their pastor and he feels a divine call to be in that place and to serve them. The staff works as a team, they’re aggressively doing their job, and they adore each other. The pastor and other leaders have taught the members so well, they are great contributors, excellent witnesses, and are strong on fellowship. Being in church today with this family is the high point of their week. As for me, I don’t want to leave!

But what does a pastor do when things are not that way, when a church has unhealthy patterns and relationships are sick and worship services are an ordeal?

Answer: He sets himself to changing the culture in that church.

The question is how.

How does the pastor (not the guest preacher) change the culture–the way of doing things–in a church he has gone to serve?

First, let’s emphasize that it can be done.

Cultures of churches are changed every day. Every time a new pastor arrives or leaves–and to some degree, when a new staff member comes or goes–a church changes. So it can be done.

Talk to any faithful pastor who has served a church for two decades or more. Ask, “How are things different from how they were when you arrived?” Pull up a chair, because he can talk for the next hour on that.

Second, there are two ways to change the culture: abruptly and gradually.

The church undergoes a great revival. Church members are broken over their sin, they confess and repent and begin loving each other. New people flow into the congregation. One day the pastor looks up and realizes he has a new church. Nothing is the same as before. The culture has changed abruptly.

Sometimes, a church’s culture undergoes a cataclysmic change as a result of a crisis. On Wednesday September 15, 1999, a gunman entered Fort Worth’s Wedgwood Baptist Church and killed a number of youth and their workers. Immediately Pastor Al Meredith and his people were thrust into the biggest crisis of their lives. Even though Wedgwood was already a thriving family of the Lord, they were changed forever by that event.

A factory closes and hundreds are laid off.  People move away in search of new jobs.  The local church’s membership takes a nose dive.  Key positions are now vacant, pews are empty, and everything changes.  Abruptly.

The culture-change most churches experience happens gradually however. And that’s probably best.

Let’s repeat what we mean by a church’s culture: How a congregation makes decisions, what makes up its worship, how the people relate to each other and to their leadership, everything that is part of the inner life of the Lord’s people in a local congregation–all of that is included in the term church culture.

When a pastor is considering coming to a church, he does well to find all he can about that congregation’s culture. Even though we say that no one should marry intending to change the other, that is the very thing that pastors necessarily do. God sends His pastors to make His people  holier, healthier, stronger, deeper, more effective, more fruitful.

All right. Enough beating around the bush.  Let’s get to it. How would a pastor go about recreating the culture in a church where he has gone to minister?

1) Carefully. Bear in mind that we’re dealing with the fine china of people’s lives here. Tread softly. That pianist you feel is holding the congregation back lives for the opportunity to serve. That deacon you see as an obstructionist got that way from watching a former pastor brutalize a church. Respect these people whom you are trying to lead.

2) Considerately. Before changing anything, the new shepherd will want to find out what he has. Nothing is scarier to a congregation than a new preacher–it’s almost always a young, immature one–who walks in and starts making wholesale changes without considering what the church was already doing and if it was working.

3) Slowly. It’s possible to kill a church trying to reform it. But, more likely, the pastor who tries to make vast changes too quickly will find himself looking for a new job. Take your time, pastor.

4) Prayerfully. Never forget that these are the Lord’s people. He loved them before you did and bought them with His own blood (Acts 20:28).  The Lord Jesus said it’s His church and He will build it (Matthew 16:18). So, seek His will and do nothing until He tells you. .

5) Corporately. Not autocratically.  Not from the top down. You are not Moses and this church is not Sinai. Pull in a few of the godliest leaders and share your heart, then listen to theirs. Work with them.

To repeat: Listen to them.  Listen to their hearts, pay attention to their fears, respect their history.  But obey God.

6) Personally. Model it, preacher. If you want people to pray at the altar, do it sometime. If you want a church service in which people share their testimonies, give yours and from time to time, interview someone about theirs. If you want them to be generous, show them how.

7) Trustingly. Let the congregation learn that you love them and that this church is not a stepping-stone in your career. If they feel you are using them to enhance your resume, the more discerning of them will resist you. And well they should.

And how does one do that?  Someone answers, “Tell them.”  I reply, “Maybe so. But there’s a better way.  Show them.  Show them you love them by serving them.”  It was the Lord’s way and has never been improved on.

8) Easily.  Pastor Mike Miller says, “I tell the church, ‘Let’s try this for a semester. If it doesn’t work, we can always go back to the way we were doing things.’ That’s a lot less threatening to people.”

Rick Warren says people have an immediate dislike to change.  So, never use the word. “We say we’re going to experiment.”

9) Sensibly. Give them the reasons for the changes you are introducing. Most people want to do the right thing and can be convinced if you have solid reasons.

10) Confidently. Courageously. Do not waver, do not give an uncertain sound (I Corinthians 14:8), and do not blame others for your decision. As Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously said to President George Bush before the launching of Operation Desert Storm, “Now, George–don’t go wobbly on us!”

You are the leader, so lead. When people complain, continue to love them. When they look for someone to blame, take your lumps. It’s the price of leadership.

11) From the pulpit. (I tried to find an adverb; really I did! ha) The point is that the sermon time is when the pastor has the undivided attention of the largest part of his membership, making it the choice time to convey what he believes God is doing.

Final word…

For some churches, the pain of change is worse than the pain of dying.  The leaders choose to let the church die before they are willing to change how they are doing things.  Ask any denominational worker; they see them all the time.

Sometimes a church has to get to rock bottom, nowhere to go but up before the people are willing to change.  You just hope there is time enough and strength enough in the body to pull back from that near-death experience.

The goal, as always, is healthy churches doing the work of the Lord.