Blessed are They Who
Will Adjust to the Times

by William Zelazny, District Executive

In October 2006, the BCD Board held an evening of conversation with BCD ministers. One topic was, “What is the community environment in which we live and work?” Some of the observations were that our congregations exist in communities with people who: are time and money over-extended; seem to be overwhelmed with things that are happening in society; are becoming “sandwiched” between children and aging parents; are trying to find ways to keep religious traditions/religious practices while separating from those they no longer find useful, yet confused on how to do this; have youth who are struggling to adjust to the culture; are having/have had significant demographic changes in ethnicity or age.

To meet the changing cultural needs of our communities congregations may need to adjust what they do and how they do it. Everything about the past or long standing traditions is not bad and everything about progress or change is not good, but trying to keep a church completely comfortable and in well known routines will most likely mean a slow (or maybe not so slow) organizational death. When routine holds sway, spirited and adaptive church life is stifled. A congregation without spirit or unable to adapt will not survive in the 21st century.

What are some of the adjustments that current life styles and perspectives may require?

• Programming and worship that keeps families together rather than age-graded activities
• A mission and purpose that engages the community and people’s minds and hearts
• Recognizing the cultural attitude is “what have you done for me lately” replacing blind-faith loyalty; church and leadership must earn trust
• Church work done by teams based on giftedness rather than standard committee structures
• A focus on spiritual formation, not just religious education
• Communication using up-to-date technology
• Minister serves as equipper, not “all things to all people”
• Understanding that the perspective about most everything is short-term and spontaneity is highly valued
• New kinds of music and instrumentation with alternative worship service styles and times; less hymnbooks and classical illustration and more power point on big screens, with services at different times than Sunday morning
• Letting go of what is not working and being willing to experiment

A good question for congregation leaders to ask is “What is the community environment in which we live and work?” followed by “And how are we functioning in this new world?” The role of leadership is to guide a congregation into adapting to the needs of people in the contemporary community. Mere survival, or worse, is what awaits congregations who do not adapt to the needs of the 21st century community.