“My church needs change - but fights it at every turn!” pastors say. (Sometimes, congregants say the same about their pastors!) It’s odd that an organization ostensibly founded on “good news” tends to prefer “the familiar old.” And it’s sad when an organization desperately in need of change fears change above all else, even irrelevance and extinction. Whether they’re Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant, tongues-speaking Pentecostals or incense-burning liturgicals, large majorities of our churches seem to share this one common characteristic: a cautious if not suspicious if not terrorized response to change. There are a thousand fascinating sociological and historical roots to the change aversion so common in our congregations, but in this intensive, we’ll be focusing on how to guide our congregations through constructive and needed change … how to prepare for it, introduce it, guide it, restart it, troubleshoot it, celebrate it, and learn through and from it. The change your congregation needs most - or next - may be large or small, but you’ll find guidance and help in Curating Change in Your Church.
Brian McLaren
Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good in our world.
Course Curriculum
- G is for...
- Reflect & Respond
- Ten Commandments of Peaceable Communication
- The First Commandment
- The Second Commandment
- The Third Commandment
- The Fourth Commandment
- The Fifth Commandment
- The Sixth Commandment
- The Seventh Commandment
- The Eighth Commandment
- The Ninth Commandment
- The Tenth Commandment
- Reflect & Respond
- The Best Conflict Resolution Advice Ever Written?
- Your change curator’s stump speech (5:16)
- Reflect & Respond
- Additional Guidance on Understanding Church Conflict
- A Bonus List