This morning my friend Bill Tenny – Brittian wrote an article The High Cost of Transformation. I agree with most of the article. Many pastors who start transformation are not there to finish the process. Bill answered the question of why transformation is so difficult and the costs that it often has on the pastor. I immediately began to work on a possible solution of how to complete the process with integrity without sacrificing the pastor who initiates the transformation.
Here is my response. I invite others to share their persepctives. In order for a pastor to initiate, sustain and complete the process of transformation there needs to be a transfusion of leadership. This happens in two stages. One there must be a challenge to the current leaders to increase their spiritual maturity. (I am using Fowlers Stages of Faith as the standard.) And there must be an infusion of new leaders. Through evangelism outside of the church and searching for hidden leadership potential within the congregation the transformation pastor will need to infuse the new leaders within the established leadership structure and move quickly to establish the right people in the right ministry positions who all have the committed to growing in their spiritual maturity.
WARNING – This approach will be incredibly intimidating to the established old guard. The pastor’s commitment is no longer to maintain the status quo and yield to the long time official and unofficial influencers but intentionally changing the leadership personnel so that there will be eventually be a spiritual revival throughout the entire congregation. The people who are not committed to spiritual formation will be those who fight back the most. For this reason the most important spiritual discipline and the focus of the first small group needs to be prayer and spiritual warfare.
Transformation is difficult but not impossible
