
By Steve Matthews, Senior Associate Consultant for FaithX
Isn’t that a beautiful picture? Daffodils springing forth every year give me hope. I love their reliability and consistency (not to mention that brilliant yellow color and sweet fragrance). In these uncertain times reliability and consistency are things that matter to many of us. The Episcopal Church in this photo is in my hometown. Located in the mid-Atlantic/“Bible Belt,” it has provided reliable and consistent liturgy and outreach services for over 150 years. Its church building and liturgy and music program are beautiful and uplifting to those who attend. They have numerous outreach ministries.
Beautiful. Reliable. Consistent. What could go wrong? We used to think that redeveloping a congregation was something churches in decline or danger of closing engaged, or perhaps faith communities in the midst of rapid change saw the need to redevelop. Anxiety often drove the response to the question, “What needs to change?” As we think about redevelopment in 2022, perhaps we should re-evaluate our approach to the future of our faith communities. The “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” model is not exactly the best motivation for faithfulness as our communities around us rapidly change, and being motivated by love in our response is always better than an anxiety-based motivation.
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