Clergy/Leaders' Mail-list No. 2-108 (Book Review)

CHANGE AND THE CHURCH by Peter Corney

How to initiate and manage constructive change in the local church

Peter Corney says that there are five typical responses to change:

Victim: 'Why are they doing this to me...?'

Fugitive: 'Well if they're going to do that, I'm leaving.'

Survivor: 'I suppose I'll just have to put up with it, but I don't like it.'

Resistance Fighter: 'If they think they are going to change this without a fight, they are in for a big surprise!'

Navigator: 'We need to move on to take new territory. Let's see how we can get there safely.'

After 25 years as a change agent, Peter has developed a series of studies and discussion guides that will help church groups understand the need for change and work towards changing together. He notes that there are powerful feelings associated with bringing about change in a church. In this changing world there is often an emotional response to change because people want their local church to be a place where they can feel secure. The discussion guides are designed to involve people in a process that takes time to gain support for new initiatives.

A major cause of concern for people is the fear that, in adapting its style, the church will lose the substance of the message. Drawing on the experience of the Apostle Paul in Antioch and Athens, the studies consider how Paul holds cultural relevance in evangelism in balance with the sovereignty of God in evangelism. The book gives steps that a local church should follow if it wants to connect and communicate the Gospel to the community.

The material has been tested within St Hilary's Anglican Church, Kew, where Peter was senior minister, and has been the subject of many successful workshops given by the Institute for Contemporary Christian Leadership.

Pastors, ministers and lay leaders will benefit from the advice to change agents on how to negotiate the change process constructively.

Change and the Church is an excellent resource to assist groups that are keen to understand their culture and to work together to bring the Gospel to a world in need. It is published and distributed by Aquila Press in Australia (+61 2 8268 3344).