Navigating Through the Winds of Change

My husband and I will be going through a massive transition in the near future. He's voluntarily leaving his job of 30 years to pursue another career. What does all of this mean? Well, it means that necessary changes are coming our way!

 

We're not at all strangers to change. In fact, we've had many seasons throughout our 26 years of marriage. Kids born, raised, and married; health ups and downs; several moves; planting churches, ministry positions, ... I could go on. 

This change is certainly not more important than any of the changes we have experienced in the past, but this change feels a bit more life jarring. It's almost as if the rug of consistency and safety has been pulled out from under our feet. 

 

After 30 years with the same company, one can become accustomed to living a particular lifestyle with a specific budget. You get into routines and count on the steady income and the healthcare they provide. I find myself evaluating and taking inventory of many things in my life. Asking myself questions like ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I finally stopped getting buried in the details and zoomed out to gain a new perspective, I realized that these questions parallel to what we, as church leaders, are asking in this pandemic. 

 

What will the future look like? What's our new budget? What do we need to keep? What do we need to change? 

It can be a stressful inner dialog that churns and churns around in our heads. 

 

I think it's important to play these questions out and carefully think through them. It's NOT going to be the same, and we can embrace that knowing God is with us, He loves HIS church, and He will take care of us through this transition. Our job is to steward the transition and change well. 

Guess what!? I have really good news. While my husband and I are on our own in our transition ... YOU don't have to navigate ministry change alone. 

We've asked Mike Bonem (consultant, coach, author) to create a lab experience for our Chemistry family (you) to help navigate through the change. At the end of this lab, you will have a greater understanding of change dynamics and will develop a change management action plan. 

Here's a little more about this lab:

Leading Healthy Change in Your Church
Since this isn’t a subject that is taught at most seminaries, most church leaders learn through hard knocks. But there are core principles – from Scripture and business – that can be learned and that can greatly enhance your skills and your likelihood for leading change successfully.

Here’s what you'll explore: