Small churches and opposition to growth

Last week I spoke with a bivocational pastor who has enjoyed a successful ministry in his church.  Fifteen months ago he began as a pastor with about 18 people attending church on an average Sunday.  Today the church consistently sees over 70 people each week attend their morning service.  I asked how the older members of the church felt about that growth.  He responded that while most are pleased there are some who are starting to resist further changes that might lead to additional growth.  Some of those are the same ones who insisted what they wanted in a new pastor was someone who could grow their church and someone who could attract youth to the church.  Now that this pastor is doing that they are becoming uncomfortable.  While they are unlikely to admit it, in my opinion much of their discomfort is due to feeling threatened by the new people.  They may sense they are losing the authority they once held in their church and believe if they do not do something soon to reestablish that authority it will be lost forever.

This is a scenario I've seen played over and over again.  Smaller churches seeking a new pastor insist they want to see their church grow but then fight any change that might lead to such growth.  It's almost like they want growth, but they want it to occur as it did in 1950.  Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way any more.  21st century techniques are needed to reach 21st century people.  This makes many patriarchs and matriarchs who are stuck in the 20th century uncomfortable and is likely to cause them to react.  This pastor was starting to run into that discomfort and wanted to know how to address it.

We discussed several things to remember when trying to introduce change into a smaller church.  One is that he cannot assume he is the leader of that church yet even though he's been there over a year.  It is likely that most of the church leadership is still with the older members, and they are likely to trust one another (whom they've known for years) more than their young pastor.  If he wants to lead the church he must work through the leaders.  This means he must try to get their buy-in for any new ideas before he presents them to the larger church body.  If he can convince them he is unlikely to get opposition from anyone else.

A second thing he needs to do is to create a sense of urgency for the change.  He must not only present the what of the change he wants to make; he must provide a compelling reason why the change needs to occur and why it needs to occur now and not later.  The third thing we discussed is the speed of change.  He shouldn't try to change everything at once.  That frightens people, and frightened people will do everything possible to maintain calm.  He also has to understand that significant change may take five years from introduction to becoming part of the DNA of the church, and during that five years there are likely to be numerous attempts to return to what the system knew before the change was introduced.

This young bivocational minister seemed to understand these concepts.  Although this is his first pastorate, he seems to have a wisdom beyond his years, and I anticipate he'll enjoy a very successful ministry in that church.  As we ended our conversation he told me he is beginning a coaching relationship with a well known ministry coach that should be a big help to him.  This will help keep him on track and avoid some mistakes often made by younger pastors.

If the church you serve has grown under your ministry, did some of your established leaders resist that growth?  How was your church impacted by the new people who came into your congregation?  Were there specific battles you had to fight?