Why do people resist change in the church so strongly?

The title of this post is a little misleading.  People in the church are not the only ones who resist change.  Everybody resists change, but because this blog is primarily for leaders in smaller churches we will just focus on why church folk can be so resistant to change.

Several years ago a small church leader called to say their church had recently appointed a church growth committee, and they wanted me to meet with them and explain how they could grow their church without making anyone mad.  Just the fact that they had formed a church growth committee made me cringe.  I can think of few things more likely to cause a church to not grow than a church growth committee.  If you have a church growth committee, whose job is it to grow the church?  Why, it's the committee's responsibility so everyone else is off the hook!  My second thought was not to laugh at his request for me to explain to them how they could grow the church without making anyone mad.  I responded, "I'm going to save myself a trip and you a meeting.  You can't.  If you could grow your church by doing what you're already doing, your church would already be growing.  It's not growing so that means you will have to begin doing some things differently, and that means you will have to introduce some changes into the church, and somebody isn't going to like those changes."  Although he was obviously disappointed in my response, he still wanted me to meet with them.  When I did, I explained in more detail why people would get upset in that church if they tried to do some new things.

There is something comfortable about being a part of a smaller church.  For one thing, we know our roles in our church.  It's not uncommon for the same people to be doing the same things in a small church for years, even decades.  In a world of constant change, it's nice to know on Sunday morning which pew we will sit in, which Sunday school class we'll attend, and what others in our church expect from us.  We are settled in our roles.  Any time some change is introduced in a small church one of the first questions people will ask is, "What will be my role in this new system?"  That is a very scary question for some people.  An even scarier question some will wonder is, "Will I even have a role in the new system?"  For people who have been Christians for a number of years we find our identity in the roles in which we serve our churches, and if those roles are changed or no longer needed it becomes a very frightening thing.

A second reason people in the church often resists change is because they fear the change will impact the relationships that exist in their church.  It is important for small church leaders to remember that everything in a smaller church revolves around relationships.  The thought of someone leaving the church because of some change is enough for some to oppose any change that is proposed.  I once offered to help a church change some of the things they were doing.  After my presentation we had a Q&A session where a number of good questions were asked.  The session soon ended when an older lady mentioned that she had been in favor of doing what I was proposing until I mentioned if the church did make some of those changes they might lose a few people.  She said, "When you said that I looked around the room and realized there wasn't anyone there I was willing to give up."  The church decided to not attempt any of those changes because they did not want to risk losing people.  That same scenario is played out in small churches every week.

The third reason many resist change is because they do not understand why it is needed.  Church leaders are better at explaining what needs to be changed than we are at explaining why something needs to be changed.  We need to talk about the why before we start talking about the what.   Being clear on the why will help us create a sense of urgency around the change which is critical for its acceptance.

Of course, there are many more reasons why some people resist change, but these are some of the primary ones.  As you are contemplating changes you want to propose to your church, spend some time thinking through each of these issues that can lead to resistance to your proposal.  Proactively address them in your initial presentation to remove them as possible objections.  Doing so will often lead to less opposition and a greater and quicker acceptance of the changes being proposed.