A current conference advertises itself with this statement:
Constant change is necessary to reach our culture with the unchanging message of Jesus Christ.
Why?
On what basis?
It can't be on the basis of any kind of current marketing theory. Consider some of the most successful brands today:
- Has Coke ever changed its logo colors?
- Has Nike ever changed "just......" you know the rest of the statement.
- Did the Olympic committee alter its logo from interlocking rings to interlocking squares to keep the image fresh?
Many time-honored brands have not changed their distinctive characteristics for years and they won't. They know that change would be deadly to their brand identity and profitability. There is nothing intrinsically good or beneficial about change. In fact, change can be a destructive and distracting—especially for churches.
Why churches need to be very cautious when it comes to change
Many studies have shown that churches that consistently grow and prosper are ones that have the same pastor/leader for a long period of time. From many years of studying church communications I've also found that to be true.
In addition, many of the successful churches I have studied have a consistent (not constantly changing) communication program. This doesn't mean you never do new things, add new channels or update material, but it does mean that you do not change for the sake of change or because the person doing it is bored.
We must be very careful about change because in church communications, it is very important for the communications to be clear and to reflect the strategic vision of the church. Today people's lives do not revolve around the church, Christian values and vision are completely foreign to the mindset of many unchurched people and for the vision to be clear it needs to be explained and reinforced continuously. Constant change is not conducive to the clear retention of a vision.
If people only attend once a week, the reasons why discipleship, growth in the faith, and in the knowledge of God's Word are important and need to be consistently repeated. When one month the church emphasizes one program and the next month some new thing is the latest and greatest, and then the following month a new program or worship system is the big thing, it's hard to know what is really important.
When everything is changing, nothing is valued
If the only goal of the church is a big Sunday morning service that is lively and loud, maybe change is necessary.
But if you want to be known as a place where people can find God and where they can study a Book that will change their lives for time and eternity, if you want to provide a haven for the world-weary instead of just one more event to compete with over-booked schedules, change is not the priority for good communication.
People's deepest spiritual needs are not for flashy, constantly-changing church services, websites, or colorful, slick-printed bulletins. People's hearts are desperate for churches that know the truth, teach it, and are strong, confident, and consistent in their presentation and teaching of truth.
Change for the sake of change accomplishes nothing but confusion for your people and exhaustion for your staff. As another time-honored marketing slogan says, "just say no" to unnecessary and frivolous change.
Please share your thoughts, comments, questions!