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Ownership
of a new idea builds slowly over one to two years.
About 2 percent of all church members will accept a new approach
of ministry in the first three months of its introduction.
Called innovators or dreamers, these people like change and are
energized by new ways of doing ministry.
Oscar Wilde defined such an individual as, One
who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he
sees the dawn before the rest of the world. While
innovators see the future before others, it is a mistake to move with
only their support... Another
18 percent of the congregation will welcome the new model within six to
nine months. These early
adopters offer early encouragement and leadership to educate the
remainder of the congregation. It
takes twelve to eighteen months to capture the commitment of the middle
adopters. More cautious
than the first 20 percent to accept the new model of ministry, they
eventually agree to the new idea once they have had time to consider it
at length. The
later adopters resist the concept of a new form of ministry for up to
two years before they finally acknowledge that it may indeed be
workable. In the meantime
they tolerate the 80 percent of the congregation who have excitedly
moved forward, with or without them. Much
like a marathon race, there always are some stragglers who never quite
seem to finish with the rest of the group.
This final 2 percent of the congregation may never completely
concur with the new approach to ministry but endure it since there is
nothing else to do. Start
building ownership by focusing on individual people rather than groups. Call twelve to fifteen key members of the congregation who
are positive people. Schedule
time to share your vision of a new model of ministry. Follow
up these meetings by scheduling lunch with fifteen to thirty people who
may not support your ideas at first.
Share your vision and ask them to think about it for a week.
Then get back with them to get their feedback and answer any
questions. After
meeting with numerous individuals, begin to meet with classes, boards,
and committees to share your vision for a new model of ministry.
Debrief their thoughts and ideas including additional information
based on your lunch and phone conversations to further explain the new
model. [Gary
L. McIntosh, Make
Room for the Boom...or Bust]
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