Institutionalism.
When I came to Granger in 1993, there was a sense of a movement. A few hundred people were gathering and we all knew God was going to do something great—you felt it when you walked in the door! We had nothing to lose! Minimal salaries. No building or mortgage. Low overhead. Being a United Methodist church plant, we studied the movement of Methodism and could also see the institution it had become. It seemed the purpose of the institution was to survive. We wouldn’t let that happen! And as a small, nimble group with an amazing leader—we set about building a local church and watching thousands of lives transformed by the love of Jesus over the next fifteen years.
As the church grew, it required more staff—then facilities—then more staff—then building loans—then parking lots and equipment and land and yet more staff. And all of that required strategy and leadership structures and hierarchy and policies and decision-makers. And it produced a local church that is having an undeniable impact on the community and in other parts of the world. And for that I’m grateful.
But…
I believe if we keep doing what we’ve always done…we will look back in a dozen years or so and see that we’ve become an institution that exists for the purpose of preservation, not innovation. We will be a machine, not a movement. We will be captives of the org chart rather than catalysts of the mission.
I don’t exactly know what that means for the future. But I believe we are on the edge of figuring that out. There is such a feeling of anticipation right now at Granger and especially among the leadership team. We have a sense of unity that is as strong and pervasive as I can ever recall. At the same time, there is a confident fear about the future. Like we’ve just taken off in a plane for an island we can’t see with just enough gas to get there and we aren’t even sure we are heading in the right direction but we are together committed to keep going. Yeah, that type of confident fear.
Alan Hirsch says, “History is absolutely clear about this: most established institutions will resist a movement ethos. It’s just too chaotic and uncontrollable for institutions to handle. That is why most movements are ejected from the host organization. This needn’t be the case, but it does require a significant permission-giving at high levels of denominational or established organizational leadership to ensure that they are not.”
I’m convinced a movement is afoot at Granger. And I can’t wait to see where it leads.
11 Comments
Love the new blog design!
Tim, I am in the same wrestling point. We are only 4 years old, but I sense we must figure out new ways to do things if we want to continue to experience growth and success as an organization. The word I'm using lately is sustainment. I wrote about it here. http://www.ronedmondson.com/2010/02/planning-for-...
I will look forward to following Granger in the days ahead (as I have in days past). You have a great team.
We are truly blessed and fortunate to have great leaders at the helm for GCC. It's often difficult to see what your own mole hill looks like – it's reassuring that the SMT is cognizant of the continued "ripple". I still feel just as energized (if not more now) to walk through the doors as I did a little more than two years ago.
Will continue to pray for all of you!
Awesome awesome awesome. God, help me be a Spirit-fueled leader, a catalyst for the MOVEMENT of Your Kingdom that you want to see realized in our church. God save me from church-preservation techniques. Tim, thanks for the jarring and encouraging WAKE-UP call. God bless you and GCC.
I love this analogy:
"Like we’ve just taken off in a plane for an island we can’t see with just enough gas to get there and we aren’t even sure we are heading in the right direction but we are together committed to keep going".
It can apply in so many areas; marriage, parenting, career. Mind if I borrow it?
When I read this I’m reminded of Abraham Lincoln who said: “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.”
Thanks for leading the charge!
Nice picture of Princeton University !
Great post, Tim!
If I may offer a cent or two: innovation, while it may be better than institution, is not a good pursuit for the Church. The goal of the local church should not be innovation, or movement, or any other pretty sounding words that make us sound cool and stylish. The goal of the Church should be to become like Christ and make disciples. Innovative or not, this will be the only worthwhile pursuit.
We agree. In this scenario, I would define "innovation" as finding a different way to do something that works better than the way we've been doing it. The Church should find ever-better ways and environments for people to become like Christ and make disciples.
Tim,
Great post and an excellent job defining the place many successful ministries find themselves today. It's so easy to slip from a passionate movement to a safe, comfortable church.
We're enthused to have you a part of the "Future Travelers" effort as we work to discover how to go from church back to movement.
Ed Bahler
I may be part of a different generation, but I'm not too scared of institutionalism. When you look at what's needed to sustain a movement for years and even decades, there is a level of institutionalization that is necessary. I'm reading the biography of CFW Walther right now, the founder of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Here's a guy who took a movement (a few hundred people and half a dozen pastors who refused to compromise their beliefs in Germany and moved to the US) and through his work in media, academia, and as a pastor was the driving force in creating a denomination that boasted more than 2 1/2 million people 80 years after his death.
I agree that innovation is essential, and I believe that there has to be a level of trust and permission-giving from the highest ranks, but like any corporation or movement, the focus can remain strong for decades to come as a result of good, healthy institutionalization.
[...] Stevens talks about institutionalism and moving forward in his post: “One thing that scares me.” He also had another great post this week that you need to read called “What Do You [...]