Changing the forms and manner of our ministry amongst each other is part of the world we now live in, as churches move from the traditional village service model to ministry in the 21^st century. One big question becomes ‘how radical should our changes be?’

How radical to be is a very complicated question. Fundamentally we must never, ever jettison our theologically and biblically anchored bases of relating – around the Word, empowered by the Spirit, with Christ as centre in godly fellowship with one another. That said, there are so many things that we are free to change… so how far should we go?

While recognizing that thinking this through involves much thought in areas such as anthropology, sociology and communication in this blog I want to explore just one aspect that contributes to the decision making process.

Discontinuity

The issue is how different to past experience and expectations should our gatherings be? How much discontinuity with the past should we plan for?

Prospective and Current members

We should think differently about this matter for prospective and current members.

1. No Christian expectations

People who are not yet part of our ministries- those who come from other faiths or no experience of Christian life together often do not know what to expect. This means that for them everything we do is new, and usually acceptable, because this is just how this group functions. We can be radical in structuring our life together to reflect and teach the truth of the gospel with such a group. It is crucial that we think this through well, as people consolidate their theology as much by what they see happening as by what they hear taught.

2. Past, but different Christian experience

Those who have had past Christian experience, but not that evangelical faith are another category. For many years I ministered amongst Greek Orthodox folk. We discovered that when we met in lecture theatres with no religious trappings not many came back as it was different to their expectations: but those who did return had their expectations shaken so that they clearly heard the gospel. When we moved to an identifiably church building more visitors returned, as our gathering was more familiar to them; but it took them much, much longer to clearly discern the gospel we were proclaiming. Familiarity had deadened the impact of the gospel.

3. Regular members of the ministry

The final group is those who have been regular members of church life who are confronted with changes brought about through someone who has often been a member of the group for a shorter time than  they have. This situation often brings hostility, and rejection of the very things the change agent is seeking to achieve. My suggestion is such cases is to watchful and observe what matters matter to this group, and then pick one small but significant thing to change that will give you the opportunity to lovingly explain why the change has been made. This permits growth without the rejection that is often associated with change.

So how radical should our changes be? It depends on the group. We change things so that people may be challenged out of complacency and through helpful action.