Why church boards should welcome and encourage innovation

 

Church boards can be a major inhibitor of innovation in the church. Boards tend to be cautious when it comes to change, see their role as guarding the status quo and in many cases don't like to take ministry risks. This is a major mistake and it eventually leads to missional ineffectiveness. Innovation in ministry strategy is a critical factor in ministry success. Churches that plateau or go into decline can often trace their loss of effectiveness to an unwillingness to change. 

The best boards encourage rather than discourage innovation. They are willing to take risks and even allow ideas to fail because what matters is the mission God gave the church. They empower the senior leader and staff to try new things in order to meet their missional ends. Rather than stand in the way, they champion change and new ways to meet the needs of new generations.

Perhaps at no other time in recent memory, innovation in the church is going to be a critical factor as congregations rebuild after the Corona Virus. Studies show that a significant number of individuals will not return to church after the hiatus during this season. This falloff in church attendance is not new but the Covid season has simply accelerated it. 

In addition, as individuals worshipped at home, they realized that they could access almost any teaching they desired. This is going to be an excuse for those questioning the necessity of church attendance to stay home. After all, they can get the teaching they desire at any time via the internet.

Post Covid, all churches are again church plants. And, they have an opportunity to recast their ministries around what really counts. Don't ignore this gift! If you always do what you always did you always get what you always got. 

Churches that thrive in the new environment will have some common characteristics:

• They will focus on being a church for anyone and everyone
• They will find new ways to build authentic community
• They will focus on all individuals using their spiritual gifts inside and outside of the church
• They will be far more focused on making disciples of Jesus rather than focusing on the size of the church
• They will demonstrate a greater commitment to being agents of Jesus and goodness in their communities
• They will be more open to the work of the Holy Spirit and committed to prayer
• They will move from a focus on size to a focus on spiritual depth
• They will use technology to reach those who are outside the church and focus on evangelism in everything they do
• They will focus on being places of goodness with a Jesus culture 

This will require change, innovation, new ideas and a willingness to take risks for the sake of Jesus and His mission for the church. Church boards can either encourage needed progress or stand in its way. Don't allow your board to inhibit what God wants and needs to do in His church. One of the responsibilities of boards is to ensure that the congregation is being led well. Empower your leaders to lead, innovate and chase after the kinds of things listed above.