We continue to migrate older articles into the new site. It’s interesting to see how so many of them are still relevant. Here’s one from New Creation’s President in 2010…
It is an honor and a pleasure to, not only continue serving on the council, but to be selected as Council President. As we look forward to the rest of this year, we face many exciting challenges and we face change. For many, change is not a welcomed experience. For some, they may choose to resist change. We can’t afford to do that. We must support each other and we must trust in God, and the path that he has chosen for us.
In organization growth, there are two kinds of change. There is incremental change, which is an ongoing process of continual improvement. There is also discontinuous change. This is the type of change that results in transformations and turns organizations inside out and upside down. It is also the most uncomfortable and scariest kind of change.
One of my favorite quotes on this topic is: “If managing incremental change can be compared to encouraging a group of joggers to gradually pick up the pace, then leading discontinuous change is like getting those same joggers to leap off a cliff and build their parachutes on the way down.” (Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D.)
We were fortunate to see discontinuous change that was brought about by the merger with Next Generation. As a result of the merger, and the programs that came from it, we find success – Success in our continued growth in service attendance – Success in the excitement generated by the music program – Success in the wondrous growth of the preschool – Success in the successful after school program – The list goes on.
We also have begun to see how God can work through us to impact our local community, through activities like the Garcia fund raiser.
While the merger was a catalyst to this phase of discontinuous change, it alone is not what God is asking of us. We need more than to just continue on with incremental change. God is asking us to look for other ways in which we can lead New Creation on this continuing journey of discontinuous change. A journey that, I believe, started with a fire, continued through, sometimes difficult, changes in leadership, brought us together with Next Generation, and continues along a path that is, currently, only known by God.
Yes, these journeys into the unknown are scary, but we are not alone. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9
To prepare yourself to continue with us, on our journey together, here are some questions to consider:
- What are my spiritual gifts, what do I do best?
- Which of these gifts, abilities, and attitudes can be used to help continue our journey?
- In what way does my comfort in our routines prevent me from continuing on our journey? (Where are the “comfort zones” that I’m most reluctant to leave?)
- What new skills do I need to learn to help us on this journey?
- What do I need to unlearn? (Which skills are becoming obsolete? What practices – attitudes, behaviors, routines, etc. – that worked in the past are no longer valid?)
These are, sometimes, tough questions to answer. But again, we can turn to God for help. I, personally, like to use this little prayer:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
I am so excited to be on this journey with each and every one of you and will close with the following: “Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the LORD.” – Judges 18:6
Jay Everson – March 2010
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