Shepherding with Wisdom
By Stephen Cavness
Pastors often find themselves needing to lead a church through change. Not all change carries the same weight, but regardless of what the change is, we can either lead wisely or lead foolishly. I got my first taste of this early in ministry at the first church I pastored.
Nearly twenty years after leaving, I still maintain that this was the perfect first church for a brand-new pastor. This very rural, very small, and very elderly congregation could not have been more kind, patient, or supportive than they were to their very young and green pastor.
Because the church was small and the pastor had so many responsibilities (including teaching the only SS class, leading the singing each week, and cleaning the facilities), it didn’t take long before I felt a sense of “ownership.” I don’t mean that I thought “This is MY church,’ it was more of a confidence that I had a good sense of the condition of the church and its needs. One of the obvious needs was new hymnals.
The Hymnals are falling apart
It was common while leading music that pages would fall out of my hymnal, and I learned to quickly grab another one and keep going. But over time I realized that most of the hymnals had missing pages, broken spines, or stains. Once I grabbed one that had blood stains on the pages. To this day I continue to hope that it was from a nosebleed and not an act of violence during In the Garden - “He told ME I was his own!” *smack*
Not only were the hymnals falling apart and gross, they were severely discolored from the years. The covers were so discolored that in the rack they looked light pink, but when pulled out they revealed their crimson red bottom half. I believed that surely we could do better than this.
The church where I was member and had been ordained before pastoring had recently built new facilities. I asked one of my former pastors what they had done with the hymnals from the old building, hoping they would be in much better shape than our two-toned, bloody versions. Although they had already given them away, he asked why I was interested in old hymnals, so I outlined the plight of our tattered and worn song books. He graciously replied that since it was the end of the year and they had money left in a line item, they would buy us new hymnals. After I stuttered out a stunned reply, he reassured me that the church would be happy to help out a former member that they had sent out as a pastor, and the church he was leading.
I eagerly picked out the hymnals and they arrived in a short time. The week before Christmas I replaced all the old, ratty, and half-pink hymnals with brand-new, beautiful, blood-free ones. I could not wait to see their faces!
More than hymnals
That Sunday when I unveiled the new hymnals, everyone “ooohed” and “ahhhed” over them. Feeling like a seasoned and wise pastor, I asked each member what their favorite hymn was, and then dutifully showed them that their favorite hymns were in these new hymnals. I also told them they could pick out all of the hymns for the next several Sundays so they could see that these new hymnals had many of the songs they had loved to sing for years.
They thanked me profusely and seemed giddy to pick up these new hymnals, opening them for the first time with their crisp, clean, white, blood-free pages that didn’t fall out. Every Sunday after that I was so pleased whenever I looked out and saw the backs of those gorgeous new hymnals, without a falling page in sight.
These saints were kind and gracious to me and my family the entire time of our ministry. They were incredibly supportive, and even when we left to go to another church a couple of hours away, several stayed in touch after we left.
Songbook switch
After a few years, my family and I went back to surprise them one Sunday morning. Our family had grown since they had seen us, and we were excited to see these sweet people again. We arrived before Sunday School and walked in through the main sanctuary entrance. And in the pew racks were those old, ratty, faded, half-pink hymnals. I couldn’t believe it!
We spent the next twenty minutes hugging, laughing, and enjoying these sweet people in the fellowship hall. They were excited to see us as they fawned over our growing kids. We re-lived memories from years prior and they told us multiple times how much they loved us, missed us, and had been blessed by our time there. And I believe they meant it. Yet those old hymnals were in the pews, mocking me.
It took me a little bit to shake off the disoriented and hurt feelings I had. But eventually, it hit me: They had never asked for new hymnals. They had never even mentioned wanting or needing new hymnals. I had taken it upon myself to replace them. True, they expressed gratitude, they never once complained. Honestly, they made me feel like a hero for doing it, and they supported the decision their pastor made.
Leading versus deciding
But after I left, when I wasn’t their pastor anymore, they went back to “their” hymnals. I realized that I didn’t lead them; I just decided what was best for them and did it. Subsequently, the change only lasted for as long as I was there.
This lesson has impacted countless instances of leading change as I have pastored since. The most recent was when my current church transitioned to elder plurality a few years ago. I had been the pastor for nearly 10 years, by God’s grace surviving a large-scale and brutal attempt to have me fired in year seven, and then a split when it didn’t work. I knew I had built trust and relational capital, and I knew I had enough support to get it passed for a year before we finally voted on the change. But the lesson of the hymnals reminded me that “having the votes” was not enough.
I knew that if they were not convinced in their hearts that this was biblical and the right move for our church, then it would not last, and as soon as I was no longer the pastor, a day that will come for all of us, regardless of the why, they would simply revert to the way things used to be. It would be like the hymnal situation, but worse. It would almost certainly make it much more difficult for any subsequent pastor to lead the church to make that change, one that they had already tried but did not stick.
So brothers, remember the lesson of the hymnals when making changes. Lead in such a way that the church owns the decision, and that it isn’t just “the pastor’s idea.” If they own the change, if they embrace it, and if they *want* it, it is much more likely to stick. It may take more time, but it will be worth it.
Stephen Cavness is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Fulton KY.