BRINGING ABOUT CHANGE

These principles were presented to the Melbourne School of Worship recently by management consultant Chris Ong. The eight keys were originally put forward by Kotter in 1995.
Apply them to your church scene - to change worship style, bring about evangelistic efforts, attract more young people to your church, begin a ministry in your community or whatever.

1. Establish a sense of urgency. Gather all the information that demonstrates the importance of your case, eg. your church has only 10% youth, the population average is 30%.
2. Form a powerful guiding coalition. You will achieve MUCH better through a TEAM. Choose the best.
3. Create a VISION. A plan that would meet the need. Seek divine help.
4. Communicate the vision. Tell your team and the rest of the people. You cannot overdo this part but it is often neglected.
5. Empower others to act on the vision. Give out the tasks.
6. Plan for and create short term wins. People are impatient with long term goals. They need to see short term successes. Plan these, make them happen and celebrate them with testimonies, praise and thanks to God and those who helped.
7. Consolidate improvements and produce still more change. In other words, keep moving.
8. Institutionalise the new approaches. Make all the changes a fixed part of all your activities. A common mistake is to attempt this step without 1-7. It inevitably leads to failure.