What I learned from being a pastor (and other thoughts)

Brandy and I talk about maturity and experience. The older we get, the more experience we get and (sometimes) the more mature we get. Mature can mean many things so don't read too much into that word. I was having some thoughts on what I learned while I was a pastor and some other things in the past.
You see, when you go from warming the pews and maybe a Sunday school class or small group to actually working behind the scenes, you see a very different process and procedure than what you are used to. Here are some thoughts:
* People love change until it's their pet project. Try to cancel some beloved children group that Ms Mary has been doing for years even though the kids are tired of it and no one really enjoys it and boy there will be an uproar.
Another one on that subject is music. At Sardis for one month a year they did the Cokesbury hymnal. These were songs that very few people knew, liked, or cared about. Outside the church walls there was grumbling, but inside everyone was glad to "remember and sing those old songs". And don't ever consider unplugging the organ. (BTW...when is the last time you heard an organ playing on the radio?).
* If it's something people have no history with, they will be against it until the end. At one church we were at, a small group of people wanted to start a contemporary service. 95% of church growth in the UMC came from contemporary services. People who worshipped in them loved them (and didn't sleep). I was tasked with leading this small group. The 1st question asked was "where will the money go that is collected at this service?" Blank dumbfounded look from me. uuummm church service in the the church, maybe the money goes to the church.
Oh and that part about being against it until the end....that is true (in most cases) even if they can come around and see the true possibilities of God moving in the change. They cannot lose face and change their mind.
* Long term far-sighted projects are a LOT less popular than quick turnaround ideas. At Sardis they have this empty lot next to the church. It's a complete waste of space and not being used but owned by the church. It steeply slopes and you can't do anything with it in the current situation. Since there were some people who wanted to build a gym on that site in the future, I recommended that when a builder or the county has fill dirt they will give to us, to get it and level out that land so it will be ready for the building in the future. You would have thought I suggested we put up "welcome to the dump" signs. I got remarks of "people will start throwing trash in our lot if we do this." No idea what they were talking about. Never brought it up again. The current pastor is bringing up building again though. Good luck.
* People like to have their own ideas instead of being told what needs to be done. This is one I should have know from the beginning at Sardis. It's part of managing people and getting progress moving. At one board meeting I came up with a long list of physical projects that needed to be done on the property to make it more attractive and what newcomers would see when coming in. Well I was just ATTACKING these people directly. This was their sacred church.
Here is the funny part. About a month later, that list (that disappeared after the meeting) started getting worked on by the people in the church.
* Generations are stubborn. I say generations because all the generations are stubborn. The baby boomers at my last church (not all old people) were fixed in thier worship style and didn't want to change. Next younger crowd wanted change to more contemporary but control trumps desire.
* Perception is everything. When Sardis heard I was a young pastor, the talk automatically went around that "this pastor will focus on youth". This could not have been farther from the truth.
Another one that I heard thru the grapevine was "we can train this young pastor how we want him". I actually had one guy (so many other labels I can place on him) tell me the church was there to train me. There was no co-learning. There was no relationship.
* The building is the church. At Sardis the 100 yr old building was the church. Without that building, they would not have known what to do. And please don't make changes at the building. I did a trial ballon suggestion that our church would stand out and look glorious if we outlined it in white lights of Christmas. I was actually told that would be too commercial. Forget being a "light" on the hill. Someone once said the best thing that could happen to the church would be for us to not have a building and be nomads. I will never say who told me that, but unfortunately they were exactly right.

I'm sure I will come up with more soon and have to add to this list. I will as they come up.