Albert opened the door and slid behind the steering wheel of his car. As he drove home, he reflected on the elders’ meeting that had just concluded and on the past two years at Lakeside Christian Church. While many positive changes had occurred during his time at Lakeside, Albert sometimes felt that he was beating his head against a brick wall. His frustration had climaxed at the elders’ meeting where a group of church members met with the elders to “share their concern” about his leadership of the church. Now he wondered what he could have done differently and how he should respond to their veiled threats. As evidenced at the meeting, the conflict had escalated to the point where Albert would have to decide how to proceed. Should he stay and try to overcome his opposition?  Should he begin to look for another church to serve?  Perhaps he should consider starting a new church that could reach the community. Albert did not know which way he should go.

While Lakeside had a long heritage as an open, country, family church in a farming community, the landscape was rapidly changing. Lakeside was located just twenty miles from Charlotte, North Carolina, a growing metropolitan area. Albert reflected on the changes in the community in the two years he had been at Lakeside. Three subdivisions had opened within one mile of the church. It seemed that every time a farm was sold a developer or speculator purchased it. The area around the church was filling up with young families attracted to the rural setting within commuting distance of Charlotte.

The make-up of the church was beginning to reflect the changing community. Within the past two years, a number of young couples had placed membership at the church. Nearly every Sunday, new faces could be seen in the congregation. They seemed to stand out against the background of older adults who had been members of Lakeside most of their lives. The long-time members were part of a small number of extended families. It seemed to Albert that “everyone was related to everyone else” among the older members. In contrast, the newer members of the church were young families who had recently moved to the area.

Albert recalled that, when the Minister Search Committee approached him, they had emphasized the great opportunity to reach these new families. He had been excited about the prospects of growing Lakeside into an exciting, vibrant community of faith. When he visited the church as a prospective minister, he had noticed a number of things that would need to be changed in order to reach this new constituency. The order of worship seemed wooden and formal, the hymns were outdated and sung sluggishly, and the Bible School classes were organized for fellowship with little concern for outreach. Albert had realized that it would take a lot of time and energy to revamp the ministry at Lakeside. Convinced that there was a great opportunity to build a growing church, he had accepted the church’s invitation to become their minister. Now he wondered if he had made the right decision. He knew now that he should have spent more time talking with the committee and the church members about the implications of his coming as minister and bringing the needed changes.

When Albert arrived at Lakeside, he began to facilitate change. He led the congregation to hire Jack and Bob as part-time associate ministers with responsibilities in worship and youth. Both were students at a nearby college and in their twenties. They immediately developed a good rapport with the youth and their parents. The youth began to have regular activities as well as special events. New youth began to join the group. The changes in worship did not go quite so smoothly. Albert and Bob met resistance from church members when they began to supplement hymns with choruses and praise songs. Albert felt that it was important to develop an upbeat, lively service in order to attract young couples. He had observed that a few of the older members dropped out of the church without giving a clear reason, although he suspected that it was directly related to the shift in music styles. In their place, newer church members who liked the upbeat style joined the church. A high priority for Albert was the visitation of prospective church members, and he felt that the Lord had been faithful to honor his hard work by blessing the church with growth. New people were placing membership regularly. While the visitation was fruitful, Albert found that it was taking more and more of his time. He often felt pulled between the need to visit prospective members and the expectations of long-time church members that the minister make regular visits to the shut-ins.

Lately, it seemed that some of the long-time members were deliberately dragging their feet and obstructing the progress of the church. They seemed committed to preserving the seemingly outdated approaches to ministry that had been a part of Lakeside for decades. Albert wondered why they were so resistant to change. He knew that when he preached on Sunday morning, he was preaching to two separate groups: those long-time members who were resisting change and those relatively new members who were not bound by Lakeside’s traditions.

Albert had not realized how deep the rift in the congregation was until the elders’ meeting. He was surprised when the chairman of the elders notified him that a group of disturbed members had requested to meet with the elders. When he arrived at the meeting, Albert recognized the “disturbed members” as four long-time members who were most vocal in resisting his leadership in implementing change at Lakeside. He could still hear Mary as she introduced their concerns. “We represent a considerable portion of Lakeside’s membership who are unhappy with the direction you are leading our church. We want to be assured that you will quit changing our church. Some of our older members say that they hardly recognize Lakeside anymore. If you are going to continue as our minister, YOU must stop changing Lakeside!”  Albert listened intently to the many concerns raised by the group. One major area was the style of worship. Mary had commented, “Sometimes our services are more like a three-ring circus than a reverent worship service. What’s wrong with singing hymns that have contributed to our worship for years? Why do we have to try every new song that comes along?” Albert explained that his choice of worship style was not a value judgment on older hymns. It was simply a recognition that many young couples preferred contemporary worship services. Mary did not seem to be moved at all by his logic. Albert wondered if Mary even cared if new people joined the church. Wayne, another representative of the lifetime members, noted that many of the older members felt neglected when their minister did not visit them regularly. Albert responded, “When I came to be your minister, I understood that my focus would be on reaching new members. I visit our members when they are in the hospital and I regularly visit our shut-ins, but I can’t hold the hand of every member who has an ingrown toenail!”  It was obvious to Albert from the discussion that many of the older members had different priorities for their minister’s time.

At that point, Bill spoke about the issue of integration. “I’ve noticed that a black family has visited the last two Sundays. Some of our older members are not comfortable with them worshipping at Lakeside. Did you invite them?” Albert acknowledged that he had visited the black family when he had been canvassing a nearby subdivision. “I did not go out of my way to visit a black family or a white family. My intention was to minister to any person who answered the door.” Bill insisted that Lakeside had always been a segregated church, and the majority of the church members wanted it to continue as a segregated church.

As the meeting continued, Albert knew that some major issues separated him from these older members. He wondered exactly how many people they represented. Mary summed up the members’ position as she addressed the elders: “You have heard our concerns and know where we stand. We want our Lakeside back. If you don’t do something, we will!”

As Albert pulled into his driveway at home, he reflected on the troubling evening. What should he do? Could he live with himself if he gave in to their demands? Could he stay at Lakeside with their restrictions? He could not imagine ministering to a church where he spent his time visiting the old folks, singing antiquated hymns, and refusing to minister to anyone outside the narrow parameters of his existing congregation. One more time he thought about his alternatives. Should he fight, compromise, move on, or start a new Lakeside?

Questions

Consider the following questions as you prepare your written brief. Organize your response as seems most appropriate to you. Feel free to address issues beyond these questions. But all of these questions should be included in your response.

1. Present a biblical rationale for (and/or against) change in a local church. Should a church ever accommodate the changing culture? How? Why?
2. What do you think the purpose(s) of the Christian assembly are (according to scripture)? Within that framework, how can the diversity of Christian interests and needs be satisfied?
3. What is the picture in the Bible of what Christian fellowship ought to be? In view of that, what activities at Lakeside are essential to that vision and which are non-essential?
4. How would you assess the strengths and weaknesses of Albert’s agenda for his ministry at Lakeside?
5. What are the most significant facts, which could contribute to such a crisis in only two years? What could Albert have done differently in how he functioned as a leader during his two years at Lakeside?
6. How many different kinds of change are involved in the situation at the church? How has change been managed, especially by Albert?  How had this contributed to the conflict?
7. How do you think Albert should have responded to Mary? Wayne? Bill? Why?
8. Indicate ways in which the ministerial ego could complicate this picture. How can this problem be moderated? To what effect?
9. Which of the four options (fight, compromise, move, start a new Lakeside) would you advise Albert to pursue? Why? (Bring perspective from biblical theology to bear in your answer.)