Every Church Changes. It's Inevitable. It's Needed. You Need to Adapt.

They say the only constant in life is change, and boy, do I get that. Reflecting on my own reluctance to embrace change, I dive into the ethos of transformation within our churches in the latest episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. I'm Todd Rhoades, your guide through the often bumpy journey of change in our religious communities, where we'll laugh a little (because who knew millennials were reshaping the cheese industry?) and tackle serious questions about fostering growth while holding on to our core beliefs.

This conversation is an honest look at how change is more than a buzzword in the pews; it's about the challenging, yet vital task of paving the way for millennial leadership in our churches. We discuss the importance of distinguishing between cultural shifts and theological steadfastness. As we support the next wave of church leaders, it's crucial to encourage their fresh approaches to outreach without compromising the message at the heart of our faith. Join me, as we examine what it means to pass the baton to a generation poised to inspire change, even if it means letting go a little earlier than we might feel comfortable with.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

Nobody likes change. I don't like change. I think I say that I like change, but when it comes right down to it, I don't. And sometimes I just need to suck it up Buttercup, because every church changes. It's inevitable, it's needed and I need to adapt. It's inevitable, it's needed and I need to adapt. That's what we're going to talk about on today's episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Thanks for joining me. My name is Todd Rhodes. I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom and today we want to talk about church change. As I said, it's inevitable, it's needed and we need to adapt. You ever just wake up. Particularly I get reflective on Monday mornings. I know today's not Monday, but particularly on Monday mornings I'll say just think to myself, man, everything's changing. And it turns out, everything is changing, even cheese. Where are you going with this, todd? What in the world are you talking about?

Speaker 1: 1:05

Let's take millennials, for example. They love cheeses just as much as the rest of us in the US population, but their love of cheeses takes on a little different flavor than some of their older counterparts, like you and me. In fact, the recent trends in the cheese industry and yeah, believe it or not, there is a cheese industry in the country. The recent changes in the cheese industry has Kraft Foods a little bit worried because it seems a decades-long American cheese market the American processed cheese. That market is diminishing. As a matter of fact, it's down almost 2% year over year and according to a recent report in Bloomberg, the product has been devoured by boomers on the go and touted as the basis for macaroni and cheese. And Gen X loved processed cheese. But when it comes to millennials, they're looking for more nourishment from ingredients that are more recognizable and pronounceable.

Speaker 1: 2:07

And believe me, I've heard millennials, the millennial generation, blamed for many things, but not changing cheese. Up to this point, that's not been one of the things I've heard millennials being blamed for. But anyways, the market is taking notice. Is taking notice? Mcdonald's, wendy's I don't know if you've noticed it other fast food restaurants are moving away from processed American cheese to offer things like Asiago and real cheddar, whatever those things are, I don't know. Millennials also being accused of killing mayonnaise, but don't even get me started there. What's my point? Everything's changing, even cheese, just like you suspected. Everything from cheese to church. And you know what? If you haven't picked up on my little wordplay yet, just try replacing cheeses with Jesus. You get it.

Speaker 1: 2:53

But we should expect millennials to change things up a little bit when it comes to church as well, just like my generation did and the previous generation before mine did, just like we did. And while we often resist change, it's natural and actually it's pretty healthy. Now, not all change is good. You know that, I know that. But much of it actually is, and it's our job as church leaders to forward the baton to the next generation yes, even the millennials. Hopefully I have some millennials listening and they're not taking too much offense here but we need to pass that baton on to the next generation and passing on what we've learned to them. But also we need to allow them to modify and adapt and reach their own generation and generations to come Our kids, our grandkids, our great-grandkids. And that's not easy because of one simple thing, and here's what it is they won't do it the same way we would or the same way that we have. But remember, most changes are not theological. Some are and we need to guard against those, but most changes in the church world are cultural or have to do with methodology and for the most part, that's okay. And what I'm seeing in millennial leadership in the church is actually very positive. This is a generation that's raising up some really great church leaders and we need to support them however we can.

Speaker 1: 4:21

But here's the challenge, and this is nothing new for our generation. The challenge is sharing our leadership with them, even sometimes before we think that they're totally ready. It's handing the baton when we think that they're not ready. Somebody handed the baton to us, probably before they thought we were ready, and we need to do that because things are changing. We were ready and we need to do that because things are changing, and every week it's it's. There are more and more signs that more and more things are changing. Our job as pastors and church leaders is to make that change happen in a healthy way that serves the church and serves future generations and ultimately for our kids, our grandkids and our greatgrandkids, that they ultimately follow Jesus and come to Christ. There's nothing cheesy about that.

Speaker 1: 5:09

Okay, here's the challenge for you today. What change can you help facilitate this week in your church that will position your ministry or your church for the future? What young leader could you encourage by asking them for a simple lunch invitation this week? Who could you take out to lunch from the next generation that you could encourage this week. That's your challenge. I would love for you to be able to do that and reach out to me. Let me know how that goes. Let me know how that discussion goes. I would really love to hear your stories. You can catch me anytime at podcast at chemistry staffing. It's podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. I would love to hear from you and we will talk to you again tomorrow. We have a really interesting episode. It's called the Both and Church Defining who you Are. We'll be right back here again tomorrow on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast to helping church staff like this.