A church doesn t go from terrible to wonderful in a single week. Improving quality requires an overall culture change. According to William Bridges in Managing Transition, the transition period, not the change, will do you in. Change is external, transition internal. Change does not equal transition.
Transition is they psychological process people go through to come to terms with new situations.
For example, when Margi and I relocated from Portland, Oregon, to my present post as Asbury Theological Seminary, the 2,500-mile drive took us less than a week. But the transition took a long time months and probably years. For the first month, we d go to church and cry because we missed being at New Hope Community Church. Then after we left the church services, we d spend the rest of the day moping around. Sometimes transitions require only a short time, but for me this time I ve needed four years.