It is copyrighted by Net Results, Inc., and reprinted here by permission. Helping churches transform from an organizational to an organic type of structure with empowered members has produced some surprises as well as confirmed some suspicions. Each church is unique and produces different results. We have learned many things while leading churches in transformation.
Transformation takes time.
When we tell church leaders it will take two or three years for them to begin functioning in a new way, they usually want to hurry it up. Once the process begins, the leaders realize that it will take more time than they hoped. It requires three to ten years to transform a church. In some cases it takes more time because major problems arise. One church has taken a two-year pause to deal with a dissenting controller.