Church Structures and Change

Each congregation has both a formal and an informal structure.
Wise change agents work at quickly learning the two structures, noting how each functions separately and how they work together. These agents of change also invest time in determining the real leaders of the congregations and how those leaders interact with the two structures.

Therefore, pastors and lay leaders desiring to lead systemic change must first learn both structures (formal and informal) and then determine how the con¬gregation’s actual leaders leverage those structures. If the actual leaders of the congregation really want change and are willing to use or to give up their influence to make the change happen, then you do not need to read this book. Just gather the leaders around you, and go for it!

Many will talk of the need for change while doing everything in their power to inhibit it. This is particularly true of those who brought in the pastor to lead the congregational change. When they realize that real change means a loss of their influence, they quickly turn and become the pastor’s adversary.
--Paul D. Borden, Direct Hit