“Re-engineering is like setting fire to your hair and putting it out with a hammer.”

Ever feel this way about your efforts to lead change in an established congregation? The quote comes from Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround by Lou Gerstner (New York: Harper Collins, 2002). It was uttered by a business leader exasperated by the challenges of turnaround.

IBM’s turnaround was painful. Church turnarounds are too, despite the fact that we as God’s people have unique access to wonderful resources giving comfort and hope (see Psalm 46).

What is so difficult about a church turnaround? In a word, transition. Before a plateaued or declining congregation grows again, it must go through “a time between the times,” when the old is passing away and the new has not yet clearly appeared. Transition is that awkward time. January comes at the end of one year and starts a different one, so it’s an ideal time to consider the challenges and opportunities of transition. “January” is related to “Janus,” the Roman god of gates and doors. Janus is commonly depicted with two faces...one regarding what is behind and the other looking toward what lies ahead. Janus contemplates the happenings of an old year while looking forward to the new. He is the patron saint of pastors and church leaders in transitioning congregations, who must live (rather uncomfortably) in that awkward space between the times.

A great little book on this topic is “Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes” by William Bridges (Cambridge: Perseus Books, 1980), 160 pages. It’s featured in this month’s book review.

Our web review connects you to an illustration of how to survive and thrive in transition: that driven harmonic oscillator commonly known as a playground swing.