Andy Stanley recently shared how church traditions are like an old couch - when you first bought it, it was awesome and made perfect sense. Now the couch, 20 years later, doesn't work but you're holding on to it b/c it has so much meaning and memories from the past.
Are there couches in your organization that you need to get rid of?
He talked about that at Catalyst a few years back, too. A piece of that’s in the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast (“Assumptions”, I think). Good message that only Sr. leadership can champion.
Comment by Chris - Nov 27, 2008 @ 09:47 AM
what isnt there to get rid of in some organizations??
my entire church denomination needs to get rid of the need to always be right, and reailze, understand and see what amazing things that God is doing in chuches acrs the country.
Comment by jess - Nov 27, 2008 @ 01:06 PM
In light of Dave Ferguson’s lab at Catalyst this fall, in which he stated that new churches that are started are more successful than churches that turn things around but remain the same church (by name and location), is getting rid of the “couch” enough? If I am a part of a church that has a significant couch that needs throwing out, is it a better idea to go through the painful process of extraction, or should you just start a new church instead? Perhaps in order to successfully throw out the old couch and have that be what works, your beginning point must already be pretty good. I dunno…
Comment by Jeremy Keegan - Nov 28, 2008 @ 05:26 AM
However, I doesn’t make sense to sit on the floor either. Even worse, to sit out on the front lawn.
. . . or there is the ancient couch, but no ancient house to put it in.
. . . or the new couch that merely keeps us in front of our preferred form of amusement.
. . . but hopefully, it’s not an earth-sized, one-program-fits-all couch.
. . . maybe we should sell the couch for the witness stand.
Comment by Shamrock - Nov 28, 2008 @ 08:45 AM