Running Header: THE CHALLENGE TO CHANGE
The Challenge to Change
Corinne Martinez
LDRS 534
March 7, 2010
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Introduction
One Sunday morning at Christ Community Church, the new music director, C. Fritz, decided to
bring in a band from Azusa Pacific University to lead worship for a change of pace from the church’s
normal overwhelming use of obscure hymns and organ worship style. C. Fritz, along with several
younger leadership members, believed that Christ Community Church’s Sunday services had become
void of true worship. The worship time was no longer speaking to the younger generation within the
congregation. He believed that many were leaving the church because the music did not feel like true
worship time for the younger congregation members. The younger members no longer understood the
old English wording of hymns. C. Fritz had been aware of the differences in worship styles of the Azusa
Pacific University band compared to Christ Community Church’s regular worship. Although it was a
contemporary style of worship, C. Fritz believed it might help brighten Christ Community Church’s
Sunday morning service and enliven the younger generation during their worship time. He did not want
to completely get rid of the hymns in their worship but rather to add some different styles of music to
help create variety for all generations.
The Azusa Pacific University band worship leader was met with resistance and frustration from
the congregation instead of a warm welcome due to the contemporary nature of the group. It was merely
a difference in song style that began the uproar of the older generation. Mixed feelings and comments
met the attempt at introducing the contemporary group to the Sunday morning worship service. The
upbeat gospel feel of worship was not what most of the congregation had been expecting to hear; because
of this, instead of meeting the visitors with joy and open arms, the older generation of the church met the
end of the performance with silence and several members walking out of the service infuriated. Some of
the younger crowd applauded but it was quickly stifled by sharp looks and loud shushing noises. The
worship leader from Azusa Pacific University apologized for offending the congregation and C. Fritz, the
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new worship pastor, apologized for the very resistant behavior of some of the elder church members. A
meeting of the elders and older church leaders followed this worship service. They proceeded to
reprimand C. Fritz and the younger leadership for their attempt at introducing contemporary worship
style into Christ Community Church. The elders and older church leaders told C. Fritz that the church
did not like the new style of worship. They also conveyed that the church would not wander down the
path of a contemporary worship style anytime soon.
Christ Community Church and Kotter’s 8-Steps to Change
In Leading Change, Kotter introduces eight steps that are essential for healthy change to occur in
an organization. As I observed Christ Community Church and the reprimanding of the new worship
pastor, I believe the conflict could have been avoided. If only the worship pastor and young leaders had
implemented Kotter’s eight steps, they might have implemented change in a more effective way.
Step one of Kotter’s change process was to establish a sense of urgency (1996, p. 35). “I suppose
we could have been clearer about the need for a change in worship due to the falling of numbers with the
congregation, and elders. It just didn’t seem like it would make a difference if they knew we were going
to try this or not” (Fritz, May 5, 2005). Fritz and his fellow young leadership members had failed to see
the importance of sharing their vision for change. They had shared with each other the frustrations with
the church leadership but they had failed at presenting their sense of urgency to the other church leaders.
The leaders themselves had not been united in their belief for the urgency of the change in style of
worship, so they believed it was unnecessary since things had stayed the way they had been. If the
younger leaders had presented the urgency of the change needed, it might have brought them more
success. “People will find a thousand ingenious ways to withhold cooperation from a process that they
sincerely think is unnecessary or wrongheaded” (Kotter, 1996, p. 36). According to Kotter, not only did
the younger leadership not create the sense of urgency needed, they went around the older leaders. The
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elders and older leaders in opposition to the change believed that it was an attempt to get rid of them.
This led the elders to believe that Fritz and the younger leaders were “wrong-headed” or had ulterior
motives to their attempted change. They also believed that Fritz was not equipped to make such an
important decision for the church as changing its worship style. The younger leaders should have
communicated with the elders and older church leaders the problem of the decline in attendance and/or
were not committing to stay within the church’s congregation. The young church leaders should have
conveyed the urgent matter of the younger generation’s concerns. They felt the obscure hymns hindered
the worship due to lack of understanding of the hymns’ wordings and unenthusiastic instrumentation. If
they had established the sense of urgency, as Kotter suggested, through adequate communication, they
might have been able to move to step two.
Fritz and his younger cohort not only failed at establishing a sense of urgency but they also failed
at step two of Kotter’s Leading Change: creating a guiding coalition (1996, p. 51). Kotter suggests that
in order to create a guiding coalition, a group must find leaders with four key characteristics: position of
power, expertise, credibility, and leadership (Kotter, 1996, p. 21). Fritz had expertise in music because
he was a trained worship leader, but he and his team lacked the position of power and credibility. This
stems from their first failure: establishing a sense of urgency. They could not get to step two if they did
not first established step one. Kotter writes, “Regardless of the process used, one component is
necessary: trust. When trust is present, you will usually be able to create teamwork” (1996, p. 61). Kotter
goes on to say, “the typical goal that binds individuals together on guiding change coalitions is a
commitment to excellence, a real desire to make their organizations perform to the very highest levels
possible” (1996, p. 65). Kotter writes of having trust within an organization and having a common goal
of excellence. As I observed this situation, I was saddened by the thought that church leadership could
not trust each other even in the smaller issues, such as a change in worship style. The older leaders did
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not trust Fritz and the younger leaders when it came to their beliefs. They envisioned that integrating a
different style of worship might better have served the multi-generational congregation, but the young
leaders did not believe the elder generation would listen to their growing concerns. The leaders of the
church were lacking trust and a common goal. The older leaders did not care about the excellence of the
organization, but they rather cared about their own comfort. This was a disheartening experience as the
congregation had begun to witness their leaders no longer trusting each other and lacking the common
goal of unification for our church.
The next problems I observed in Christ Community Church’s resistance to change was that the
leadership as a whole could not complete steps three and four of Kotter’s process: developing a vision
and strategy, and communicating the change vision (1996, p. 67 & p. 85). Fritz and the younger
leadership of Christ Community Church had developed a vision of their own. Fritz’s bringing of the
APU band to CCC was his attempt at a strategy to introduce the new worship style desired (Young
leadership member, Personal Communication, May 5, 2005). The younger leaders envisioned a more
updated worship that integrated the new contemporary style with the older hymns to cater to the needs of
the congregation, but the older leaders did not see that vision. Fritz and the younger leadership failed to
communicate their vision to the elders and older leaders and because of this they lacked the support
needed to implement it. “The fact that the vision isn’t quite right, or isn’t ambitious enough, or has
limited support eventually undermines the change effort” (Kotter, 1996, p. 83). The change effort for the
church’s worship became obsolete when it lacked the support needed to go forward with it. When the
young leadership’s strategy was hit with strong resistance, it halted the change early in its stages. The
leadership was not able to act out their vision for change due to the resistance met by the older leaders of
the church. “Often the most powerful way to communicate a new direction is through behavior” (Kotter,
1996, p. 95). Perhaps if the younger leadership had implemented the act of integrating contemporary
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worship songs one at a time, they would not have been met with resistance. The young leaders had to
first communicate the vision with their fellow leaders before they attempted the change within the
church.
Step five of Kotter’s change theory is empowering employees for broad-based action. One of the
common problems with many organizations presented by Kotter is, “We often don’t think through
carefully enough what new behavior, skills, and attitudes will be needed when major change is initiated”
(1996, p. 108). Fritz tried to introduce the change in worship by presenting it throughout the whole
service. The younger leaders had not prepared the elders or the congregation for the major change by
communicating their vision, being honest and open about the vision, or to prepare them in the areas of
attitude and behavior. Fritz and his cohorts lacked empowerment by not providing their members with
the preparation needed to be equipped for the deep change. “I believed that it would be good for the
congregation to have a new experience in their worship time. I had no idea they would respond with such
resistance and anger” (C. Fritz, Personal Communication, May 5, 2005). The lack of empowerment and
trust of Christ Community Church’s older members allowed the congregation to become defensive to and
resist the change presented.
Kotter than introduces steps six and seven: generating short-term wins, and consolidating gains
and producing more change (Kotter, 1996, p. 117 & p. 131). The change in worship styles that was
desired for Christ Community Church’s young leaders was not able to generate short-term wins nor to
consolidate gains. They were only met with resistance and failure from the older generation of the
congregation. The strategy that Fritz and his colleagues had believed would help change the attitudes of
the congregation had failed and their meeting with the elders of the church was an example of that
failure:
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I never knew they would meet this new implementation with such opposition. My vision for this
congregation to begin changing the worship was stopped before it ever really had the chance to
get off the ground. I should have been more careful and communicated better and perhaps the
outcome would have been more , (Fritz, Personal Communication, May 5, 2005)
Lastly step eight: anchoring new approaches in culture, was another step that failed before it had
begun. The church’s older generation was not open to a new style of worship. If Fritz had been able to
implement steps six and seven, the younger leaders might have arrived at step eight and become a
healthier and more open congregation through successful change. “Too bad the new worship approach
didn’t work. I enjoyed the APU band and I think that our church needs more music that my generation
can understand and truly feel connected with God” (young congregation member, personal
communication, May 3, 2005). If Christ Community Church had experienced true deep change, they
could have had a healthier church culture that was able to cater to the needs of all congregation members
instead of just one generation. The church might not have lost so many members if they had just been
open to change and had allowed themselves to experience Kotter’s eight steps to change:
It is so sad that young people come and love the teaching but do not feel like they can connect to
the worship music. Worship includes learning God’s word, prayer, and worshiping through song.
I wish CCC could just see that it is hurting them to not implement this deeply needed change of
worship style. (B. Sheldon, personal communication, May 3, 2005)
Conclusion
As I had conversed with different congregational members, I never realized how deeply the
change was needed until I was able to look at the failure of this change through the lens of Kotter’s 8steps for change. Leading Change has transformed my view on past change failures and has allowed me
to see how, I as a leader, need to go about implementing deep change into an organization. It was
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difficult to reflect on the small failures of leadership that turned into large failures in light of deeply
needed change. Failures, such as not developing a sense of urgency and not communicating the change
vision, seemed small when my church was in the midst of the attempted worship style change. Now, as I
look at them in light of Kotter’s insights, I see that they were detrimental failures to the change vision of
Christ Community Church’s young leaders. As I look back on the failures of Fritz and the young leaders,
I come to the realization of the importance of communication with fellow leaders and with my
organization. I gained much knowledge from Kotter’s principles and look forward to a time that I can
put these principles into action in an organization.
CorinneYou evidence a solid understanding – both of your church and of what happened with the attempted
change. It is often difficult to look historically and understand. Yet, you have done a good job of this.
However, it might have been good in the text to note that this failure occurred 5 years ago and to give an
update of where the congregation is now. The citations evidence communication from 5 years ago which
is unusual to have access to this information. It would be interesting to know how that came about (i.e.,
that you didn’t just now interview people but that you had access to old communication).
Overall, well done!
GRADING RUBRIC – Research Paper
maximum
The insights and thoughts are solid, well-developed, and evidence
advanced critical thinking skills. Arguments and thoughts are well
formed, supported, and reasoned.
The paper flows evenly, with a clear thesis, direction, and progression
of thought.
The writing is clear, succinct, and easy to understand. There is a
consistency of voice, verb tense, and writing style. It is free from jargon
and colloquialisms.
The research is thorough and complete, with sufficient supporting
information (literature or data).
The writing is free from grammatical, spelling, and APA format errors.
The paper addresses the assignment. It is complete and thorough.
There is clarity of authorship – between the original work of the
student submitting the paper and the thoughts, works, or quotations of
others.
96/100% = 24/25 points
20%
19
15%
15
15%
13
15%
15%
10%
15
14
10
10%
100%
10
96
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Reference
Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.