Interview with a pastor who transitioned his church (part 1)

The following is part of an interview with David Havice, a good friend, and pastor of a traditional church who transitioned to a network of simple/organic churches.

Felicity: What made you decide to transition your legacy church into a network of simple/organic churches?

David: We were a small congregation in a town of multiple megachurches as well as seeing “new works” appearing regularly! Tired of the status quo and the competitive spirit among churches, we began to pray, asking the Lord about our niche, and what we should be doing. Ultimately that led us to the whole idea of the house/simple/organic approach, and a basic belief that God was indeed leading us in that direction!

Felicity: What process did you go through? How long did it take?

We started by sharing the ideas, thoughts and information with the leadership structure, first the elders, then the life group leaders. At each level, we gave them time to think, process, research, and ask questions. After this group was “on board” and felt somewhat comfortable with it, we presented it to the whole congregation, through a series of teachings, sharing, and discussion. We actually launched on the first Sunday of January 2006. During the initial phase of transition, we moved things around, both physically in the sanctuary and in their minds as well. We confronted thought processes, old paradigms about what the church is and shared new ideas to stretch their thinking. All in all, there was about a 6 month lead up to the actual launch. We gave people permission to leave if they didn’t feel comfortable, but we did ask them to try it for three months before they decided!

Part 2 of this interview will be posted on Friday!