A friend recently gave me reason to pause. He was talking about a tendency many of us have as leaders—to over-strategize. Sometimes, in our passion for progress, we fail to wait for our people to catch up. Instead of walking in the light we already have, we chase after new light, new revelations, new ideas.
The Perils of Constant Innovation
One of the greatest dangers pastors face comes from reading about other pastors who appear more successful. It’s easy to fall into the trap of implementing a new idea every month—or every week—in an attempt to keep pace. But this kind of restlessness can deeply unsettle your team, whether paid or volunteer.
What my friend said was simple, but profound: Don’t make any major change until your church has grown by 20%. If there’s no growth at all, of course, change is needed. But when there is growth, it’s a signal to be steady. It’s time to walk in what you already have and give your people the opportunity to adapt and respond positively to the current ministry flow. Let that growth bring people into relationship with Jesus in the context of how you’re currently doing ministry.
When you have grown by 20%, that’s the point to consider a structural change. Even then, it may be more tactical than strategic—small adjustments rather than grand reinventions.
When Change Becomes a Trap
Early on in the churches I pastored, we built a simple ecclesiology grounded in Ephesians 4. It defined the church’s purpose: to equip the saints for the work of ministry. We paired this with a model drawn from Acts 2, viewing weekend gatherings as our “temple” expression, and house gatherings as our “house-to-house” life.
We asked: What works best in the temple? What works best in the house? And we stuck to that model for years.
But here’s where we stumbled: At nearly every annual planning retreat, we tried to reinvent the wheel. We’d take the church apart and attempt to reassemble it. And that, over time, was exhausting. It depressed our staff and disrupted the very people we were trying to serve. Rather than speeding up growth, it slowed us down.
Ironically, while we were tying ourselves in knots trying to restructure, we were planting churches at a steady rate—about 1.5 to 2 churches per year. That side of our ministry stayed strong, largely because of one thing we did well.
Allow Ministry to Rise from the Ranks
We had cultivated a culture where ministry bubbled up from the congregation. We were always preaching: Find a need and fill it. We spoke of people being God’s masterpiece, created for good works. That gave rise to many homegrown ministries.
The answer to most ideas was a resounding “yes.” We connected people with others who could help them fulfill the vision God put in their hearts. It created an environment of adaptability and permission.
But ministries, like everything else, follow a bell curve. They begin with excitement, grow, multiply, and bear fruit—but eventually taper off.
Know When to Let Go
One of the wisest practices we adopted during our annual staff retreats was to identify two or three things that weren’t working as well as they once had. We used to joke about “killing dead horses.” Sometimes, we’d simply relocate a ministry to free up valuable space. Other times, we had to make the tough call to shut something down entirely.
In some cases, we cut back funding when participation had dropped. This often helped the ministry leader recognize that the season had passed. The decline in resources communicated the reality more gently than words sometimes could.
Final Thoughts: Embracing Change with Discernment
Living in a constant process of change is inevitable, especially as we respond to a shifting culture. But that doesn’t mean we need to overhaul everything all the time.
Sometimes, the most faithful thing we can do is to pause, walk steadily in the light we already have, and give our people space to grow alongside us. When change is needed, let it be intentional, measured, and born out of prayer and discernment—not comparison or restlessness.
Ralph Moore is the Founding Pastor of three churches which grew into the Hope Chapel ‘movement’ now numbering more than 2,300 churches, worldwide. These are the offspring of the 70+ congregations launched from Ralph’s hands-on disciplemaking efforts.
He travels the globe, teaching church multiplication to pastors in startup movements. He’s authored several books, including Let Go Of the Ring: The Hope Chapel Story, Making Disciples, How to Multiply Your Church, Starting a New Church, and Defeating Anxiety.
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