Change or Die?

In recent days I’ve noticed that several of my staff members have walked into my office and remarked, “Oh how beautiful,” as they are staring outside through my windows.  I have a lovely ground-floor corner office and must admit that I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to what’s going on outside.

Yesterday, after having yet another individual make the same remark while gazing through my windows, I stopped to see what all of the admiration was about.  I looked out my window and there it was.  Beautiful fall trees; bright, bright red leaves on at least two large trees, accompanied by a few more glistening in vivid colors of gold and orange.  At that moment I too said, “Wow!  How pretty.”  And I almost missed it because I was accustomed to only looking inward.

Change is in the air.  Yes, the leaves have begun to change their colors; the night air is a little bit nippier; the average daily temperatures are dropping and for us in Northern Virginia, we have been through several days of steady rain.  You can feel the change and when you look outside, you definitely can see the change.

I have a book in my personal library that carries the title Change or Die.  It is a church growth book and I haven’t read it in several years.  Its message is pretty clear and frankly presented.  The church as we know it from our own perspective; the church of our past and present, is striving to survive amidst a culture that is in rapid and mostly unpleasant change.  The point being made is that we either change or disappear.  For The Salvation Army the reality of change must be observed and addressed in a dual focus – how do we address change as it impacts us as a church, and how do we address change as it impacts us as a charity, solely dependent upon emerging generations of future donors?

My advice to all of us is this – open your windows and take a long hard look outside!  What do you see out there in this new world of mobile devices, dwindling respect for authority, intensely polarized opinions, and compromised values?  How will we survive?  Can we survive?

Change or die?  I believe we need to be open and receptive to change.  I’m certainly not suggesting any changes in our theology, our core values, or our mission.  But what about our tactics, procedures, structure and willingness to explore innovative approaches in outreach evangelism and corps growth on one hand, uniquely paralleled with how we cultivate, relate, sustain and grow our donor base and advisory boards on the other?

Unfortunately, we are notorious for only looking inward.  We thrive on our aggrandizements, Army myth and  folk lore, and sometimes truly believe that we can channel William and Catherine Booth to proclaim how they might react if they were truly with us today.

I’m suggesting to you and me, that we may need to open up our windows and take a long hard look outside, not inside.  What do you see out there?  How will you react to what you see?  What can you efficiently change from what you see from where you are?  How passionate are you about what you see?

Change or die?  It just seems to me, as I take a look outside, the strategies and tactics that we identify today as being the most ripe for change, may be the means by which we win the future.

Major George Hood

National Community Relations Secretary

The Salvation Army National Headquarters