When my wife and I moved into our current house, we thought to ourselves (more often than perhaps we’d like) we would have done a whole bunch of things differently if we were starting from scratch. But such is life. We were not starting from scratch. We had bought a house in which previous decisions had been made, no doubt for what seemed like good reasons at the time, but from our vantage point were not what we would have done. But short of flattening the entire house and rebuilding it again – and we absolutely weren’t going to do that – we had to work out the best things to do given what had previously been done. Some things we just live with, other things you build upon to make them fit for purpose, some things you do effectively tear out and start again.

Whilst this reality applies to lots of life, it unquestionably exists in the church. There are lots of things I might do if I was planting a church from scratch. But, when I became a pastor, I wasn’t planting from scratch. I was joining a church that was not only already doing things in particular ways with its own specific forms, but one that had a history that predated what it was doing now. And this is common. A lot of pastors join churches that already exist with forms and cultures; unless you intend to tear the whole thing down and literally re-plant again, you have to start thinking about the church as it is before you. The question is, what will you do?

Observe & assess

Before you go jumping in with your blueprints for the perfect church ©, it probably pays to spend a bit of time just observing the forms and culture as they are. There may be things going on that, though they aren’t what you might have instigated, you realise are really quite helpful. You may see some things that, whilst unworkable and intolerable in another context, are really helpful and useful in this context. You may just find the answer to the questions ‘why are we doing this?’ and ‘why are we doing it that way?’ illuminating.

Even where you find things to be, let’s say a little idiosyncratic, you need to ask another question: how big a deal is this? There are things that might be such a distraction from the gospel that we cannot countenance letting them continue. But the reality is an awful lot of idiosyncrasies, odd as they may be, are not damaging. In fact, in the right place and the right context among the right people, they may even be quite endearing and serve that elusive sense of authenticity many rave about being vital these days. There are some oddities that may not be what we would do if we were setting up from scratch but that are harmless and tolerable and may well be best left alone.

Highlight what is good

Of course, whenever you come into an existing setup, there will be some good things about it. After all, something drew you to go. There must have been something about the place that made you think, ‘yes, this is a place I can really serve well’. There must have been something about it that made you think this is a place worth being and spending my time and energies seeking to build up. Whatever those things are, major on them!

Some of those things might be the stuff that you would want to do anyway. It could be the preaching and teaching, the singing or some other ordinary element of a church meeting. But some of it may be the stuff that you might not have instigated, but is nevertheless good. Whatever it may be, it is worth highlighting what is already good.

Build & reshape first

But let’s say you are faced with some stuff that is, let’s say, sub-optimal. It is stuff you really don’t feel you can leave as it is. Such things are inevitable. Unless you were building from the ground up – and even then you would probably set things in place yourself that you come to wish you hadn’t later – you will find things that need to change.

Generally speaking, I think it is better to build upon what exists and reshape what is already there rather than tear things down and start again. Before I do a full rewire of my house or I entirely decimate a whole room, I want to see if I can utilise what is already in place to accomplish what needs to happen. In the same way, before we start ripping up all the ministries of a church and starting all over again, we want to see if what exists already can be built upon and reshaped so that it can be more helpful. Things may not need a total overhaul, just a slight reshaping so that they feel a bit like what went before whilst being pointed more helpfully.

Non-ideal does not mean unfit

Finally, it is always worth bearing in mind that sub-optimal or non-ideal is not the same as entirely unfit for purpose. Things may not be exactly as you would have them but that doesn’t make them entirely problematic. Just because the songs you sing (for example) are not the exact set of songs you might pick does not mean the singing is now devoid of any value whatsoever. The order of service might not be your preferred order but that doesn’t mean it only communicates all the content badly. Various ministries might not be exactly what you would have setup but that doesn’t mean they do nothing of worth.

We have to recognise the difference between things as we would have them – our personal ideal – and things that are of worth. Despite what we often think, these two things do not neatly overlay one another. There is a venn diagram of ideal and non-ideal that overlap each other significantly when it comes to things of worth that looks like this:

We can accept that things may be non-ideal and yet not unfit for purpose. As any engineer will tell you, if it works it is fit for purpose even if it turns out it is only working because it is held together by duct tape! Which means we can live with sub-optimal things if they ultimately work and are not damaging.