What do we do next? What might God be calling us to? Where might we begin to engage more deeply? These are all questions I have asked the congregation I am serving, only to be met with blank stares, silence, or perhaps the worst response; “Well, we used to…” Many congregations get stuck, we do the same things over and over hoping it will turn out differently this time. Or we are brave enough to say we want to try something new only to get stuck when it comes to imagining something that doesn’t look a lot like the last thing.
What do you do when your leadership is stuck? What do YOU do when you are feeling stuck? I am not a natural visionary, I don’t often have the answers and even if I did, my leadership style is more collaborative; I want the answers to emerge from within the community. I want to add my voice to many as we dream together. But what happens when no one seems to have an answer, when everyone turns to you and says, “Pastor, what do YOU think we should do?"
One of the tools I have learned in the Churches Learning Change process has to do with managing my anxiety in these spaces. I used to jump in, try to provide the answer, any answer to lower my anxiety and that of those in the room. I am learning to be patient and to wait in the stillness and I am learning to ask better questions. Sometimes we are stuck because we can’t see something new, our old ways of thinking about an issue keep us from shifting our view or opening the door to a new possibility.
Instead of what else could we do, I am learning to wonder. Why did we start doing this in the first place? What was the vision or the mission we were seeking? In what other ways is that mission something we might engage? In what other ways is this vision one that we might pursue? Who is this meant to serve? Does this ministry or event align with the needs of our community?

Curiosity can be learned; it can be developed even in cynical people who assume that they already know the way things are. I am learning to develop curiosity within my own being as I encounter cynicism in myself and in others. But I am also learning that being curious is a tool for getting “unstuck”. Curiosity opens the door to wonder, to more questions, to greater possibilities. Curiosity is a core value of the work of Churches Learning Change. As we wonder together, as we learn together, we are joining with a creative God in imagining a future for ourselves and for the church.
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