Nothing Has to Be Permanent

For years, Central youth have met at 5pm in the youth suite for Table Talk — a time for middle and high schoolers to share dinner, conversation, Bible study, art, games, and other formational activities. For most of our youth, this meeting time works well, as other evenings during the week are frequently filled with after-school practice, work, studying, and extra-curriculars.

This semester, however, has been busier than most, and we found that even our Sunday evenings were at times difficult to set aside. After some discussion, our youth and their families decided to try something new: meeting after worship on Sunday morning instead of at 5pm.

For four weeks in April, the youth stayed after Sunday morning worship for Table Talk. We did most of the same things we normally do — just at a different time.

It didn't work.

After trying the new schedule, we discovered that more students actually had conflicts with the new time, and those who were able to attend felt less energized than usual, since much of their attention and energy had already been spent by Sunday morning activities. So during our last week of afternoon Table Talk, we made the decision to return to 5pm.

Does that mean it was wrong to change in the first place? Not at all. We didn't know what would work until we tried it — and only after trying it did we realize our original time was the better fit.

This small experiment got me thinking about our larger congregation, particularly our hesitancy around change. I think we often feel threatened by proposed changes because we're not sure they'll actually work — and that's a valid concern. New initiatives don't always outperform previous ones.

But here's what I've been reminding myself lately: nothing has to be permanent.

If we try something new and find it isn't working, we can return to the way things were — just as the youth did — or we can adapt and try something even newer. The only way to know how something will turn out is to try it.

With that in mind, I want to invite you to Central Conversations, next Wednesday, May 20. During our time together, we'll hear from the Rightsizing Workgroup about their proposed plan for a leadership and governance restructure. I've been intentional about calling it a proposed plan, because the same principle applies: if we find that the proposed changes aren't meeting the needs we hoped to address, we will reevaluate.

But if we are honest, our current structure isn’t giving us the tools we need to fully live into our calling. That’s not a criticism of the past, but a recognition that what worked in one season may not automatically be the right fit for this one. Our goal isn't to create a new structure for its own sake. The goal is to help our church more effectively, efficiently, and energetically live into our calling. These proposed structural changes are simply the tools by which we hope to make that possible.