Editor’s note: Auxano is the church consulting team at Lifeway Christian Resources.
If you’re pastoring a mid-sized church, you’ve likely felt that slow undercurrent of change that’s harder to name than it is to feel.
Attendance rhythms are inconsistent. Giving feels flat. Core families seem busier and less present. And that new ministry idea you were excited about? It didn’t catch like you hoped.
You’re not alone. But you’re also not stuck.
We say this a lot at Auxano: “Change is inevitable. Clarity makes it transformational.”
That one sentence holds a powerful truth. The churches that are thriving right now aren’t the biggest or the trendiest. They’re the clearest.
A church size worth fighting for
A social media thread is making the rounds right now predicting the demise of mid-sized churches, claiming that with rising costs and thinning margins, these congregations can’t survive the next 10 years.
Let me offer a different narrative. Churches of other sizes have their own strengths and advantages, but those 150-500 people are uniquely positioned for growth, not just in attendance, but in disciple-making impact. You’re small enough to be personal yet large enough to be strategic. The key? Vision clarity.
With vision clarity, you can confidently call your people to biblical generosity, not for sustaining programs and supporting pastors but for fueling the mission. You can cast a vision of spiritual movement instead of institutional maintenance. And when that happens, generosity follows, not out of obligation but out of conviction.
The biggest challenge to many churches is not their congregational attendance but their change resistance. In reality, thriving in this season isn’t about the size of your church.
Change isn’t the threat – loss is
Most pastors think their people fear change. But they don’t. What people fear is the loss that change inevitably brings. It may be the loss of control, a long-loved ministry, or a sense of comfort, predictability or familiarity. And grief always follows loss.
That grief often looks and feels like resistance. But it’s not rebellion; it’s pain. And as pastors, we must lead through that loss-born grief with compassion, resisting the urge to just cast the vision and move on.
Leaders must name the loss, honor the past and gently turn people’s eyes toward the future. When you do, you create space for healing – and movement.
Clarity gives change a framework
Clarity of vision doesn’t make change easy, but it makes it possible. That’s where the vision frame comes in. It’s a simple but powerful tool that answers five essential questions every church must wrestle with:
- Mission: What are we ultimately called to do? Mission aligns change with your disciple making call.
- Values: What convictions shape how we behave? Values anchor the church in what doesn’t change.
- Strategy: How will we make and then multiply disciples? Strategy allows change to be intentional, not reactionary.
- Outcomes: What measures of the mission define success? Outcomes attach thesuccess of change to disciple making over attending.
- Vision: Where is God leading us next? Vision aims change toward God’s better future.
Without these guiding questions, change becomes reactive and random. With them, change becomes intentional and formational.
One pastor’s change story
Pastor John Hansen stepped into a declining church in Murrieta, California, where 50 people sat in pews that once held 500. That church had a name, Lamb’s Fellowship, that carried history and warmth but also a growing sense of irrelevance in the fast-growing suburban community around them.
Pastor John was 29, new to the lead pastor role, and keenly aware that everything needed to change. But he didn’t charge forward with good ideas. He paused. He prayed. And he invited outside guidance into the process.
Through Auxano’s vision clarity process, John and a group of leaders articulated a mission that would become the heart of their church: “We love and lead people to a life-changing connection with Christ.”
That single sentence changed everything. Not just because it was sticky, but because it was shared. The language was born from collaborative conversations, spiritual conviction, and hard work around a whiteboard.
Nearly two decades later, that same vision clarity still guides the now-vibrant (and renamed) Centerpoint Church. It informed four successful building campaigns. It empowered a shift from internal focus to community impact. You can hear Pastor John’s entire story here.
Change flows through people
One of the most practical leadership tools Auxano shares with pastors is the concentric circles of change – a simple way to think about how change moves through your church through the overlapping “circles” of leaders at every level. Those circles (from smallest to largest) are:
- Core eldership – Do we have a shared language for where we’re headed?
- Key leadership – Can our volunteers explain what’s changing and why it matters?
- Committed membership – Are we telling a consistent story about the future of our church?
- General fellowship – Are we creating a culture that welcomes people into the “why” behind what they see?
Many pastors skip straight from an elders meeting decision to a Sunday pulpit sermon, never engaging those middle layers. But your vision is already stalled if your group leader can’t explain the change to their group with passion and understanding. Clarity must cascade.
Don’t just manage change – lead it with clarity
If you’re in a season where change feels overdue, or already underway, don’t wait for perfect conditions or more staff. Resist the urge to believe the lies of size. You don’t need more resources to lead change with vision. You need more clarity.
You’re likely already leading through change, whether you feel ready or not. But with the right tools, language, and focus, it is possible to move from drifting to discipling.
This article originally appeared at research.lifeway.com.
