Chapters 2-4 “Direct the Rider” by Rev. Ron Griffen

I met with a parishioner one time who was conflicted over her job. She had been offered another position at another company and wasn’t sure what to do. After listening to her for a while it became clear that her conflict was over two very good choices, and because she didn’t want to “give up” either choice was willing to overwhelm herself with a seemingly endless gathering and deciphering of data about both jobs. Paralysis by analysis is what some call it.

My experience with Riders (either as a Rider myself, or working with the Riders in my congregation) is of two general kinds. The first is like the woman conflicted over choosing between two good job offers. The other is equally frustrating—making a Rider decision to move in a particular direction and not really being able to motivate the Elephant. But this second one is for later conversation.

When it comes to dealing with the Riders in our lives, the most helpful language in Switch for me has been that of finding and following the bright spots, and giving clear directions to the Rider both for beginnings and endings.

Here at 1^st UMC, El Centro we set a goal of creating a much needed community center in our immediate neighborhood. Once we moved from talking about the problem and started working on a solution, and once we were able to recognize the wonderful asset we had in our fellowship hall, we were able to “see” the destination (“We’re going to use our fellowship hall to create a community center) and provide day-to-day suggestions for behavior (We’ll begin with every Wednesday being a family night offering dinner and program for adults, youth and children) we were able to navigate through the switch. Now we are partners with the Boys and Girls Club, are preparing for the creation of a community garden involving the neighborhood residents and offering outreach ministries such as an Autism support group.

Oh, and when I pointed out what for me was the obvious to my job conflicted parishioner, that she had two good choices and just needed to pick one, she was able to make her choice. 

Chapter One

I make New Years resolutions. But, I struggle to keep them. Getting up at 5am to walk sounds great the night before, but never at 5am. So, I do what many of us do, I lower my expectations, I get up later, or at least, not as often. Recently, I have found much more success with my personal goals. And, I think it is because I am doing a better job at "motivating the elephant." This time I have planning/direction and emotion going for me.

Do you believe big changes can happen? Can they happen in our lives? Can they happen in our churches?

We are by our nature a people of hope, of new life. We believe that God continues to work in our world and in our churches. But too often we fumble in bringing about change. As we study this book, I invite you to go to the Switch book website to download both the simple chart and the workbook. I also invite you to prayerfully come up with one situation in which you feel God is calling you to be instrumental in bring about change. Write this situation down and pray daily for guidance as you seek to apply what you are learning to where God is calling you. If you'd like us to pray with you, post it!

Link: http://heathbrothers.com/
Go to site and click 'resources' then, look for Switch resources.

Introduction to Book Study- SWITCH

Change.  Does anybody like it?  Or maybe more to the point, does any local church like it?

Why is it that change can be so hard sometimes?

I think about this in the context of my local church.  Santa Margarita UMC is a newer church (20+) that is located in a young, mobile community.  This enables change to often happen quickly and easily.  But this isn’t the complete story, for several longstanding areas of the church haven’t changed no matter what we have tried!  How frustrating this can be!

What I found in “Switch” is help in understanding both how one person with limited resources can help bring about change as well as why change often doesn’t happen. 

Some of my growing understanding comes from the simple terms they use to talk about change.  For instance,

“The Path” – this is the environment that can support change or not

“The Elephant” – this is the emotional part of us that does or does not do the change we seek.

“The Rider” – this is the head/logical/planner side of us, that needs to come up with the plan.

It was also helpful to hear that “what looks like a people problem is often a situation problem,” “what looks like laziness is often exhaustion,” “what looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity.”

Here we are at the start of another new year.  The world has change drastically over the last 10 years and this has had a huge impact of our ability as a local church to reach our communities. How might we change in this new year and how are we going to bring about change?

Know that successful changes share common patterns and this is what "Switch" will enable you to think through.  

This week, take a look at chapter 1, “Three Surprises About Change” and join us next Monday as we begin our study of "Switch."

Rev. Nicole Reilley

smumc.com

Read Schedule:

January 17: Blogspot article posted on reflection on Chapter 1. (Author: Craig Brown, pastor at Shepherd of the Hills UMC - sothumc.org)  We are to read chapters 2-4 ,

January 24: Blogspot article posted on reflection of chapters 2-4.  (Author: Ron Griffen, pastor at El Centro UMC, www.elcentroumc.org/) We are to read 5-7. 

January 31: Blogspot article posted on reflection of chapters  5-7.  We are to read 8-10

February 7: Blogspot article posted on reflection of chapters 8-10.  We are to read chapter 11 plus, How to Make a Switch, Overcoming Obstacles.

February 14, Blogspot article posted on reflection of chapter 11, How to Make A Switch and Overcoming Obstacles.

Study formally ends February 28, 2011