“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

This quotation, which has been attributed to everyone from Benjamin Franklin to Albert Einstein, should be plastered above your desk and recited at the start of every meeting. Yet if you’re like us, it’s an axiom that you forget regularly.

In the midst of the last six years of research dedicated to building long-term faith in kids, or what we call Sticky Faith (see StickyFaith.org), we have interacted with hundreds of youth leaders and churches. Our deepest dives have revolved around our Sticky Faith Cohorts, a yearlong process of learning and transformation we have led with 28 churches from around the country.

As we share our research, leaders quickly grasp what needs to change. Then comes the bigger question: How do we bring about these changes—in our youth ministry and in our church?

Note the final eight words of the last paragraph: in our youth ministry and in our church.

The reality is that many—probably most—of the challenges you face aren’t unique to your ministry. They echo—and often stem from—problems that pervade your entire church.

Let’s be honest: The average congregation isn’t usually looking to the youth worker to be its trail guide. Sure, we youth leaders are fun to have along, and we are great at keeping people smiling and laughing during the hike, but we’re not usually the ones out front, blazing the path.

Thanks in large part to the expertise of Dr. Scott Cormode, the Hugh De Pree Professor of Leadership Development at Fuller Seminary, we have been able to wrestle with the question: “How do I help my whole church engage to make sticky changes?” and actually pin down some answers.

The Power of Story
The most important guiding principle—the true north of what we have learned from our Sticky Faith Cohorts and other churches—is the power of story. In fact, under Scott’s coaching, we learned vision cannot be separated from story, because Scott defines vision as a “shared story of future hope.”

As powerful as research is, stories are more powerful. Stories are more memorable, more personal and more transformative.

As your church is thinking through its own desired changes, try asking two fundamental questions:
1. What stories of real life people in your ministry or church already capture your hopes for your future?
2. If you could imagine stories that capture how you hope God continues to work, what would they be?

Stories of God at Work Today
The first of these two questions invites you to consider how the changes you envision are a natural outgrowth of what God is already doing in your midst. One of our Sticky Faith Cohort churches answered question No. 1 by talking about Kelly and Linda.

Kelly started at the church as an eighth grader, primarily through connecting with the middle school ministry. As a ninth grader, Kelly connected Linda, an adult who shared her passion for raising funds for missions. This bond continued to grow when Linda followed Kelly’s lead as she rallied her peers and adults to fundraise for a low-income school in a nearby inner city.

During Kelly’s sophomore year, she went through confirmation and became a member of the church. During that season, Linda served as her adult mentor. Recognizing Kelly’s ongoing interest in fundraising to make a difference, they began conversations that resulted in Kelly joining the church’s stewardship team. For this church that already wants to head toward intergenerational ministry, Kelly and Linda are a narrative snapshot of its dreams for the future.

Your Stories of Hope for the Future
If the first question allows you to pinpoint how God is already working, Scott’s second question allows you to dream prayerfully about the future God has for your ministry. When asked to share a story that described where it wanted to be in two years, one church in the Midwest spoke of its desire to give young people the space to ask hard questions and wrestle with doubts.

In her sophomore year of college, Koly knew it was time to choose a major. In light of the good and bad advice from parents, friends and her small group leader, Koly made this choice based on the identity she discovered during the past two years. She saw this as a new opportunity to ask, “Who am I?” and to discover more by asking, “Who is God?” She chose engineering because she saw God as a Creator in whose image she was made and wanted to use her creativity to design a new type of cement that resists potholes in the harsh Michigan winters.

Upon hearing this story, this entire congregation now can picture Koly and the importance of stretching her with hard questions before she graduated from high school. Folks who live in a snowy climate can celebrate her soon-to-be-invented pothole-proof cement!

The Power of Shared Stories
Once you have identified stories, share them. Often. Broadly. Because the power of the story lies not in the story itself, but in the story as it is shared.
The next time you have an opportunity to share about your short-term mission trip with your entire church, make sure you share stories that capture the dreams you have for your church. When you’re meeting with parents who are new to the church, instead of talking about the fun of the annual amusement park weekend, paint a picture of the way this weekend helped adult leaders and kids have a shared experience that will help them feel more connected in future small group discussions.

As the youth leaders who have journeyed with us have discovered, you have more power than you think to bring about change through the stories you tell.

That’s important enough to say again: You have more power than you think to bring about change through the stories you tell.

Build a Team
As is probably apparent to you already, changing your church is a job that is…well…bigger than you can accomplish on your own. So you need a team—a team of strategically invited people who either are already on board the train to the future or who you feel you should get on board before the train leaves the station.

Odds are good this team will include the pastor or volunteer leader who works most closely with the children in your church. We are increasingly convinced families and kids often have been shaped profoundly by the children’s ministry before they walk into our youth ministries. We inherit the good, bad and the ugly of our children’s ministry and the imprint it leaves on kids and families.

Your change team also might include your worship leader, adult Sunday School coordinator, missions chair, senior pastor and maybe a few key students. You’ll probably want to invite parents into the mix, as well as some of your most committed adult volunteers.

You might be the quarterback, but even the best quarterback needs a team. Otherwise you never will reach the end zone.

Helping Your Team Maintain Disciplined Attention
While building a team might seem difficult, your greatest challenge comes after you have your team all set: What do you do with it?

Our 28 churches made the most progress toward Sticky Faith when they were able to do what Harvard’s Ronald Heifetz describes as “maintaining disciplined attention.” Often that meant eliminating any program or energy-suck that didn’t nudge them toward their goals.

Most of the churches sought to maintain disciplined attention by holding monthly or semi-monthly team meetings in order to
1. Pray.
2. Tell new stories—stories that could be shared—that reflected their vision.
3. Report on work done since the previous meeting.
4. Assign tasks with deadlines to specific individuals, who were expected to report at the next team meeting.
5. Evaluate the momentum and pace of the change. When it was too fast and furious, they would turn down the heat. When it was too slow and safe, they turned it up a notch.

Josh Kerkhoff, the Next Generation Pastor at Solana Beach Presbyterian Church and a member of our first Sticky Faith Cohort, found their meetings were helpful because “we have shared personal and ministry stories and have taken a step back from our day-to-day responsibilities to look at the big picture of our church and what impact our church has on kids, students and their families. We initially didn’t know what would come of our regular meetings, but have found that our bi-monthly meetings have been vital to our relationships, our vision and a shared future direction that God is moving us toward.”

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
If we’ve sent out an email announcing a change, we tend to assume every kid, parent and leader has read it, understands it and remembers it. We end up surprised when we make the change we announced in the email, and two-thirds of the folks most affected by the change are shocked that anything new is happening.

Given how busy kids, parents and leaders are today, it’s almost impossible to over-communicate with them. Whether it’s a weekly email blast, regular parent meetings or specially trained carrier pigeons, add up whatever communication you think needs to happen about the changes you will be making. Now double it. At this point, you have a better estimate of the communication you need for successful change.

Experiment Around the Margins
While some churches may develop strong change momentum quickly and can charge ahead, most churches need to take more time. Your ultimate goal is systemic change, but odds are good that you need to take the first three to six months to experiment around the margins with your changes.  In other words, try piloting your new ideas with one particular small group, one grade of kids or one handful of families. When things go well, identify those signs of hope, and nurture them so they grow bigger. Capture those stories and practice telling them to different audiences.

Be Patient—Good Things Take Time
Earlier we asked you to add up how much communication you think will be needed to explain your desired changes and double the amount for more effective dissemination.

You need to do the same with the amount of time you think it will take.

Bit by bit, story by story, kid by kid, prayer by prayer, God will bring about new changes. Pretty soon they will stick as your new normal.

Kara Powell, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute (see FullerYouthInstitute.org) and a faculty member at Fuller Seminary. As a youth ministry veteran of more than 20 years, she speaks regularly at youth ministry conferences and has authored a number of books, including Sticky Faith (see StickyFaith.org).

Brad M. Griffin is the Associate Director of the Fuller Youth Institute, where he gets to develop research-based training for youth workers. After more than 15 years in youth ministry, he now volunteers in student and worship ministries and is the co-author of Sticky Faith (see StickyFaith.org).