Charles Hambrick-Stowe: Leadership, Anniversaries, and Corporate Identity

“Questioning a company’s identity, whether or not it results in change, is something that every organization should do.” So argues Mary Tripsas of Harvard Business School in the “New York Times.”

Leaders are responsible for helping others think critically and prayerfully about the meaning and purpose of their organization. This is a never-ending task because internal and external challenges are constantly changing. What is our essential nature? How do we understand our work? How do we want others to think of us?

Mary Tripsas, in the article sited above, cites changes like Apple’s dropping of the word “computer” from its name as examples of “identity transformation” that “symbolize fundamental shifts in how these companies see themselves and how others perceive them.” While risky, she argues, “if done well . . . identity transformation can create a strong foundation for shaping an organization’s future.”

This admonition should be heeded by churches as well as by corporations and non-profits. Church people can be especially resistant to adaptation in response to circumstances and opportunities. As a historian and veteran pastor, I am not advocating anything like institutional amnesia or abandonment of tradition in favor of constant innovation. Tripsas herself states that “the key to successful transition can be creating a sense of continuity, despite a change in identity.” Identity transformation in the church, done faithfully, actually becomes an exercise in identity recovery – learning again who we essentially are as God’s people.

The Congregational church I serve in Connecticut is preparing for its tercentenary. The sign out front proudly states, “Gathered in 1712.” As pastor, it’s my job to help us make the most of this unique opportunity. The church has been asking itself identity-related questions for some time now because of difficulties related to the departures of the previous senior and associate ministers and an interim period more protracted than anyone would have wished. But, thanks to God’s grace and committed lay leadership, upon arrival just over a year ago I found this to be a church with many strengths and great potential.

The church’s identity, not surprisingly, has lacked focus in recent years. As the town’s “First Church” it has always maintained a traditional mainline ethos, but a glory period from the late-1980s to the mid-1990s had an evangelical spirit that endured despite controversy. Without a common vision, however, its image in the community slipped dangerously close to simply “the stone church by the fountain.”

The slogan for the 275th anniversary typified the church’s establishmentarian heritage: “A Proud Past, A Dedicated Future: 1712-1987.” While that was deemed appropriate back then, the anniversary committee was thinking differently this time. They wanted specific Christian content, something less, say, like a local bank. Everyone agreed that we needed a compellingly honest tag line that would honor the past and express who we are and who we aspire to become as the Church of Jesus Christ. After many inconclusive discussions, we found our answer:

This theme for the 300th anniversary emerged from something I said in a sermon – a phrase jotted down by the chair of the anniversary committee during worship and shaped by group discussion into final form. It roots the church historically, is gospel-centered and mission oriented, and looks to the future.

Once the theme was adopted, I wrote words for an anniversary song, for which the church’s music director is composing music.

Standing on great tradition,
  they hungered for God’s Word.
  Sharing a dream and vision,
  the gospel would be heard.
   
  Daring to be Christ’s mission,
  they trusted in his grace,
  gathered a congregation
  to serve him in this place.
  
  Making the Good News happen –
  seventeen-twelve and on.
  Making the Good News happen –
  two thousand-twelve and on. 

The second verse is the same except the church will sing that “we hunger for God’s word” and “the gospel will be heard” and “we trust now in his grace” and we now “gather a congregation to serve him in this place.”

I am using the occasion of the anniversary to help members clarify in theological, biblical, and spiritual terms our self-understanding and the way we present ourselves as the church to others. This is a process of identity transformation and identity recovery. The three dots at the end are important, as the church identifies itself with God’s ongoing mission in the world: Making the Good News Happen: 1712-2012 . . .

Charles Hambrick-Stowe is pastor of the First Congregational Church, Ridgefield, Connecticut. He was formerly an academic dean at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Illinois.