Beta Church

For nearly a decade the unofficial motto of the Facebook development team was "move fast and break things".¹ This motto emphasized the importance of innovation within the development team. In the early years it was common for whole segments of the site to suddenly change, causing widespread complaining and ultimately a better experience. For over five years Gmail was labeled as beta software — i.e. not finished and still in testing — in spite of the fact that millions of people were relying on it for their email communications.,² This freed up Google to continue testing and changing it without need for explanation when things broke unexpectedly.

There is a story, which is probably apocryphal, that says the seventeenth century church reformers would never call the church reformed, but would rather refer to it as the reforming church. The idea being that the church is always in a state of growth, innovation, and change. I have never seen evidence that the story is actually true, but I like the sentiment. Essentially it is saying that the church is always in a beta phase.

As much as I like the idea that the church is always testing and changing, so much of at least the western church feels like it is stuck and not innovating at all. Even things like the community church and emerging church movements were glazed over versions of old models. There seems to be a decades old model that says success as a church is large numbers plus a recognizable pastor. How is it that the church, who was at the forefront of science and art in the middle ages, is stuck in patterns that do not allow it to enter the twenty-first century?

According to Hill, Travaglini, Brandeau, and Stecker the keys to innovative leadership are co-working, providing a place where people want to belong that allows people to co-work successfully, and leading from behind.³ They surmise that what makes an organization innovative is not the leadership of a visionary but rather individuals working together to innovate. Leaders provide an environment that is welcoming of the individual's talents and encouraging of them to work with the team.

The foundation of innovative leadership is an environment that makes people want to be part of it and to grow it into something even better.⁴ By providing this sort of environment it allows for people to work with each other and provides a safe space for disagreement.⁵ It is in disagreement that true innovation is cultivated. When both sides feel safe to explore their opinions without it devolving into competitiveness then true innovation can happen. This sort of environment happens not because of a visionary leader, but because the leader guides it into existence. Much like a shepherd who leads from behind, the leader of innovative organizations guides from behind.⁶

It is interesting that they use the example of a shepherd, since that is one of the most common metaphors for a pastor. It seems that we have lost the sense that a pastor's role is not to be the general leading troops into battle, but rather the person that helps to guide the flock as they explore the limits of the faith.

For some time at Google they had what was known as 20% time. The essence of it was that employees could use 20% of their work time to work on anything they wanted. There was no constraint on the project being of use to the company. Some people worked on programming projects, others knit, and still others did research projects. The idea was that if people were allowed to explore their passions innovation would naturally grow out of it. Both Gmail and Google Maps are the result of employees using their 20% time to build a better email or maps system.⁷

It would be great if churches would implement a 20% time project. By empowering the laity of the church to pursue their passions within the church it is possible we could see the church start to grow in new and innovative ways. The only way that will happen is if pastors are willing to help cultivate those passions and hold on with a loose grip.

Perhaps if sometimes the church moved fast and broke things, it would not so easily be seen as out of date.