Three Steps Forward, No Steps Back

Kerry Bural can often be found sketching concepts and ideas on napkins or notecards as he tries to refine his thoughts and share them. He claims that his best work happens in java-infused creative sessions or when he is divinely disturbed in the middle of the night.

He is the owner and principal of The Resonate Group, a brand consulting and development firm. He recently served as V.P. for Public Relations and Marketing with the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. He was the brand architect of the “I Vote Values” initiative, which was the genesis for the “values voter” movement. He has served as PR Director for Southeastern Seminary and PR Coordinator for Criswell College. He was also a visual coordinator for the corporate headquarters of Neiman Marcus in their Visual Planning & Presentation division.

His 25+ years in ministry and business have been devoted to brand architecture. He is passionate about helping organizations translate their vision and mission into communication that resonates with their constituents through visual presentation, public relations, marketing and branding.

He has a B.S. in Education concentrating on design and technology from Northeastern State University and a M.A. in Theology and History from Criswell College.

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• Obstacles make the ride interesting.
• We spend most of our days overcoming obstacles and helping people develop solutions.
• There are many things in our life or our ministry that feel like obstacles.
• Ministry is messy.
• If it’s not, you’re probably not doing anything significant.
• Everything that happens in your church is part of your church’s brand experience.
• Every decision your church makes is a brand decision.
• The need for change has never been greater and it can be felt at numerous levels.
• Change can be at multiple levels.
• More often than not, most churches are stuck and struggling as to where to go next.

Change doesn’t just magically happen.

• Change happens when someone sees the need, has a vision for what could be, and takes the initiative to drive toward it.
• There are special times in the life of a ministry when someone needs to step up and drive the change, even if they don’t feel qualified.
• If you see it, you might be the right person to drive the change.
• Change should be for transformational and redemptive purposes. (2 Cor 5:17)
• We shouldn’t change for the sake of change.

Intentional Change Framework

Refresh

• Simply refreshing what’s already there. (i.e. redesigning a website)
• Surface/external changes.
• Things that are seen and easily recognizable.
• Surface issues tend to be the things we feel the most.
• Oftentimes, the problems are much deeper.

Renovate

• Internal dynamics of your church/ministry… down to a systems level.
• It’s subsurface.

Reinvention

• Reinvention is radical.
• Reinvention is a systemic problem.
• Systemic has to do with the central nervous system… oftentimes our central nervous systems are out of whack.

Where Do You Go From Here?

• Qualifying where you are helps you map out where you need to go.
• Our goal is to do ministry in a way that resonates with the people we are trying to reach.
• It’s not our job to make the message relevant.
• Our responsibility is to ensure that we don’t mitigate the message’s relevancy.

Four Tactical Errors to Avoid

1. When you try to make systemic changes but you apply surface change tactics.
2. When you try to make surface changes but you apply systemic change tactics. (Making something small very large.)
3. Thinking you need to change everything at once.
4. Thinking you don’t need to change anything.

5 Take-Aways

1 – Cultivate a culture and an environment of change and resonance.

• Whatever we change should be authentic and organic.
• Let it flow out of who you are.
• It has to be DNA birthed and DNA driven.
• Be anchored in your core DNA.

2 – Learn when and how to lean in and lean out.

• Timing is truly everything.
• Seize opportunities when doors, windows or cracks are open.
• Value incremental change. It leads to greater opportunity.
• Learn to recognize, read and discern dynamics.

3 – Distinguish between surface, subsystem and systemic change.

• Don’t be afraid to engage in the hard work.

4 – When obstacles stand in the way, change the approach.

• What’s your perspective when see you obstacles?
• Pick a different line or get off your bike and walk.
• Push through the obstacles. Sometimes there’s no other way to do it.
• Take a different route if you need to.

5 – It’s all about leadership.

• We’re all leaders… it’s just a question of who we lead and how intentional we are about that leadership.
• Who are you influencing?
• Don’t try to influence the lead pastor… who has the lead pastor’s ear? That’s who you need to influence.

Action Steps

• Write down the name of the person you need to talk to about changes that you need to make in your ministry.
• Write out 3 areas of change you need to talk about.
• Make the call now and set up a time to meet.

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