2009
Suzannah Lynn Rohman
Rearranging the Chairs on the Deck of the Titanic: An Examination of the Adaptive Change Facing Four Congregations in Arlington, Virginia
It is my belief that the majority of the mainline Protestant churches in this country are facing adaptive challenges (challenges for which there is not yet a known solution, and/or for which the solution will require significant change). It is also my contention that most of these same churches continue to try to solve these challenges with answers that no longer fit the situation (technical solutions). Through a survey conducted in four Episcopal congregations in Arlington, Virginia, which are declining in both membership and finances, this thesis examines that belief. In all four congregations a majority of the respondents understood the major challenges facing their parishes but were greatly divided about how these problems should be faced. In addition, the respondents expressed a lack of understanding about the necessity of their participation in any changes that might have to happen for each of these parishes to turn around its decline. It was a commonly held view that simply finding the right clergy and/or staff would solve the problems they face. This thesis illustrates the need to help congregations understand that the challenges they face require answers that have not yet been discovered (adaptive) rather than answers that worked in the past but may no longer be applicable (technical) and that no leaders will save them, but instead they should seek to find leadership who will help them face their challenges and work with them as they together make the changes necessary to turn around their congregations.