Pivot from Fixing to Listening

We see the problems, and we search for solutions. Better programs. Improved marketing. Contemporary worship. Small group strategies. Leadership techniques. Anything that might reverse the trend and get people back in the door. We operate under a simple (and flawed) equation: If we can just find the right formula, we can solve our problems.
But what if the problem is that we're trying to fix things at all?

We live in a culture obsessed with optimization, efficiency, and measurable outcomes. We've been taught that good leaders are problem-solvers, that effective churches are growing churches, that faithful ministry produces quantifiable results. The pressure is enormous: Do more. Be better. Show results. And in that grab for control, we miss what God is actually doing. We turn people into projects.

Why? Because the decline isn't fundamentally a technical problem requiring a technical solution. It's a spiritual crisis requiring a spiritual pivot. Maybe we've turned the living encounter with God into a numbers game, something we can control and measure. But, as Dr. Andrew Root insists, "To turn to consolation as the shape of evangelism is to let go of seeking for control and instead to embrace encounter."

The six articles and additional resources that follow explore Pivot 1 from different angles. This pivot in posture won't produce immediate, measurable results. It won't give you a five-step plan or a guaranteed strategy for growth. But it will do something far more important: It will help you participate in what God is actually doing, rather than exhausting yourself trying to make something happen that was never yours to control in the first place.