Motion Sickness

My church is considering a renovation of the sanctuary.  It wouldn't mean huge changes, but would alter the altar area.  (grinning).  We were talking about it last night at a meeting of the Ministry Leadership Council, wondering about timeline 

Could it be finished by Easter?  Do we wait until after Easter to start.  The consensus was that starting in time to be finished by Easter might be rushing the congregation into something without giving them time to adjust.

This morning, in my email, was a message from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership.  There was a one-line tag about motion sickness, and the author's opinion that it is something churches can suffer from.  Disclaimer -- I didn't read the article, but the concept intrigued me. 

Was that what we were talking about last night?  Motion sickness?  Move a church too fast through a change and watch the members battle motion sickness?

Two thoughts come to mind.  The first is that we need to be aware of the possibility, and sensitive to it, when we begin to lead a church through a change.  What can help with the motion sickness, especially when the goal is not to stop the boat and leave it docked?

What can we do when we ourselves suffer from motion sickness?  An image of Peter walking on the water came to mind, coupled with the disciples waking Jesus during a storm when they were in a boat.  Would it help with our motion sickness if we remember who walks on water?  Who calms the storms? In whom we place our faith?

Maybe one of the ways we can keep Christ in Christmas is to remember who our Lord is when the storms toss us about.