Embracing Failure: How To Lead Through Doubt

Planting a new church is an act of faith and hopefulness that cannot happen without the belief in the possibility of something different and new. Faithful innovators commit their time and talent towards building communities of faith that widen the plausibility structures of our ecclesiology and demonstrate a credible witness to a skeptical world. 

And yet, for all of the hopeful potential that a new church brings, faithful and talented church-planters are still plagued by this nagging doubt: What if my church plant fails? 

This nagging doubt isn’t just about failure. Instead, it invites us to ask ourselves a series of deeper questions that can help identify where the doubt stems from: 

• How does one define success or failure in starting a new church? 
• Who defines the metrics for success or failure? 
• What does this say about the leader? 
• What does it say about God’s calling? 

Faithful innovation is inherently risky. Yes, we are called to give our best in terms of strategy, effort, and planning. Ultimately, though, the results are up to God. Jesus’ Church will persist (and the gates of hell will not prevail against it) — but your individual church has a natural life cycle. It will start, grow and, eventually, close. On some level, your church plant will “fail” over and over again. Your initial vision, no matter how beautifully or thoughtfully composed, will certainly not happen exactly as you dream. 

Embracing Failure 

So what do we do with failure? Well, Dr. Tamisha Tyler teaches us to embrace failure as a natural part of leadership. Change is inevitable. The question is not will we change, but how will we navigate change, especially unexpected challenges? What do leaders do when it feels like everything is aligned for success, but things do not work out the way we hope? 

Church planters have to learn to embrace failure — otherwise, we’ll never be able to embrace risk. So how can we process the toll this takes on us as leaders, with honesty and authenticity, and still move forward in the risky endeavor of faithful innovation? 

Navigating Risk and Change

Even if you’re not naturally wired to navigate risk smoothly, there are steps all faithful innovators can take to grow through it.

1. Normalize failure. Talk with other pastors about challenges you’re facing, before your failure turns into shame. Shame isolates, but when we connect with other pastors and church planters, we find that we’re not alone and that unexpected outcomes are a regular part of faithful innovation. You didn’t “fail” just because things didn’t work out exactly the way you planned.
2. Refine your adaptation cycles. You will have to adapt, no matter how well you’ve planned or strategized. Develop a nimble posture by regularly identifying challenges and risks, developing potential responses to them, and implementing those responses. Finally, monitor those adaptations and be ready to reassess and change again as you learn. 
3. Let go of your initial vision (or parts of it). There’s nothing heroic or faithful about relentlessly clinging to a vision when it’s clear that something needs to change. It’s not easy to strike this balance, but try to find ways to believe confidently in the vision you want to pursue, while holding it loosely at the same time. 
4. Welcome change and new gifts from new leaders. Even the best church planters need a real team: not just people who execute your plans, but load-bearing leaders who bring their own vision, talents, and commitment to the dream of a new church. Letting go of control can be hard, but you’ll definitely be better for it. 
5. Strengthen your leadership culture and trust within the team. Your team needs to know that they have real input in the direction of your church plant. Otherwise, why should they commit themselves to this risky venture? Invest not only in programming or vision-casting, but in the actual human beings who lead your new worshiping community. Develop a culture of humility, transparency, and mutuality. What are the practices and spaces that invite your team into the dream? 

Reflecting on Adaptation

In scientific research, failure is not only expected but embraced. People have built entire careers around it! However, in the church world, “failure” is often seen as totally forbidden. The sad irony of this approach is that we reinforce and reward the status quo — let’s not take any risks (for fear of failure) but, instead, keep doing what we’ve always done. And if there’s one thing we know, it’s that what we’ve always done just doesn’t work. 

Tying your self-worth into your success limits your ability to envision a hopeful future for your church. Embracing failure is how we learn lessons and, inevitably, how we grow. As you think about how to separate falling short of your goals from your worth as a leader or human being, I want to encourage you to reflect on the following questions: 

• What has been most challenging about navigating change, risk, or failure?
• What are the biggest changes you’ve faced in leadership in the past, and how did you handle them?
• Consider positive examples of leaders or leadership teams leading through change. What did they do right? How did they normalize failure to welcome change?