The ministry turntable imbalance

Large ships take a long time to turn.
Usually, so do churches.

For ministries are heading in one of three directions...
Up.
Down.
Stagnant.

Obviously, every person in ministry wants their church to be heading in an upward direction, but that's not always the way it pans out.

So, how long does it take for a ministry to take a turn?

It depends... It can go south quickly...
As in one month.

If you get the essentials wrong for one unfortunate month, things can turn sour.
If you take your eye off the core elements of a sense of God's presence, worship, applicable biblical teaching, pastoral support and evangelism, then things can take a downward surge quickly.

But the upswing is usually more of a trickle than a flood.

If the change needed is cultural or theological, then it will take the amount of time needed to slowly teach and guide those present through the required lessons.

Maybe a term to six months... At least.

If the problem is leadership, then it will take as long as needed to identify, integrate and develop appropriate leaders.

Anywhere up to a year. Probably more...

A problem emerges when we want the upswing to follow the same timeframe as the downward spiral.

A church in decay for decades, or a ministry struggling for years, can't be reheated in the microwave.

Those in ministry get frustrated when we try to turn a large ship and discover that it takes far longer than we expect...