I have discovered during the past few weeks that not only do most people not like change within themselves, they don't want other people or situations to change either.

Recently I decided to cut my hair. Not just a little bit but drastically. I was tired of spending ten minutes each morning combing, blow-drying, styling and spraying my curly locks. I have heard comments such as "Oh, that's different". I realize that is simply a polite way of saying, "What the heck did you do to your hair? Someone asked me if I was going through menopause? I didn't think men could do that!

Another person told me I looked like a hippie. When I told her that a hippie has long hair, she said that I must be a "Southern Hippie". I still don't know what that means.

The rest of the people just chuckle and walk away shaking their heads. I'm glad I can bring a little joy into peoples lives.

Within the ministry of evangelization, their seems to be this built in tension between maintenance and change. When Jesus told his apostles to "Go and Make Disciples", he was asking them to take their private faith and make it public.

Currently the church is somewhere between Vatican II and whatever is to come. We should be about building a church for the third millennium. The process of change in the church is complex and poses a variety of challenges to all of us.

Some changes are relatively minor involving the "fine tuning" of an already smooth-running system. Assuming your parish is smooth running. On the other hand, some changes are deep, dramatic and profound. They go to the very core of a churches sense of what it is, what it does well and what its role is.

Research indicates that the most effective organizations are those that not only can manage minor changes on a continuous basis, but are also able to initiate and implement major changes long before they encounter potentially disastrous problems.

In a previous column I had mentioned that the catholic church in many aspects is a big and large institution. It might be viewed as an ocean liner which must start turning ten miles ahead of the turning point.

I believe that we have some major organizational issues currently facing our parishes and dioceses across the country and the world. While many Catholics today are striving to face these issues head on, others choose to stay busy and turn up the volume so they don't have to think about the questions let alone offer a possible solution.

As we study church history we see that the church has never remained stagnant. It has always been in some form of transition. We have great diversity within our church and I see that as a good thing provided we talk to each other with the motivation of trying to understand one another.

In some key issues facing the church today, it seems that the battle lines have been drawn and some people have dug in refusing to listen to anyone who does not share their view of the church.

This childish behavior stifles dialogue and hinders the ability to create a "shared vision" that will give us hope for today and the power to endure the present while producing a model of church for the third millennium that will remain holy, vibrant, spirit filled, user friendly and help people connect God and church to their everyday lives.

The management of change is one of the most critical issues facing our church today. With the daily development of new technology and growing secularization, the teachings of Jesus and our Catholic faith are being challenged with an "in your face" attitude. As church we must step up to the plate and create a new springtime of Christianity.

I leave you with these words from Elijah in 1Kings 18:21. "How long will you straddle the issue?"

Glenn Harmon © 2002