AWESOME WHAT THIS GUY HAS TO SAY... ripped off of relevant.com:

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There is a word so dirty that when you say it in church the reaction is immediate, hostile and horrified. A word that when uttered has cost many a minister his job and has been the catalyst of banishment for other believers. A word so feared that if it must be used, it is couched in euphemisms or coded language.

That dirty word is change.

We are creatures of routine, habit and comfort. Habits and routines bring security, predictability and gentle knowingness to our often shaky and unpredictable lives. And comfort—oh, my, how we love to be comfortable! Thrill me, chill me, but whatever you do, don't make me squirm!

I think it was no less than C.S. Lewis who said, "God is always comforting but never comfortable."

He got that right.

Since Christianity is a faith that demands constant reflection and then change based on that reflection, we had better not get too comfortable. And maybe a good time to practice getting used to change would be when we come together in church.

While the truth that a Christian community holds onto is changeless, the method of imparting that truth, the doorways to the heart of our societies and the cultural taboos and mores are always in flux. And to be able to communicate God's eternal truths in meaningful and relevant ways, having the ability to quickly adapt and change our means and methods is essential.

You can see the results of churches that have broken the mold and have done some serious rethinking about how they will connect with the community they live in. These are the churches that are growing! And likewise you can see the results in churches that have dug in and resisted change or have lost their biblical moorings and drifted with the rest of the culture. They are shrinking in size, increasingly irrelevant, toothless and powerless. In time all that will be left is a shell of a building that used to house a vibrant church but has been turned into some kind of a funky restaurant.

It is important to remember that virtually every denomination started off with unfettered exuberance propelled by change. Many were on the cutting edge of their day and came into being as a response to the status quo church life that was failing to engage or authentically serve vast slices of the birthing culture. But within each church the tendency to drop anchor and slow down the very vehicle that carries a "new work" to success is inherent. Over a span of time, these mobile, inventive and fresh approaches become frozen, bureaucratic and stale. The willingness to change is lost, and paralysis sets in.