Fail-a-bration!!
This Great Idea comes directly from Meghan Hatcher, Director of our partner, Innovation Lab.
There’s no link to share, so here’s Meghan insights in their totality.
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`I recently purchased a new book on the concept of failure called, “Fail-a-bration!”Yes, it’s a book written for children, but the concepts are anything but childish. In my coaching and consulting with churches, I see a common thread: Almost every faith community has a dysfunctional relationship with failure.
When I ask ministry leaders how they talk about a ministry idea when it doesn’t go as planned, they often reply with some iteration of, “we don’t.” In far too many communities, failures in ministry either aren’t talked about at all, or they’re touched on briefly before being brushed under the rug as the idea is cast aside.
One page in “Fail-a-bration!” says this:
“If you’ve ever tried to do anything, you’ve likely messed up a time or two. If you’ve ever been disappointed or discouraged, I have great news for you…YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Everyone makes mistakes. All the people you’ve ever known had messes, misses, and breaks.”
For a people who follow a God of grace, we sure aren’t very gracious with ourselves or each other when it comes to ministry failures. The Church has gotten its relationship to failure all wrong. Faith communities must embrace the reality that “messes, misses, and breaks” are a required part of ministry innovation.
In his famous prayer, 20th century theologian Thomas Merton wrote to God that, “I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.” The same is true of your attempts to try new things and take risks to engage people in ministry and share the love of Christ, whether they go the way you intend or not. Even your faithful failures please God.
Failure isn’t what stops innovation; it’s the reluctance to talk openly about what didn’t go as planned and what was learned for next time. Use these questions to reflect on your relationship to failure.
- Think about something new that you tried in your ministry in the last six months that did NOT work as you’d hoped. How did that make you and others in your faith community feel?
- How often and with whom are perceived failures talked about in your ministry context?
- What difference could it make if your faith community was more willing to talk about “failure”? How might it lead to taking more and better risks?
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Our partnership means members of The Ministry Lab are able to access many Innovation Lab resources for free and/or are able to access a local, in-person facilitator for Innovation Lab tools.
Contact ED Rev. Emily Meyer (ministrylab@unitedseminary.edu) if you’d like to talk more about exciting opportunities for creating a congregational culture in which failure is embraced, learned from, and appreciated in more healthy and sustainable ways.
