Bryan,
Leadership is so different from church to church. It does start with leadership, but to what degree will depend on the type of structure. More singular led CEO type models will basically be left to one person to change the vibe of an entire church.

Contrast that with more of a plurality of elders or pastors which puts the (primary) weight on a small group. And some churches who really avoid the clergy/laity distinction will be in a different scenario for changes.

All this in the context of a church trying to transition from a focus on A, B, and C to a focus on C, D, and E.
A = attractional Christendom
E = missional post-Christendom.

Two critical things I would note about leadership being…well leaders.

1. They have to live what they preach.
If they talk about reaching out to the poor, or befriending political enemies, or whatever, and they are not down there on the corner around the homeless, than nothing will change. Or at least very little, save a remnant of attenders who have a heart for those things anyway. (The topic was missional LIVING…not missional Christian for a week when you travel to another country each year…lol)

2. The leader has to multiply him or herself.
This has something to do with the CEO model drastically differing from the others. It also has to do with huge trust and humility issues. Equipping others with your gifts is crucial, but with any kind of ego this won’t happen. If it’s just a single person (CEO) trying to make a sea change it will be nearly impossible. I’d say it is impossible, but God has the ability to do things man can’t.

All that said, if we know anything about generational paradigm shifts, or even every few hundred year shifts (science i.e. Kuhn), then sometimes leadership doesn’t matter.

At least it often won’t matter for leadership from the dominant paradigm shift. Because leadership from the grass roots minority paradigm is always initially viewed with hostility, labeled, and minimized by the group with hegemony, and then the sea change inevitably takes place, and many from the previous dominant paradigm/movement are unable or unwilling to move on, change beliefs, etc etc.

Another tangent.

This was about pre-existing churches that have the tall task of switching from their Christendom attractional/institutional model towards the more missional mindsets.

I’m sure none of this is news to you, but that’s what I was referring to.

Cheers.

I saw one episode where the restaurant employed some “troubled youth” as cooks. Ramsey gave these guys some voice and allowed them to create some of the dishes to try to inspire them and enrich the menu.

Flattening the pyramid leadership of the restaurant enriched the cuisine and cultivated a sense of usefulness and creativity in the staff that otherwise felt like just another nearly-useless cog.

What do you mean when you say it starts with leadership?