Innovators, Renovators, Maintainers and Destroyers (Part II)

A few months back I blogged about the four types of people you will meet in the church. I started off by discussing innovators. This post will be about renovators and the strengths and weaknesses of this group of people...

Renovators are...
Renovators are those that can step into a ministry, analyze its problems and give it a facelift. These normally are not the guys who are going to storm the gates with brand new, never-been-done, ideas. These are the guys who are going to say, "Why don't we retool this problem and try a different tactic." They will see the glaring holes and be able to work around them or create ministry solutions that fix the problem entirely. Very seldom will you hear these guys say, "Let's scrap the whole thing." Most of the time they will say, "Ok, we can use this and make it better."

Strengths
The strength of the renovator lies in his God-given ability to fix problems as they come up. He also can work within a given structure pretty well. Renovators are pretty flexible and can keep a ministry going, even when it looks like the ministry is doomed. They tend to breathe fresh life into each program and implement changes quite well. Most of the time they are administratively gifted. They can also help out your church budget because they are not the ones saying, "Let's scrap the whole thing!" Rather, they are the ones that say let's work with what we've got.

Your ministry needs a bunch of renovators. They can balance innovators by reminding them that they do not need a new ministry every time you turn around. Sometimes, all you really need is a different perspective. Renovators can also work well in groups or by themselves. If you put a bunch of renovators in a room together, that particular ministry could really end up looking great by the end of the day because each renovator will bring his or her own unique "tweak."

Weaknesses
Renovators can stall your ministries if you are not careful. Sometimes you simply need to innovate. Renovators can say, "Wait a minute...let's see if we can tweak it some more." When that happens, a ministry past its prime may be simply on a respirator. Constantly ask renovators if all of this renovation is simply beating a dead horse.

Renovators can also become too focused on ascetics. If the ministry looks good, then sometimes renovators mistakenly consider that renovation. All that really is, however, is putting lipstick on a pig. At the end of the day, now matter how "gussied up" that hog is, it is still a hog.

Renovators can become too flexible. They can indiscriminately introduce bad curriculum seamlessly into the church. Since they are flexible, almost any idea can be pumped into the existing structure. Make sure your renovators stay within the theological vision of the church.

Renovators are not the most creative guys. They can be technical and analytical but often lack true vision. Often these guys adopt others visions without really wrestling with their own creativity. Constantly push them to think outside the box of existing structures.