I once was on staff at a large church, not too far from where I serve now. One afternoon, I walked upstairs in our education building. The lights were off, but there was just enough natural light to make out our pastor, Mike, standing at the end of the hall. He wasn’t moving—just staring blankly out the window.
When I asked what he was doing, he shook his head slowly. He was frustrated. The trustees had refused to act on a decision the church already had voted to approve. He was leading well but meeting unnecessary pushback.
It wasn’t a matter of incompetence or poor leadership. It wasn’t “growing pains.” It was progress pains. I would come to experience the very same thing time and again in my own pastorates.
What are progress pains?
We’ve all heard of growing pains—the struggles of increasing size or scale. But progress pains are different. They’re the challenges, friction and resistance that naturally arise when an organization (or person) is getting healthier and maturing in depth, even if the improvement doesn’t show up as numerical growth.
Progress pains surface when a community begins to align more closely with its mission, when standards are raised, when hidden dysfunctions are addressed, when new patterns of health replace old habits of convenience. These changes are real but not always visible.
For leaders, this is uniquely draining. The adjustments you’re making often are small but necessary, and the resistance you encounter isn’t usually about logic. It’s about emotion and people’s comfort with change.
Unlike seasons of rapid growth, there are no flashy signs to energize you—no swelling crowds, no sudden surge of resources. Those may come later, but only if you and your people press through the struggle now.
Encouragements for leaders in the midst of progress pains
The content of Canoeing the Mountains, one of the best leadership books I’ve ever read, and my own experience as a pastor have taught me leading through progress pains requires four key commitments.
1. Start with conviction.
Before you step into a season of change, decide what is right. This isn’t just about what you will do, but also about who you are and what you’re about.
If you don’t carry a deep conviction about the change that’s needed, you’ll approach it loosely and without resolve. But if you are convinced the direction is right and necessary, nail it down, and keep remembering it when the resistance comes.
2. Stay close.
People react to change in unpredictable ways. Sometimes their pushback isn’t even about the issue at hand, but about old wounds, personal tensions or insecurities. Don’t let that create a gap between you and them.
Staying close doesn’t mean surrendering your convictions or catering to every insecurity, but it does mean providing a safe place for people to process their fears without breaking relationship.
3. Stay the course.
At some point, through prayer, counsel, wisdom and experience, you as a leader must chart the next steps your church or organization needs to take. That is the course.
It may require small adjustments along the way, but the overall direction must hold. You’ll hear many reasons to turn back or to stop halfway. One of the greatest temptations is to think, “This far is far enough.” But if the path is wise and right, don’t abandon it. Stay the course.
4. Stay calm.
This may be the most important one.
So much can be accomplished simply by refusing to panic. Fear will whisper that everything is falling apart. The enemy will use others to get your spirit all twisted up. Don’t give in.
Stay calm, keep perspective and, more often than not, you’ll find what felt impossible works itself out with time and steady faithfulness.
A final word
That’s why, in these moments, leaders must remember: Leading through progress pains means keeping your conviction clear, staying close to your people, carrying calm into anxious spaces, and staying the course when it would be easier to turn back.
Trust the process. It will work out.
Josh King is pastor of Valley Ridge Church, formerly known as First Baptist Church of Lewisville. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author.
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