Newsletter Thoughts August 09, 2025

Dear Friends,

This is my last post from the book, “Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: Tight and Loose Cultures and the Secret Signals that Direct Our Lives.” This week I read about tight and loose organizations (and individuals).

Just reading this convinces me I am wired on the loose side of things. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate some of the benefits of a tighter culture. It’s a reminder for me that every culture has its positives and negatives.

What about an organization, like a church?

Historically, religious communities would be on the tighter end of the tight/loose spectrum.

As I write this, I think of Martin Luther and the Reformation… this event was in some way a push against the status quo. But still, Lutherans were very much adhering to the rules of the community. Germany is a tight culture. Just think of “German precision.”

An interesting aspect of the United States is that, through immigration, we have a mixture of people from both tight and loose cultures. I think we also have this mixture in our churches.

Church tradition is more tight on the scale. There is a liturgy. There are rules of behavior (like no running in the sanctuary).

But as we interact with culture and as new people (who are much more loose) join our churches, we experience conflict.

Sometimes it is over seemingly inconsequential things, like running in the sanctuary. Other times it is about how decisions are made and who gets to make them. I think that as we learn more about culture, we can (hopefully) be more understanding of those who experience life differently than we do. I often wonder what might ministry look like if we can make the relationship more important than whatever issue happens to be before us.

The chart above describes differing organization cultures.

When I look at it, I see advantages on both sides… and disadvantages. One section of the book addresses the idea of ambidextrous cultures, a bit of tightness and a bit of looseness. Maybe this navigating between the extremes is what we need…maybe even, it is the Christian way to go.

Because grace is found in both.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Meanwhile I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday.

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Nancy