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Mòrar's Musings
May 1, 2026
In these last weeks of our time together, I am sharing some resources that have been helpful to me and the churches I’ve served that I pray may be helpful in this next stage of your journey.
Today I’d like to encourage you to embrace failure!
Valuing failure is a way of moving forward even while being tentative and cautious about what change will really mean in people’s lives. Encourage others and yourself to experiment, knowing that failure is an acceptable and necessary option in the process of positive change.
As a church, you are experienced and your leaders are proficient in taking actions based on the best thinking at the time. In the pandemic, leaders decided what to do on Monday, changed the plan on Wednesday and may have changed it again on Saturday night. "Pivot" became a familiar word. Even though it was a time full of fear, the church found ways of worshipping and providing pastoral care. Fear didn’t stop you.
During that time, you created a culture where it was safe to fail. I attended a Black church in Chicago where people were verbal in their responses to the sermon: “Amen!” “Right on!” These were heard frequently. But so was, “Back it up and try it again, Jim!” when the preacher’s point didn’t get across.
You took an action based on the best thinking at the time and it did not lead to the desired outcome. So learn and try again. Failure is an event, not who you are.
In the face of failure, ask yourself:
- What did you do or fail to do that didn’t work?
- What could you do differently?
Failure is not a life sentence; it’s not final or permanent.
Failing is part of the experiment. Learn to recognize early what isn’t working. "Fail forward faster" to increase the impact of your work.
Do you know how people are swept away by avalanches?
The longer people commit to a bad decision, the harder it is to turn back.
Don’t be afraid to stop doing something and try something else. Will doing more of what doesn’t work ever work?
Blessings,
Mòrar
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