What is the Changemaker Initiative?

The Changemaker Initiative launched in 2018 as an experiment in pioneering a new kind of church:  connecting the compassion of Jesus with the skills of social innovation.  Could this give new language, energy, and effectiveness to the church’s mission?  As a large church in Silicon Valley, Los Altos United Methodist Church was ready to wrestle with this question.  Embracing the vision of Senior Pastor Kathi McShane, LAUMC partnered with the secular social entrepreneurship organization Ashoka for one year to learn about the skills and process of making change.  

“As you know, you are leading in the faith community world by embarking on the Changemaker Journey as an entire faith community. You will forever have the honor of having been first, and we are deeply grateful for your courage and pioneering spirit.”

Ashoka Executive / ASHOKA partnership sermon

Through an application process, 25 “Changemaker Fellows” were selected, ages 12-75, to participate in a nine-month Fellowship. Each Fellow created a social impact project out of their own passions and experiences. The projects had varying amounts of success and failure but each changemaker grew in their sense of agency, and in their ability to connect faith with action in other dimensions of their lives.

In the second year, on our own after a valuable experience with Ashoka, we guided a new cohort of Fellows through a custom 4-module faith-based changemaking curriculum.  The result of a church supporting the missional callings of individuals has been powerful:

• changemaker disciples have fresh language and vibrancy when talking about faith and church

• changemakers are stepping up into leadership roles in the church and community

• church culture is shifting as changemaking becomes part of governance, decision-making, and other focused ministry areas

• changemaking work has profound social and relational impact

In 2020, we became curious whether this approach could spark congregational renewal elsewhere so we sought and were granted generous support from Lilly Endowment to share our learnings. Now, what began as one-year learning journey with a small number of “real people” has grown into a three-year program that results in individual, congregational, and community transformation.