THRIVING TOGETHER: IS YOUR CHURCH PLAYING BAZBALL?
- Ian Duncum
- Dec 10, 2025
- 3 min read
THRIVING TOGETHER BLOG INTRO
For many years, I have shared both the pain and joys of those who work with churches. Like many of you, I have often wondered if there are better ways to thrive together and make a missional impact on our world. It’s not about trying harder; it’s about doing different things in new ways. This involves interrupting our routines and reflecting on our practices.
As a pastoral supervisor, trainer, lecturer, and consultant for churches and non-profits, I strive to provide valuable insights. I hope my posts serve as refreshing water for those planted in churches so we can thrive together.
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments. Or you can reach out to me through my website: www.ianduncum.com.au.
IS YOUR CHURCH PLAYING BAZBALL?
England persisting with Bazball despite clear data, media analysis, and fan feedback looks very similar to a declining church refusing to act on obvious signs of trouble. Both are cases of a leadership culture that has become so committed to its own narrative that it struggles to receive and act on external reality checks.sportingnews+4
Closed feedback loops
England’s inner circle has been described as largely uninterested in outside critique, clinging to its “truth” about Bazball even as results and conditions change. sports.yahoo+2
Many declining churches operate with similarly closed feedback loops: leaders hear mainly from themselves and a small loyal group, while ignoring data like attendance drop, giving decline, or community disengagement. churchanswers+1
Misreading “early success” and context
Bazball initially revitalised England’s Test cricket, but stronger opponents and different conditions have worked out how to counter it, exposing its limits.espn+3
Churches often treat a once-fruitful model (a style of service, leadership, or outreach) as timeless, even when the context has shifted and the former strengths now contribute to decline. vancopayments+1
Minimising warning signs
Critics point to repeated batting collapses, poor adaptability, and stubborn messaging, yet the team has often responded by doubling down rather than recalibrating.espncricinfo+3
Likewise, declining churches commonly downplay warning signs—shrinking attendance, aging profile, loss of younger people, shallow discipleship—rather than treating them as prompts for repentance, listening, and change. churchanswers+1
Identity fused with method
For England, the aggressive style has become part of the team’s identity, so questioning Bazball can feel (inside the camp) like disloyalty to the project.indiatoday+1
In churches, certain programs, preaching styles, or governance patterns become identity markers, so any challenge is felt as an attack on “who we are,” making it hard to ask, “Is this still serving the mission?”vancopayments+1
Healthier alternative posture
A healthier team would keep the best of Bazball (freedom, positivity) but submit it to honest appraisal, adapting game plans to conditions and evidence.
A healthier church does the same: it holds its mission firmly but its methods lightly, listens deeply to data and people, and is willing to repent, experiment, and restructure when the fruit is clearly declining.churchanswers+1
Sources
© 2025 Ian Duncum. All rights reserved. No reproduction without written permission. Rev Dr Ian Duncum is a trained and accredited church consultant with over 20 years of experience with non-profit enterprises and churches across several denominations. This includes denominational leadership in church health, church planting, consultancy training, and adjunct lecturing & research in the tertiary education sector. An accredited minister with a track record of growing churches, Ian trains church consultants, facilitates training for ministers and leaders, and supervises pastors and other leaders. Ian can be contacted at ian@ianduncum.com.au.
Comments