When He Leaves, Don’t Start a Search!

Is finding a new pastor the answer when your former one has moved on? Especially when the previous pastor’s departure was painfully abrupt, is quickly getting a new one on-board the priority?

Most church leadership teams blindly ignore the reality that it’s not if your church will face a pastoral transition but when. So, when the inevitable happens it often creates chaos at the highest level. Wise thinking and objectivity can appear to disappear under the pressure of the moment.

What exactly is the pressure everyone is sensing? It’s called the leadership vacuum. The person who led, and whose vision and values set the tone and direction, is now gone. A hole…a vacuum is created that they once filled. The pressure is to fill the void and fill it swiftly.

“Nature abhors a vacuum.” -Aristotle

This pressure is particularly acute when the pastor’s departure was an abrupt one. Why? Without a leader people start to drift, confusion and frustration set-in over decision-making, competing claims for authority break-out in fights for control.

In addition, some well-meaning members can exert pressure on the leadership team because they believe a church without a pastor is like a ship without a captain. “And we certainly don’t want to run aground!”

Under this kind of internal and external pressure, the church’s leadership team can easily make finding a new pastor their number one priority. After all, filling the leadership vacuum with a new leader will reduce the pressure points.

But is that strategy the wisest approach? Or, could there be other dynamics in play that need to be addressed first?

I would suggest that there are two enormous issues that need prior attention. If they are disregarded, it can significantly endanger the spiritual health of the body for quite some time.

Why should finding a new pastor drop to at least 3^rd on the list of priorities?

1. The church is not ready to receive a new pastor.

Even when a church implements a successful succession plan and celebrates the pastor’s transition, it still needs time to let go of their former pastor in order to be able to embrace the new one.

When a pastor, by the grace of God, is able to have a faithful tenure, the church gets used to things being done in a certain way. The body can assume that the former pastor’s personality, style of ministry, and unique gifts are the way, if not the right way. This sets up the next pastor for unfair comparison and critique.

On the other hand, when the pastor’s departure is traumatic because of its abruptness, the church will not be ready to receive a new leader until it works through two issues: grieving the loss and repairing broken trust.

Wisely, many churches bring in an interim pastor to help the church through its pastoral transition. The right interim pastor, with his gifts and specialized training, allows the church to see that a different leader with a different approach can actually be a great blessing.

When critical comparisons evaporate, the deep work of grief is done, and broken trust is restored, the church will be in a position to embrace a new pastor.

2. The church doesn’t know who they should be looking for.

One of the dangers, when a church starts its search process too quickly, is they’ll go to one of two extremes.

Either they’ll look for someone who was just like the former pastor or on the other hand, they’ll try to find someone who is a total opposite. So, get a clone or clear the deck…magnify the former pastor’s strengths or magnify his weaknesses.

Too avoid these extremes, a wise approach is to use the transition season after the former pastor has left to pause, take a deep breath, then carefully and thoughtfully evaluate the church. This is a time to ask profound, provocative, and redemptive questions.

• Who are we (current internal demographics)?
• Do we know the community around the church (current external demographics)?
• Where are we going (clear mission and goals)?
• How effective are we at sharing the gospel (who has come to Christ recently)?
• How effective are we at growing disciples (is there progressive maturity taking place)?
• Therefore, what kind of pastor would ‘fit’ our unique setting and help us be a Great Commandment and Great Commission church?

As with the other high priority I’ve mentioned, an interim pastor can be of significant help in the transition season to help a church wrestle with the specifics of who they should be looking for as the next permanent pastor.

Do not underestimate the internal and external pressure that comes from the leadership vacuum. Get your priorities in the right order so that your church is prepared to enter a new season of Christ-honoring ministry with its new pastor.

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The leadership team of a church faces more pressure than just the leadership vacuum. Especially when the former pastor left abruptly, there are other unique disruptive factors at work that need to be addressed.

Click here to purchase my workbook “Aftermath: Leading the Church After Abrupt Pastoral Transition”. It’s 47 pages will guide a church’s leadership team in those first critical 90-days to lead and shepherd their church well.