Moving Forward When the Way Isn’t Clear

The consistent joke made about men is when we don’t know where we’re going, we not only don’t admit it, but we resist stopping to ask for directions.

Now that is not universally true, but I know it’s a tendency in my own life. I have this distorted confidence I can “nose it out” and get where I need to be…eventually.

Now, if I’m alone in the car, and time is not a factor, then it’s typically no big deal. But if others are riding with me, then they can suffer for my unwillingness to ask for help.

Church leaders are thrust into uncharted territory when their lead pastor abruptly departs. Most have never been down this road before. This is not the time to assume you can get there on your own. There is too much at risk and the clock is ticking!

If you’re in this kind of situation, then you can count on one thing: the more abrupt the pastor’s exit, the more disruptive will be its impact in the church.

It’s not unusual for the leadership team to feel as if overnight the atmosphere in the church has shifted to VUCA-like conditions (vague, uncertain, complex, ambiguous). The combination of these elements creates a dense fog, or blizzard, which obscures the familiar, making it difficult to know which direction to head or what critical decisions to make.

So how do you lead in these less than perfect conditions?

When the lead or senior pastor abruptly departs, there is a strategy to follow. This strategy not only keeps the big-picture in mind, but when implemented, it will guide the choices and execution of the details.

There are 3 aspects to the strategy, and they build upon each other. If you are part of the church’s leadership team tasked with handling the messy aftermath details of an abrupt departure by the senior or lead pastor, here’s how to lead moving forward.

1. Lead yourself

The strategy starts with you. Begin by personally engaging in the impact of the abrupt departure. If you’re honest, your pastor’s quick exit has in some measure kicked-in the front door of your heart and brought pain, grief, disappointment, sadness, a sense of betrayal, anger, unanswered questions, and frustration.

Are you admitting this to yourself or just stuffing these emotions? Are you aware of how this is challenging your trust in the Lord? Are you laying awake at night puzzled by what happened and perturbed that it did happen? Has your confidence in other people been shaken? Is your confidence in your own spiritual maturity and discernment taken a hit?

Why does the strategy start with you? Because you can’t lead others where you haven’t gone. You can’t tell others to find their confidence and strength in the Lord when you haven’t.

If you try and lead in this challenging time without leading yourself first, it will feel like you’re driving the sheep, not shepherding from out front. Everyone around you needs your transparency and honesty that you are struggling just like they are.

As the Spirit of God comforts, heals and reminds you of God’s Word -then you are in the optimal place to move into the next two aspects of the strategy.

2. Lead the team

Your engagement with the emotional, spiritual, and mental struggles over your pastor’s quick exit allows you to have an influence in the collective heart of the leadership team. As a group, the team needs to grieve what happened, and support each other in the bewilderment. The team needs a climate of openness and transparency that doesn’t judge.

The leadership team has some critical work to do, and probing questions to ask. For the rapid departure of the lead pastor has brought the church into a new season, and its not going to feel the same for a while.

When each member of the leadership team starts with allowing the Lord to speak to their own hearts, then they can corporately hear the Lord comfort and guide them as a group.

When the team does that, it allows them to provide godly leadership in the third aspect of the strategy.

3. Lead the church

What does the church body need from its leaders when the lead pastor abruptly leaves? They need the leadership team to step-up and shepherd in five areas:

1. Truth telling: this is not the time to try and spin the facts out of a motive of damage-control. This is the time to tell the truth of what happened. The truth may be painful, but eventually it will provide for healing and cleansing.

2. Grief empowering: most believers don’t know how to grieve their losses. They need to be given permission to grieve. Provide an accepting environment where expressions of grief are not shut-down but accepted.

3. Body building: encourage the body to care for each other. Romans 12:15 tells us to weep with those who weep. We are to be safe people who love each other through difficult times, pray for each other, and comfort one another.

4. Support giving: some in the church will experience the loss of the pastor more deeply then others. They need special personal support and care. This is the time to make counselors available. Those who could use it need to know who to call and when they are available.

5. Biblical teaching: in the midst of trauma, sadness, and betrayal, the church needs to be reminded from God’s Word about faith, hope, and love. They need assurance that this didn’t take God by surprise. They need to see how the Lord works even through difficult times for the good of His church and His own glory.

The strategy starts with the individual leader, galvanizes the team, and then spreads to the church. So even when the aftermath of a lead pastor’s abrupt departure brings significant vagueness, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity to moving forward –this strategy will keep you on course.

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Coming soon in 2019!

On April 1st TRM will publish a workbook which helps church leadership teams navigate those critical first 90-days after an abrupt departure by their pastor. It will be available in either a digital or printed format. Click on the sign-up form on the right to receive helpful resources and advance notice of early release discounts.