Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

In a 2022 examination of 30 million data base profiles by Zippia, it was found that the tenure of 48% of lead pastors in the United States was 4 years or less.

As much as you may not want it or like it, every church will go through an interim season. It’s not a matter of “if”, only “when”.

Typically, those on a church’s leadership team (elders, session, council, deacons, staff, etc) desperately hope that this kind of change doesn’t happen on their watch. For giving leadership to a church during the leadership transition of the lead or senior pastor is an incredibly challenging enterprise.

There are numerous experts and workshops that will help you build an orderly succession plan. But those plans depend on both sides being willing to engage openly with each other in the process. But when, for example, there is a moral implosion or a battle over control/direction of the church, you can toss your carefully scripted succession plan in the trash.

Count on it, the more abrupt the departure, the more disruptive the pastor’s departure will be on the church. How prepared are you to handle the disruptive issues?

The more abrupt the departure of your senior pastor, the more disruptive it will be on your church.

Before the American West was opened by the transcontinental railroad in 1869, individuals and families made the slow risky trip grouped in wagon trains. And they followed the leadership of a wagon-master.

This was a seasoned individual who had been over the route before. He knows the way…he knows the challenges …he has a good idea of when and by who they are likely to be attacked…he knows when they need to load up on extra water for a coming dry stretch. His job is to get the wagon train through.

When churches experience an abrupt departure by their lead pastor, they need a wagon-master. They need someone who has been over this route before, who knows the challenges, who knows when to circle the wagons, and who can keep everyone together and get everyone through.

The church’s journey through an interim season is not the time for DIY. Why? If you’re on a church’s leadership team, and tasked with guiding the church after the abrupt departure of your pastor, how are you going to handle the rapid-fire disruptive issues you will face? For example:

1. Grief/Trauma

When a pastor abruptly leaves there is a profound sense of loss. How will you assess the grief level in your church? How deep is the trauma? What does the church need in order to heal? How will you avoid the attitude of FIDO: “Forget it and drive on”?

2. The Leadership vacuum

Because of the abrupt departure, what aspects of a leadership vacuum are emerging? Often a leadership vacuum started long before the senior pastor left. What residual effects are still apparent? How will you cover the responsibilities of the former pastor? If you change the org chart, even temporarily, what long-term effect will that have on your staff?

3. Broken trust

How has the role and position of lead pastor been damaged because of the issues surrounding their abrupt departure? How has the remaining leadership team lost the trust of the church? How can trust be rebuilt?

4. Season of change

Just as the literal seasons of a year have their own characteristics, the interim season has its own uniqueness. Things are going to change in your church. How will you determine what needs to change? What do people want preserved, avoided, and achieved during this season?

5. Conflict resolution

How will you handle the diverse and often passionate opinions of members who see past decisions or coming future decisions differently? How can you preserve the unity of the body when the hurt is deep and personal preferences are at odds?

These are not the only challenges a church will face as it journeys through a leadership transition. Yet does the current team have the time and expertise to prioritize the issues, and then deal effectively and in a timely manner with each?

There isn’t a You Tube video you can watch that will provide guidance for how to lead your church at this time as a DIY project.

There isn’t a You Tube video to tell you how to lead your church during a leadership transition.

Wagon-masters, for churches going through a leadership transition, are called intentional interim pastors. Because of their expertise, training, and experience they are not a luxury but an essential to get you through!

If your church is in a pastoral leadership transition, or about to enter it, consider taking one of these next steps.

1. Contact Vital Church Ministry to learn the assessment and interim pastor support they can offer to your church (www.vitalchurchministry.org).
2. Contact me (rick@interimpastor.org) to purchase the digital version of my workbook “The First 90 Days”. This will give everyone on your leadership team a game plan for shepherding the church during this unique season.