Preparing for any pastoral transition may seem daunting for any church, church staff, elder board, board of directors, or lead pastor. The goal is to ensure the church’s future is in good hands. If you stick to the list of do’s and do n’ts mentioned below, you can ensure that the transition happens in an honorable way and that the outcome will best serve the church and local community.
DO Include Outside Voices
Including outside voices in the pastoral transition process will help ensure that you are considering every factor. Outside voices will help you and the team see things you do not see and point out factors you may not consider.
Many churches have some form of an outside advisory board in place that is ready to step in if and when pastoral transitions occur. Outside advisory boards are typically made up of respected pastors and church leaders who have a relationship with the lead pastor and church.
If you are a part of a denomination, there may already be a form of outside accountability in place. If that’s the case, include those voices of accountability in the pastoral transition conversation.
However, If you do not have an outside advisory board and you are not part of a denomination, you should consider forming one as soon as possible. This board will be a safety net that will ensure the church’s future is secure and that any transition that happens will be done well. You can also hire a church consultant to help you prepare for a pastoral transition. Including outside voices will only be helpful if you listen to the shared wisdom and advice.
DO Include Inside Voices
Including inside voices in a pastoral transition is critical to ensuring that it goes well. If the church has staff, ask them to weigh in on the transition, both on the pastor who is transitioning out and on any considerations for a new pastor. When you conduct interviews, include the staff in the process. Your church staff will be the ones most affected by this hiring decision, so including them in the process will result in immediate buy-in from the staff.
Another group to include are your biggest givers and the highest-level volunteer leaders. Both groups are fully invested in the church and can be won over by being included in the process. These groups can also help mitigate any gossip or talk that happens within the church that the staff and elders may miss.
DO Communicate Honestly
Communication is incredibly important when talking about any pastoral transition. Be honest with all communication on every level and layer in the church. Honesty builds trust, and people will follow any church or organization that works hard to build and maintain trust.
Honesty, especially when the truth is ugly, also squashes unnecessary gossip. If you aren’t fully honest about what’s going on, people will hear half-truths and fill in the gaps.
However, honesty doesn’t mean sharing all the nitty gritty details. Use discretion when sharing stories or facts about the transition. This is especially true if the transition is happening due to moral failure or challenging circumstances. It’s ok to share more details with the most affected, like the staff and elders. But the wider the audience gets, the better it is to have discretion on how much you share.
DO Communicate Clearly and Often
When communicating any pastoral transition, communicate as clearly as possible. This helps mitigate any unnecessary rumors and gossip and helps people to know exactly what’s going on. Clear is kind, so when sharing any updates, people will feel appreciated and valued because you’re presenting information in a way that anyone and everyone can understand.
This is also why it’s important to communicate often. If there are any updates, share them with everyone. If it’s been a few weeks and there are no updates with the transition, communicate to everyone that there are no updates but that you’re still working on the transition. This, again, builds trust with people and lets them know you care about them and the church.
DO Speak Well of Everyone Involved
Whenever there’s a transition, it can be tempting to talk poorly about the individual transitioning out to make the new person seem like a great change and upgrade. Don’t fall into this temptation. You do not gain anything when you speak poorly of the person transitioning out. If anything, it leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths, especially for those who really loved the former pastor.
Speak well of everyone, both privately and publicly. Even when there’s a moral failing, do everything possible to speak well of the pastor. Tell the truth, but do so in an honorable way. Everyone wins when there’s honor and respect.
DO Fight for Unity and Consensus (When Possible)
In any pastoral transition, people will have different thoughts and opinions. Even when there are disagreements, fight for unity as much as possible.
If two individuals have opposing views, work hard to disagree honorably. When a decision needs to be made, fight for consensus. Do not leave the room or make decisions without everyone’s agreement. Although someone may not like the decision, they do need to back it up once they leave the room.
The last thing you want is someone leaving the decision-making table and telling people they think the decision was a bad one. This will cause much damage throughout the church and bring distrust and disunity.
DON’T Rush The Process
Pastoral transitions take time. If you’re searching for a new pastor, take your time with the selection process. Make sure to have an interview system that includes elders, overseers, staff, high-level volunteers, church leaders, and anyone else you think would be helpful with the vetting process.
Any incoming pastor has to align with the church’s vision. The vision wasn’t created by the former pastor but was given by God. The pastor taking over needs to respect that vision and be able to take it and run with it.
If the church’s successor is known, take your time transitioning the church. By the time the new pastor is hired, the church shouldn’t be surprised. You can do this by letting anyone know internally first and ensuring that the new pastor is more visible. The new pastor should preach more, be more present in leader meetings, and be visible in the different areas of the church.
When the announcement is made, everyone in the church will be familiar with the new pastor. Don’t rush the process; take your time to do this well.
DON’T Make Any Other Major Changes
Don’t make any major changes when you’re in a transition season. The pastoral transition will already bring uncertainty and anxiety within the organization. Avoid making any major changes to your services, organizational structure, budget, and hiring. Now is not the time to buy and sell property, add a new major staff position, reorganize the chart, or make your services more contemporary.
Leave these types of decisions and changes for the new pastor after the transition is completed.
DON’T Forget to Pray
Prayer may seem like an obvious thing to do, but it can often get forgotten due to all the other factors and procedures that need to be considered in a pastoral transition. It’s important to pray for the pastor who is transitioning out, for the new pastor who is transitioning in, for each person affected by the change, and, most importantly, pray that the church will not only embrace the change but grow and thrive because of it.
Make sure to pray before, during, and after all the different meetings taking place. Cover everything in prayer. This will bring peace and ensure that you invite God into the process.
Your Pastoral Transition Can Go Smoothly
Change makes everyone a little uncomfortable, even those who say they like change. Any adjustment, especially a major leadership adjustment like a pastoral transition, will bring some level of concern to people in all the different layers of the church. Keep in mind these do’s and don’ts so that your pastoral transition goes smoothly and will set up your church’s future for strength and health.
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