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I am a Senior Pastor of a family sized, protestant anglo church in middle America, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, USA denomination. This is my third pastorate in 15 years of serving. The polity of ABC-USA churches is that they are ‘congregationally authoritative’ and ‘autonomous.’ This means that the individual churches govern themselves and are bound very little, by denominational policy. Presently, I look around our denomination and it is difficult to point to an individual anglo church that seems to be thriving. In my geographical location, it appears that only the immigrant churches, particularly Burmese, are flourishing. For the rest…empty pews, shuttered churches, lack of relevance, refusal to shift to accommodate the community they find themselves in, are all indicators of stagnation and death.

I believe there are several factors that attribute to this decline, like division amongst churches and denomination, general malaise in the body, weak and ineffectual leadership, (both pastoral and lay,) changing societal norms…However, I think there is one aspect that I see prevalent in ABC-USA churches that is not only another contributing factor, but it is one that we can change. We just have to do away with a longstanding tradition of how we place pastoral leaders into position.

Traditionally, should a senior pastoral leader leave their position, (due to whatever reason: retirement, found a better position, burnout, moral failing…) then the immediate response has been to quickly assemble an Ad Hoc committee to find an interim minister. This temporary person is there to provide leadership and stability while the congregation puts together something more formal to seek its new ‘settled’ minister. This interim is often, (but not always,) someone whom a middle judicatory body recommends, and may have some experience in this type of work. Then, a good rule of thumb is to have that person serve the church one month for every year the previous pastor served prior to calling the new senior leader. Following the interim period, a new senior pastor is selected and installed, and the ministry resumes on a new journey.

So, a new pastor takes over and picks up right where their predecessor left off, right? Wrong. For a senior pastor to begin at a new church in this fashion means that they are essentially starting from scratch, yet having to still navigate all of the old traditions, traps and relationships of the church’s history. It takes time to build relationships, resolve past conflict and determine the best course for the church to move forward productively and kingdom minded.

Here’s the problem. Research conducted by Thom Rainier¹ indicates that it may take 5 to 7 years for a new pastor to be accepted by the church body. There are a variety of factors that come into play here that are worth examining, but I want you to see something else that is startling… Depending on what source you are looking at, the average length of stay for a pastor could be as little as 3 to 5 years!

Have you done the math yet? If the average time it takes for a newly settled pastor to gain their footing, and the confidence of the congregation, is 5-7 years, but the average time that a pastor is serving the body is 3-5 years, then there is a great lack of settled productive ministry taking place. Each time the church has a senior pastoral leadership change, it is as if the church has to begin all over again. This is NOT an effective way to ensure smooth transition and continued fruitful kingdom work.

Often, a settled minister’s departure cannot be anticipated. However there are a couple of scenarios in which it is known that the minister will depart, like in the instance of retirement. This shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone. Or, maybe there is a change in the life of the minister that precludes them from continuing in the ministry, but they can remain for a period of time?

Here is what I propose for the above scenarios. Instead of waiting until the settled minister leaves, obtaining an interim for a period of time, and then calling a new minister…why not hire the next called, settled minister a year, (or more,) prior to the current settled pastor’s departure? This way, the incoming minister can begin to form those relationships and gain history with the church prior to them officially taking over. This way it would not seem like such a shock to the church, or a ‘restart’ of the ministry, because a relationship is already established with the next incoming minister. This is an embracing of Maxwell’s 21st Law of Leadership², that being of ‘Legacy,’ by grooming and developing the next leader. This is a plan for departure. I once read somewhere that technically, ALL pastors are interim pastors as there will never be a time in which a settled minister will remain at a church permanently. Life, or death, changes all circumstances. Since this is the case, let us intentionally seek the next called minister and have them in place before the presently settled minister leaves.

I realize that this may be difficult for many churches, particularly the ones that are lacking in resources. It would be challenging in my own context. Perhaps the denomination or a middle judicatory can assist? Is there a grant or fund available that a church can provide for an associate pastor, or a minister in training, so that they can take over and continue the ministry of the church once the settled minister moves on? I would suggest so.

In any case, something needs to change when it comes to leadership transition so as to not be so disruptive to the church body. If we are to be about the Kingdom work, then all things must work for the benefit of the Kingdom. It is my hope that when I retire in the next 17 years, that about 15 years from now, my replacement will be brought on and will begin the good work of pastoral leadership!

~ Pastor Sean

¹ https://churchanswers.com/blog/why-it-takes-five-to-seven-years-to-become-the-pastor-of-a-church/

² Maxwell, J. C. (2022). The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership: Follow them and people will follow you. HarperCollins Leadership.

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