900 words
3 minute read. Most applicable to churches with mid to later career pastors.
The news this week of Rick Warren’s planned future transition has folks talking about this critical issue.
Within the last several weeks, four of my Pastor Smart Succession Process clients have announced or elected new Senior Pastors. These clients executed the entire journey well on behalf of the congregations and the communities they serve.
But it’s not just the handoff season that makes succession a success.
We can’t call senior leader succession a success until three years after the handoff and transfer of power, leadership, and authority from one leader to the next. Like my past clients over the last decade, these clients have followed my proprietary process to find success so far, and I trust they will follow through to a new chapter of flourishing.
My focus is long-term, senior pastors and the succession process that moves intentionally from one pastor to another.
I have a new presentation that illustrates the entire process with several simple pictures and diagrams.
Here is the most complex one:
Think of succession as a railroad line with three principal parts: the tracks, crossties, and roadbeds.
The congregation is the train that runs along the railroad line. The train runs along the two primary rails. The rails are kept in place by the crossties and help transfer the weight of the rolling train to the firm roadbed.
All three components are needed. This article covers the two tracks that run in parallel.
The first track is the current senior pastor track. Remember that succession is more about the current pastor than the next lead pastor. Too often, congregations think they should start with the second track – the next pastor track. Beginning with the second track first in mind tends to lead to more problems down the track.
While the tracks must run parallel, start with the current pastor track. That track has three phases that are addressed in the Pastor Smart Succession Process.
The first phase is Acceptance – Pastor Smart Succession starts when the current pastor decides in their mind that it is time for a new pastor to come and give leadership. This is not to discount the call of God on their lives. But a call may be away from being the primary leader to give support to new leadership.
Wise pastors know that the future health and vitality of the church are paramount. It is not that they have no contribution to make to the church’s future. But they realize that new leadership will be needed soon to face the following chapter challenges the church will face.
Acceptance also involves and engages the current pastor’s spouse in the process. Often, they can articulate needs for their family life and church life that have been subdued over time. Acceptance is not immediate and takes time, but the current leader must fully engage in this process.
The second phase is reformulation. We spend time working to reframe and reform the current pastor’s identity as a leader. Most leaders HAVE to lead something.
The image of the trapeze leap comes to mind. When the apex is reached of the first swing, the other trapeze bar must be in position, and the leader should be ready to leap and grab on. Some leaders are prepared to leave local church leadership and enter a new season of ministry. For some, we can reformulate new roles that serve their current church and community in fresh new ways AND without obstructing the new leader’s pathway. A small minority decides that it is time to enter a new phase of life away from any active ministry.
The third phase of the current pastor rail is the celebration and release phase.
Celebration is less about the current leader and more about the congregation’s emotional journey to prepare for what comes next. The present pastor and their family are often the focal points of this closing phase, and this phase does help the current pastor feel their contributions have been worthwhile and valuable. But it is more about the emotional release of the congregation to let go and move forward.
I often have to challenge outgoing senior pastors that want to have quiet endings when they step aside. The process of celebration is more about the congregation than it is about THEM. I encourage congregations to have multiple expressions to allow the whole body to engage in the process.
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For a large church, long-term Senior Pastor, succession is the third most expensive decision they can make. You might as well get good counsel and do it right.
If you are a large church and want to see the full one-hour presentation with the four different diagrams and clear labeling of the entire process your church should consider in thinking about the succession process, we can connect you with that.
The presentation is free and comes with a few extra bonuses.
To set up a time, please connect with Linda Stanley at Linda.Stanley@generis.com.
In two weeks, I will describe the other side of the rail: The next pastor rail and the phases of that process.
But just so you have the rest of the idea in this diagram – the cross ties are specific parts of needed sub-processes for the congregation, staff, board, search team processes, and the like.
Here’s how to think of the roadbed or ballast, most often in this country, a bed of hard stone. For the succession illustration, these are the more emotional connections and steps that assist in the process. These can include some highly charged conversations between various individuals and groups.
Just as a railway, there are times when we must ford a significant obstacle such as a gorge or river bed, and a bridge or trestle is required. A neutral, experienced facilitator can help build that bridge to turn potential toxic conversations into healthy process conversations to come to solid conclusions.
As you have questions about the process and the illustration, please feel free to send them in. Let us know how we can serve you here.
This week on the podcast – Great Things God Has Done.
Tyrone Barnette
In this episode, Dave is joined by Tyrone Barnette of Peace Baptist Church. Tyrone shares about his life growing up in Roxboro, North Carolina, a town he compares to Mayberry.
But then he describes the unique demographic challenges faced in DeKalb County, Georgia.
It’s a warm conversation with an old friend.
Listen to all the interviews here.
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