Yet, I’ve seen these same men inadvertently bring their church to the brink of ruin. They are good preachers, caring counselors, and men of prayer, yet their church suffered. These pastors followed the play book, but their church nearly closed the doors. It wasn’t on purpose. They never meant any harm to come. But they sat and watched as the church they loved crumbled. The weakness was not in how they served the church, but how they left the church.
I believe that in many contexts when a pastor comes to a new ministry that is either 'spiritually unhealthy' and/or one that is in need of 'revitalization' that poor pastoral transitions is probably one of the leading factors that contributed to the current unrest. Many pastors hurt the Lord's people as they transition from one ministry to another (sometimes even unintentionally). Every situation is certainly unique but too many times pastors make very little effort to serve the congregations that they are leaving. Midnight exits, hurtful comments to remaining members about how the current congregation or current leadership team failed them, and a thousand other vices can greatly harm the Lord's Church.
Flowers goes onto to write in his essay, It is as inevitable as death and housing allowances; all senior pastors will eventually move on. No one preaches forever. They will either retire or expire or go to a church where people are nicer. Every church must face this dreaded transition. But most pastors don’t really think much about that day. They are too busy preaching and leading and serving. It’s not something a normal pastor wants to think about. It’s scary and sad. But planning for a healthy transition is something that any good leader must do.
I am amazed at how many pastors don’t think that the process of pastoral transition is their job. They run a great race all the way up to the last lap, and then just drop the baton in the dirt and walk away. The church is left with a huge void in leadership. The new guy has the near impossible task of guiding them through the change.
We’ve all seen it happen. The old guy leaves, the new guy comes, and then everything falls apart. Usually the blame lands on the new guy. He’s just too different. He’s not as good as the old guy. He does things wrong. He’s the reason people are leaving and giving is down. There is even a name for the replacement pastor- “sacrificial lamb”. A church might go through two or three “sacrificial lambs” before a pastor is able to stick.
...There is vulnerability to which every church is exposed at the point of transition. Satan has exploited this weakness for far too long. He will sow discord, demoralize new ministers, and render ministries ineffective; all because pastors don’t finish the race.
There are a number of reasons why pastors
fail to lead through the transition. It’s hard to think about leaving, some guys just ignore the whole thing right up until the retirement party. Some think that it’s the search committee’s job to find a replacement. I had one guy tell me that the reason he wasn’t more involved in the transition was because he doesn’t believe in apostolic succession. Another guy wanted the church to be able to decide what direction they wanted to go next. All those arguments are lame! I know it’s sad to think about leaving, but it’s inevitable. You need to put a plan in place. A search committee is not a transition strategy! It might be a part of a transition strategy, but if that’s your whole plan then you are putting your church in grave danger.
If you’ve spent the past few decades casting vision and establishing the direction for the church, why would you all of a sudden stop doing those things when the church needs you the most? You know the strengths and weaknesses and needs of that church better than any other person. If you remove yourself from the transition process you are setting them up for failure.
Pastors, God has called you to protect that church. Part of the job of pastoral leadership is finishing well. I don’t think Paul believed in apostolic succession, but he took the time to train and mentor the next generation of church leaders. He invested in guys like Timothy and Titus, helping to establish them as leaders in the church, and then left them to carry on the work.
The sad reality is that too many pastors and far too many church members for that matter, leave their ministries quite disruptively. In unique situations it may be necessary to get out of Dodge as quickly as one can. On rare occasions it might even be necessary to warn a congregation of serious, unrepentant sin or of dangerous false teaching that exists within a local church or amongst the leadership team. In most cases however for the greater cause of Christ, for the testimony of gospel, and for the unity of the church it is best to leave graciously. Dropping a grenade on your way out the door will greatly hurt the sheep who remain and will hurt the efforts of the shepherds who will serve long after you have moved on. We must resist the temptation to burn our bridges on our way out the door.
Even in harmonious situations when a man of God is retiring or transitioning to a new ministry context it is essential that we pastors make every effort to leave well. Pastor Flowers suggests seven practical ways we can do this here. If you are a church member Pastor Anyabwile suggests five things you should do before leaving here.
Flowers concludes his fine article with the following admonition to pastors. The Apostle Paul understood that an important part of his ministry was not just building churches, but making sure that they were left in good hands. Let us follow Paul’s example!
P.S. It's not too late to go back and make things right with those you have wronged in the past.
THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON 7/14/14
Flowers concludes his fine article with the following admonition to pastors. The Apostle Paul understood that an important part of his ministry was not just building churches, but making sure that they were left in good hands. Let us follow Paul’s example!
P.S. It's not too late to go back and make things right with those you have wronged in the past.
THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON 7/14/14
