Pastoral Transitions 101: Starting Strong and Ending Well

Pastoral Transitions 101

Long before I knew that the Lord had plans to transition our family to a new ministry context I came across an article that made a huge impression on me.  The blog was titled, "How Pastors Accidentally Ruin Their Church."  Flowers opened with these haunting words: Most pastors really love their church. They understand their calling as under-shepherds tasked with guarding the bride of Christ. Caring for the thing that Jesus died for is a heavy responsibility. Pastors will endure stress and criticism, they will work long hours, and they will sacrifice to protect the church.

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.

Having witnessed the negative impact of a very selfish pastoral transition before I resolved to do everything I could to never "ruin a congregation" by leaving in a less than exemplary manner; (On a more positive and happy note, having recently experienced the benefits of another Senior Pastor's graciousness to me I am striving to follow "the golden rule.")

Here are a few things I have done in effort to try and help maintain the spiritual momentum here.  Our desire should be to do everything we can to help set up the next guy to succeed (whoever that may be):

1) Write a personal letter to each member and regular attendee.  In this note identify evidences of grace and thank them for their commitment.  Share your heart, highlight the path forward, and encourage them to fix their eyes on Christ.  Remind them that God is faithful and can always be trusted.  Keep reminding them and yourself that Jesus cares about His Church more than every believer combined.

2) Continue to shepherd the flock faithfully and to preach the Word diligently all the way until your very last day.  If you are getting paid for what you do and love the people in your flock, how could you do any less?  This isn't rocket science: 1) start strong- 2) run the race with endurance- 3) and finish well (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Lake Country Bible Church (10 Factors that Led to this Transition)

Lake Country Bible Church
http://www.lakecountrybible.org/

The invisible hand of providence is always at work even when our human eyes (Gen. 50:20; Rom. 8:28-29) fail to see it.  Jesus is not only the Creator of all things He is also the cosmos' Sustainer (Col. 1:16f)!

Some time ago a ministry friend from Florida told me about a like-minded church outside of Milwaukee that was searching for a new Senior Pastor.  This pastor colleague of mine was friends with Lake Country's Youth Pastor via his finance who was a member of this shepherd's church in West Palm Beach, Florida.  He recommended I connect with the P.S.C there.  Are you confused yet?  In God's good Providence this human connection was God's initial means to eventually transition us from Illinois to Wisconsin.  What things led Andrea and I to accept the pastoral call to a ministry setting outside of suburban Milwaukee?

Here is a list of 10 Factors:

10) I immediately connected with the initial contact person from LCBC.  Long time member and PSC chair (Jason Valentine) quickly became a friend.  The more he expressed leadership's heart for gospel ministry the more compatible we appeared to be.  The fact his family was the same age as mine was also a blessing.

9) Lake Country Bible Church clearly knew what kind of shepherd-expositor and lead pastor they were looking for.    One of the things that discourages me the most about the American church today is how so many Word-dominated and biblically qualified pastors have such a difficult time finding full-time ministries.  I have many friends (that are much better men than me) who have been unable to find ministry work.  I was impressed that the founding pastor and elders at LCBC had a good grasp on what the priorities of a local church are (Col. 1:28-29; Eph. 4:11-16) and therefore they also knew what kind of lead pastor they were looking for.

16 Things First Baptist (Freeport) Has Going For It

This morning I had another encouraging meeting with our lay leader chairman.  This dear man has become very special to me.  Over the past nine years I have found that those who fight on the front lines of ministry together often develop a close bond of brotherhood.

Tonight the lay leadership and I will be meeting to talk specifically about the way forward for First Baptist Church as I prepare to transition into a new ministry setting and as I help this special band of brothers find their next Sr. Pastor candidate.  I will continue to be one FBC's biggest cheerleaders as I pass the ministry baton on to another faithful shepherd-leader.  I am confident that God will continue to bless the faithfulness of this special congregation.

Here is a short list of 17 Spiritual Blessings and/or things FBC, Freeport has going for it.

1) The current Sr. Pastor is leaving on great terms and is committed to helping the next Lead Pastor succeed.  I have presented our lay leaders with a binder with twelve articles on the pastoral search process.  I also gave them a short list of potential Sr. Pastor candidates for them to interview, research, and pray over.  If it works out for FBC to host Keith and Kristyn Getty in September I will continue to serve as the event coordinator.  So long as FBC hires a qualified, like-minded shepherd I am committed to helping him flourish in ways I never did.

2) The congregation has developed an appetite for meaty, Text-driven, expository preaching.  Hebrews 5:12-14 infant Christian living has become the norm in the professing evangelical church so serving a flock with 1 Peter 2:2 members is a real blessing.  It's the people that make up the Body of Christ and FBC has many special people.

3) For the past 4 years our congregational meetings are harmonious and peaceful. By the grace of God, long gone are the days of “Jerry Springer-esq” infighting. The mutinous minority that wrecked havoc on my first four years of ministry have all moved on.  The present flock is united in love and in truth.

4) Our Awana ministries averages over 50 children each Wednesday night. 18 of these children are FBC’ers and the rest are unchurched kids from the community.  Our Awana ministry reaches into the minority neighborhoods of our community.

7 Things We Will Miss Most About Freeport

7. The close proximity of everything.  Though Freeport is the smallest city my wife and I have ever lived in we have come to appreciate how nothing in town is more than an eight minute drive away. Traveling 45 minutes to get Starbucks or a Chipotle burrito in Rockford was an adjustment for we 'suburbanites' but we do enjoy the close proximity of everything that comes with living in a smaller town.

1020 S. Benson Blvd.

6. The affordable housing market.  It is a blessing to own a nice 3 BR home on a quiet street with friendly neighbors and a beautiful, fenced in yard and to pay less than a thousand dollars in monthly mortgage payments.  Benson Blvd. has been a wonderful place to raise a young family.  If you know of anyone looking to buy we are looking to sell. :)

5. Union Dairy. With over 50 varieties of ice cream in a historical ice cream parlor Union Dairy is a family favorite.  It is also a great place to bring out of town guests.

Union Dairy 

4.  Read Park Pool and Aquatic Center.  Every summer Read Pool has been Andrea and the kids home away from home.  The friendly pool staff and spacious swimming area has brought many smiles over the years.

Read Park Pool

3. Krape Park.  "Awarded 'Outstanding Multi-use Facility' award by Illinois Parks and Recreation Association.  Since our first summer Krape Park has been a family favorite.

How Pastoral Transitions Can Cripple or Bless the Lord's Church

A few years ago I came across a thought provoking article titled, "How Pastors Accidentally Ruin Their Church."  In this post Pastor Andy Flowers made the following statements:  Most pastors really love their church. They understand their calling as under-shepherds tasked with guarding the bride of Christ. Caring for the thing that Jesus died for is a heavy responsibility. Pastors will endure stress and criticism, they will work long hours, and they will sacrifice to protect the church.

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. 

Two Essentials Components of a God-honoring Pulpit Ministry

As a pastor’s kid growing up in a Christian home I have listened to more expository sermons than many believers twice my age. In addition to this stewardship I spent close to thirteen years at the Grace Community Church. Besides sitting under the regular preaching ministries of John MacArthur, Rick Holland, Ken Ramey, Phil Johnson, Carey Hardy, and Jerry Wragg I was also exposed to the likes of James Montgomery Boice, W.A. Criswell, Alistair Begg, Al Mohler, John Piper, Steve Lawson, and R.C. Sproul. All that to say, I have listened to far more sermons in my life than I have preached. As I have matured in the faith I realize that if the Word of God is faithfully taught, regardless of the human mouth piece, the Spirit of God will use His Word to transform the lives of all Spirit-filled believers (Colossians 1:28-29, 1 Thessalonians 2:13). For those of us “Joe the plumber” preachers this is an encouraging thought!

In biblical preaching God is most interested in two things: faithfulness and humility. Allow me to make a case for this assertion.

God does not give every saint, or preacher for that matter, the same measure of talent and/or spiritual giftedness. If I can borrow a principle or two from the Parable of the Talents I may be able to make this point more clearly. In Matthew 25 the text says, For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves, and entrusted his possessions to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. When I was in seminary it was obvious to me that all of us “pastors in training” had a lot in common. It was also clear that we were not all given the same measure of giftedness. Some of the men had photographic memories and world class IQ’s, while others had golden tongues. One of the lessons God was trying to teach me during this time of ministry preparation was how much I needed to grow in humility. Instead of being envious of the way God gifted a few of these exceptionally bright students I needed to be grateful. If biblical ministry is all about the glories of Christ then how God chooses to bless a man is His sovereign prerogative.

Band of Brothers

This is the first D. Min class under the leadership of Dr. Steve Lawson at The Master's Seminary.  We are a band of brother (expositors) who want to glorify Christ and build up His precious Church.