Negotiating Pastoral Transition in Your Church by Marvin Yoder

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Finding a New Skipper for Your Ship
(Negotiating Pastoral Transition in Your Church)
Marvin Yoder

Marvin and his wife, Leah, recently stepped away from their role as founders and pastors of LifePointe Church in Mattoon, Illinois, and LifePointe Church in Arcola, Illinois. Marvin recently re-joined the staff of Rhema Bible Church and Rhema Bible Training Center in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Marvin is a graduate of Rhema Bible Training Center. Marvin has a rich ministerial background, having pastored several churches, working in Christian education, and traveling extensively as an itinerant minister. Prior to starting the church in Mattoon, Marvin has authored several books and study guides, including Movin’ On Up and The Traveling Minister’s Handbook. Marvin and Leah have three children, Christina Anne, Nichole Joy, and Audrey Danielle.

Pastoral TransitionThis past year, at the end of the pastoral transition at LifePointe Church, one of my minister friends sent me a text, asking, “Who is the new skipper?” This was a time when we went through a process of finding and doing some things that worked to make a successful pastoral transition (and also doing some things that didn’t work). Thankfully, more of the things we did worked than didn’t work!

We found that making a pastoral transition in a church is not easy, even when it is done at the direction of the Lord. I am so thankful for the advice and ideas I got from fellow ministers, and from other resources as well. Most of all, as I prayed, God was good to me in alerting me to things I had never thought about, as well as instructing me in the various things I had to deal with.

We are excited that both LifePointe Churches are going strong, and that almost all of both congregations made the transition from looking at me as their pastor to graciously receiving the new pastor. We are also thankful for patiently working together with a staff to implement some successful guidelines to help ensure the success of the transition.

I realize that pastoral transitions occur for a number of reasons. In this article I deal specifically with a senior pastor recognizing God’s direction to move on, and finding a new pastor to take his place. In other kinds of pastoral transition situations, other or additional guidelines may need to be implemented and followed. Here are 10 guidelines that helped us to make the pastoral transition successfully…

  1. We refused to get in a hurry in the selection process. Every church I have seen get in a hurry has missed God in getting the right candidate to replace the minister. They suffered because the pulpit committee or the church leader(s) got in a hurry and chose someone without thoroughly investigating them. Taking our time allowed us to have plenty of time for people who wanted to send their resumes, and for us to stay in faith, believing that God will bring us His best candidate for the position.
  2. We defined the type of candidate we were looking for. In order to get a clear picture, we found it necessary to establish a criteria that describes the kind of person we were looking for that would also fit and work well with the church congregation. Of course, at the top of the list should be a spiritually mature person who displays the fruit of the Spirit. Other characteristics need to be established in regard to ministry style, personality, education, current connections with ministers or ministry associations, previous experience, and time commitment, etc…(see the form that follows this article).
  3. We interviewed the candidate thoroughly. If a candidate cannot withstand the grilling of the interview process, he may very well not be able to handle the pressure of the pastoral position. Lots of questions should come from both those conducting the interview and also from the candidate. If the candidate does not ask any or only a few questions, or only asks questions about spiritual things, it may be a sign that they do not know what the position really entails, and they are not knowledgeable and developed enough to be the next pastor.
  4. We established priorities in who to share about our transition. First, we shared with our family members. Second, we shared with our ministry board members. Third, we shared with our ministry staff. Fourth, we identified key influencers in our churches and individually shared with them. Finally, at the right time, we shared with our congregation. We found that when those closest to us and those who were key influencers in the church knew ahead of time about our transition, it enabled them to also help answer questions and assure the people in the congregation when they were told about our transition.
  5. We tried to communicate with our congregation and give updates as needed. This did not mean we talked about it every Sunday, or whenever the people want to know something. When positive progress was made, we let the people know. At other times, if progress was not happening, we didn’t say anything except to remind the congregation to keep us in prayer. We found that no communication leads to rumors, untruths, and even accusations circulating in the congregation.
  6. We painted the best possible picture of the incoming candidate to our congregation. We did not embellish or say things to make the new pastor seem super human. We also avoided saying things that the new pastor would find impossible to live up to, or would not be able to deliver to the people. We endeavored to assure the people of the qualities and capabilities of the incoming pastor, so they could rest assured that we had done our best to make sure they will be well taken care of.
  7. We helped the incoming pastor to see the church as it truly is. We made every effort to spend time communicating both the positive and negative aspects of the church and community culture with the incoming pastor. We showed him the inner workings of the structural, organizational, and administrative sides of the church. We identified and helped him to meet with the key people in the church. We also made sure he knew about any unresolved problems in the church.
  8. We allowed enough time for the pastoral transition to happen. We found that the pressure on everyone is great enough in the time of transition without dealing with short time constraints. Sometimes an outgoing pastor has to resist the urges by other people on staff or in the congregation to hurry up the process. We also discovered that conducting the pastoral transition in a reasonable time is also part of being a good leader, and it helped the people to trust in God and their leaders for a successful outcome.
  9. We publicly installed the new pastor in the church. We had a time of prayer, delivered a charge to the new pastor, asked for commitments by both the incoming pastor and the people in the congregation, and together we thanked God and celebrated what God has done. After the service, we had a reception for the new pastor and his wife, which allowed the people to interact with them. Seeing the new pastor installed in front of them helped the people to make the pastoral transition in their hearts and minds.
  10. Finally, when the new pastor was in place, we left and moved on. We refrained from contacting the church people for fellowship. It is now time for the people to look to the new pastor for their leadership and spiritual help. We found that making the transition was difficult enough for the people without them having to look at two leaders.

A final word about going through transition successfully…it took a lot of prayer! Praying and staying spiritually alert were vital so we could do the right things and the right time, and know the right things so we could make good decisions. We found that even when a move is made at the direction of the Lord, it must be covered in prayer. The Apostle Paul said this about the Colossian Church, “Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Colossians 4:12, NKJV). This shows that prayer and experiencing the will of God go together.

Thanks for taking time to read my article. Did these guidelines help you to see what needs to be done in making a successful pastoral transition? What ideas do you have to help churches make successfully make the pastoral transitions?

OVERVIEW OF CANDIDATE FOR SENIOR PASTOR
LifePointe Mattoon Campus
March 4, 2014

Personal

  • Demonstrate Christian and moral character reflective of New Testament Scriptures.
  • Be born again, Spirit-filled, and demonstrate a spirit of faith in God’s Word.
  • Not a novice in their Christian faith; some experience in church functions and duties.
  • Be spiritually, emotionally and mentally stable in their walk with God.
  • Have a good reputation outside of the church; blameless though not perfect.

Family

  • Demonstrate that their marriage is solid and based upon godly values.
  • Demonstrate family values according to New Testament Scriptures.
  • Show their family life is in order scripturally (husband is the head, and wife is the help-mate).
  • All members of the family must be in full agreement to pastor the Life Pointe Mattoon campus.
  • Demonstrate that they are financially stable and pay their bills before or when due.

Ministerial

  • Demonstrate pastoral care abilities when parishioners are in crisis and difficulties.
  • Demonstrate leadership skills to lead the church in fulfilling its mission statement and vision.
  • Demonstrate good administrative and organizational skills.
  • Show a comprehensive understanding of the needs and values of all areas of ministry at the LifePointe Mattoon campus.
  • Demonstrate sufficient preaching and teaching skills to clearly communicate the Gospel and the Word of God.

Doctrinal

  • Must demonstrate a balanced view of doctrines of the Bible.
  • Must agree to and uphold the LifePointe Church tenets of faith.
  • Not be involved in doctrinal fads, tangents, or errors.

Lifepointe

  • Must live in Mattoon, Illinois or close surrounding area for as long as they pastor the LifePointe Mattoon campus.
  • Initially, make a minimum commitment to LifePointe Church of 5 years.
  • Maintain an attitude to pastor the LifePointe Mattoon campus as long as the Lord says to do so, even if that is the rest of their life.
  • Demonstrate the ability to get along and work with the Board of Directors and other ministerial staff at LifePointe Mattoon campus.

Rhema

  • Be a graduate of RHEMA Bible Training College, USA.
  • Currently connected with RHEMA USA, i.e. the alumni association, RMAI, attending RHEMA events, etc…
  • Not connected with other groups, denominations, camps, etc…that oppose or are critical of RHEMA USA.
  • Be willing to maintain ministerial and church connections with RHEMA USA.