Pastoral Transitions: Organization

So today we're going to continue discussing pastoral transition, a common theme in the United Methodist Church.  Whether you pertain to a church currently undergoing a transition or not, no pastor can serve a church forever; at some point, pastoral leadership will be transferred from one to another.  And last week we talked about how this impacts relationships.  This week, we will be talking about the organization of the church and how it may be impacted during transition.  Often times there is a lot of concern as to how the church will operate with a different spiritual leader.  How much will "things" change?  What if he/she does it this certain way?  Will it make any sense to us?

In the United Methodist Church, pastors are called to serve the church by focusing on three particular areas: Word, Sacrament, Order and Service.  Being a steward of the Word, it is my job to make sure that we as a church are faithfully following the scriptural tradition of our faith.  This includes preaching and teaching, but is not limited to this.  Using the language of Scripture in prayer, posting blog posts like these, and discussing faith issues with those outside of the church (evangelism) are all ways in which the pastor serves the church in this area.  Next there is the Sacrament, which is Holy Communion and Baptism.  It is the pastor's duty to administer these two sacraments faithfully and, again, in accordance with the tradition of the church over the past two millennia.  From properly handling the elements at the Lord's Supper to discussing the meaning of baptism with new members to providing reminders to the congregation that our chief identity resides in our baptism is all part of a pastor's task to be a faithful steward of the Sacrament.  And finally, the call to Service describes the pastor's calling to be in faithful service to others, both within and outside of the congregation.  This includes pastoral care and mission projects.  

That leaves the third, and all too often final, the call to Order of the church.  By "Order" we mean that the pastor is called to tend to the ways in which the congregation operates, both internally and externally.  The Book of Discipline uses the phrase "temporal affairs" to describe this task.  This can refer to anything from offering leadership seminars, attending meetings, organizing the office space, etc.  Obviously the church has a lot of different moving parts, and the pastor cannot be directly responsible for each one of them; but ensuring that those parts are moving well, with purpose, and in accordance with the Book of Discipline is part of this duty.  

Since the pastor is tasked with stewarding the order and organization of the church, the smaller the church, the more it will be impacted in this area.  In my case, we have no paid staff other than the pastor, and I am responsible for the lion's share of the order in the church.  In a larger church with many pastors, staff, and a large group of volunteers, the order of the church will remain largely unchanged for a considerable amount of time.  The more directly involved the pastor is in the temporal affairs of the church, the more the church will notice a difference in the pastor's leadership of that church.

Perhaps the first thing most people will notice differently in one pastor over another is their personality and leadership style.  As United Methodists, most of us will lead the congregation in similar ways, making sure that the required committees are functioning, that the mission is being fulfilled, etc.  But right away there will be a change in the way the pastor leads this order.  For example, moving from an extroverted pastor to a more introverted one will be noticed quickly.  Or perhaps having a pastor with a participatory style of leadership versus one with a more directive style of leadership will be immediately apparent.  Is your new pastor more resistant to change in general, or perhaps welcomes change more openly?  In the beginning of a transition, we will be more likely to "feel" a difference due to the unique personality and leadership style of the pastor.  

And due to this uniqueness in different individuals, the greater the difference in personality and leadership style between the departing and arriving pastors, the greater the difference will feel during the transition.  Even if both of these pastors agrees on what is happening, how things should be conducted, and no changes are proposed between them, the transition will feel like a bigger change if the two pastors are very different.  Conversely, if the pastors are very similar in personality and leadership style, then the congregation will not "feel" much difference in the order of the church, even if the new pastor wants to make some significant changes.  

So this begs the question: do we want the transition to "feel" like there has been a big shift, or not?  Well, this depends on the congregation.  Some congregations are in a position where they sense a need for change in the order of temporal affairs; other congregations are in a position where they feel that a sense of stability in the order of temporal affairs is currently best for their mission.  In other words, some churches want a change, others don't, and still some need change but don't want it!  But regardless of whether or not change is good, we are likely to perceive this change based on these factors.

Now that I've thoroughly over-analyzed how the order of the church could change due to experiencing a pastoral transition, for the most part, the order of a healthy church does not and should not change radically with a new pastor.  That is, if the church is healthy, fulfilling its God-given mission in its community and serving others sacrificially, then the temporal affairs of that church are not going to change drastically anytime soon.  In seminary, we pastors are actually taught to avoid change in these temporal affairs as much as possible when moving to a new congregation, so that we can analyze the situation and together work with the congregation to discover new ways of organization that can help support and flourish the ministry of the church.  But again, for the most part, churches do not and will not change drastically in the first year of receiving a new pastor.

This is because the church is not fundamentally about the pastor.  The church is fundamentally about Jesus Christ, the Cornerstone of the church, and the goal of our work.  We are the body of Christ redeemed by his blood,  serving as his hands and feet to a broken and hurting world.  A pastor is an important part of the picture, as a servant-leader in many ways to a congregation.  But the church's affairs are a work of the people.  No pastor should be doing the bulk of the ministry in a church; it's the pastor's job to help teach and equip the congregation to go out into the world to serve.  So in a pastoral transition, while we may feel like there has been a significant change in the affairs of the church, the work that Christ has called us to do remains constant due to the work of the laity, the congregation, and that will remain constant even after this new pastor leaves.

No pastor can administer a church forever, but Christ is the eternal administrator, sorting the temporal affairs here on earth as they are in heaven.  For this we give thanks, and we pray that during pastoral transitions, our churches would thrive, both in the greater picture and in the everyday labors of both the ministers and the congregations.  

Pastoral Transitions: Relationships

Hello everyone, and I pray you've had a great Easter season so far!  My guess is that you have already heard that I am being moved to another church after merely one year in my current appointment.  This is an unusual case, because neither the church nor the pastor requested any move; but the bishop strategically moved a few things around in order to better minister to our shared parish.  So I am going to begin to talk about pastoral transition over the next couple of weeks through our devotionals.  Today I want to begin by discussing the nature of relationships in the church.

First I want to admit that pastoral transition is rarely easy for churches.  Even if the church has asked for their pastor to leave, it doesn't mean the transition from one to the next is any easier.  And even in larger churches with multiple pastors, the transition of any one clergy person can be difficult on the hundreds of people to whom he or she has ministered.  Pastoral transition is difficult because so much of the church's structure is tied to the pastor.  The pastor is a teacher, a preacher, a mentor, a caregiver, a friend, an advocate, a missionary, and an administrator, to name just a few different roles!  So there are few areas in a church which will go unchanged when the pastor changes.  How does the new pastor speak?  How does the new pastor connect with people, and with what kinds of people does the pastor best work?  What are the new pastor's priorities, and what is the new pastor's life experience?

Perhaps we could summarize the role of a pastor in all of the above scenarios as an individual who serves a church so as to bring them and God closer together in relationship.  I mean, what good would a pastor be if he or she did not at least attempt to inspire the congregation to come into closer relation with Jesus Christ, to be his close disciples and to live in accordance with the Holy Spirit?  And how could we serve in this role if we were not passionate about the fact that our God cannot stand being so far apart from us human beings, that this God is one who stops at nothing to enter more deeply into our lives?  Well, if this sounds at all accurate, then it goes to show that the pastor's focus on relationship between humans and God naturally establishes that our energy is focused primary on relationships.  Almost everything a pastor does and should do is geared towards forming and strengthening relationships so as to create a community bound together in love for God.  (For, at the same time, the Holy Spirit is both drawing us as Christians more deeply into Christ while also convicting us to reach out to others to draw them into the fold.  A pastor's job is primarily to foster this.)

All of this goes to say that pastoral transition is a time when relationships change significantly in the body of Christ.  With the exiting of a pastor, the relationship between the now former pastor and the church will be different, because he or she will no longer serve in all of those roles mentioned above.  Furthermore, he or she will no longer be working to develop relationships within that particular congregation, but instead someone else will arrive to fill the job.  This means that nearly all of the systems and relationships built by the previous pastor will be subject to change based on the knowledge, experience, personality and faith of the new pastor.  And this creates anxiety because we are never certain about how well the new pastor will forge relationships with us in the church, or with those outside of its walls.  What if the new pastor doesn't mesh well with us?!

So relationships, and the fact that the pastor's primary job is inherently relational, are a big reason as to why pastoral transition can be difficult and even painful, particularly when it is unplanned or sudden.  However, there are some facts we need to discuss when dealing with relationships in the body of Christ.

First, the (positive) relationships formed by the pastor of a church should not be credited to the pastor, but instead to the Holy Spirit who guides us and flourishes the church.  I know we say this all of the time, that it's not us, but God; however, while this fact is easy to understand, it is difficult to feel.  Even though we know God is behind everything, still we feel a sense of loss when a person moves away, because we sensed God working through that person, and God developed the relationship we had between one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.  In fact, it was God's intention that we would grow to love and trust one another, as it is between all human beings.  And if that love and trust has developed, than glory be to God, for his will has been done on earth as it is in heaven.  However, we must caution ourselves against crediting the pastor with being the agent of this relationship.  If you have formed a strong, constructive bond with a pastor before, then you have clear evidence that God loves you and wishes to draw you into his fold.  And even when the pastor leaves, this God will not leave you, but rather will continue to abide with you just as strongly as ever.

Secondly, don't write the pastor off in your life!!  A pastoral transition does signal many changes for the local church, its relationships, and its administration, but it does not jeopardize your friendship in Christ with that pastor and his or her family!!  It is important during a pastoral transition that the outgoing pastor not interfere with the ministry of the incoming pastor, so that new relationships may be formed through the Holy Spirit.  But, even though a pastor leaves, that doesn't mean the pastor is gone forever; this pastor is still your friend, your brother or sister in Christ, and quite possibly even a neighbor still.  Transition doesn't mean erasure of past relationships; it means God is doing something new in our midst. 

Finally, we must come to a place where we attend a church not because of the pastor in charge, but because of the God whom we serve and adore, and the community of faith with whom we share in service and adoration.  While a pastor functions as a conduit of relationships in the congregation and with God, the departure of a pastor does and should not jeopardize any other relationships already forged by the Holy Spirit.  We are the church!  And we work, socialize and witness together for the edification of the Kingdom of Heaven in our local communities!  We already know that God will never leave us, and we have formed together as a church in relationship with one another; the fact that a pastor is leaving and another is arriving changes none of that.  The momentum gathered by the Holy Spirit to begin new ministries and projects; the way tasks are delegated to individuals with particular gifts; and the way that the congregation has formed into an extended family is all carried over into the next pastorate, by the grace of God.  Simply stated, the church continues its work as before, its mission unchanged, and its witness clear. 

It's also worth discussing how the one individual who is at the highest risk of emotional baggage from pastoral transition is the pastor.  These transitions are never easy for a church, but they are twice as difficult on the pastor, who must answer to the church, to his or her family, and to the bishop (in the case of our United Methodist Church).  Moving to a new area usually means starting over, not only in the day-to-day affairs, but in forging relationships with others.  It can be difficult for a pastor to make long-lasting friendships due to the fact that he or she moves often during a lifetime.  And unlike in most vocations, the pastor rarely has the majority say-so in such moves.

I continue to pray for our churches which are undergoing transitions this year, as many do every year.  And I ask you to do the same, both for congregations and for pastors like me.