By Keith Shields
I began my training with the Transitional Leadership Network (TLN) in 2018 when I was Interim Lead Pastor of a Calgary church. I had been Executive Pastor beside a great Lead Pastor who shepherded for 41 years—21 as Lead Pastor and 20 as Associate. After almost 50 years of continuity, the shift of his retirement would be a shock to the congregation. The church was healthy but needed a transitional period to determine next steps. To serve them well, I sought additional training to strengthen my skills.
Through TLN training, I realized transitional leaders are more than interim leaders holding a place until a new Lead Pastor is hired. Being a Transitional Pastor is challenging because you must do everything a Lead Pastor does (preaching, administration, pastoral care, evangelism, etc.) and guide the church through a transitional process. This process starts with engaging the congregation in prayer and includes assessments regarding closure and healing from the past. It also includes clarifying
vision and preparing for the search process, while attending to congregational care, organizational health, preaching and services, and keeping the church on mission.
Next, the congregation forms a transition team that identifies what needs renovation before hiring a new pastor and areas in which a pastor could lead the congregation into greater health. This helps the church identify who they are and what they’re seeking in a pastor. It also gets more members involved and invested in hiring a new leader.
When the congregation is ready, the Transitional Pastor helps the search team post the job, interview and hire. Sometimes the transitional leader coaches the new pastor. As the spiritual leader, the Transitional Pastor challenges the congregation to bathe the process in prayer, take steps of healing and repentance, and continue spiritual practises that reinforce relying on God.
My first transitional role was highly positive for the congregation, their leaders, and the new Lead Pastor. I recognized that although I made mistakes, God used me to serve his purposes and that he might be calling me to serve other churches. The mix of spiritual gifts and years of experience that God granted me were valuable to congregations needing this kind of help. Later, I served churches in London, ON, Winnipeg, MB, and Simcoe, ON. Each ministry had unique challenges and took about a year to facilitate. All reminded me of the importance of this ministry.
Many congregations, boards, elders, and church leaders are ill-equipped for transitional work. It’s tempting to quickly hire a new pastor without truly considering the type of leader needed given a church’s makeup. A quick hire may be a bad fit. Pastors exploring roles are drawn to churches that invest in finding the right leader by discovering who they are and what they need in a pastor. The transitional process slows down a church’s mechanisms so they can take time to hear God. This requires the church to trust God will speak through the transitional team.
We need leaders who can step into churches in transition with a process that offers hope to a congregation that has lost some momentum and vision. The reasons for a Lead Pastor’s departure may be positive or devastating. Transitional leaders are called into many different circumstances and with appropriate training, and the grace of God, can lead a congregation toward the next phase of life. It is important for denominations, networks, and conferences of churches to have transitional leaders ready and equipped because the need is often unexpected and immediate. I pray that churches within Vision Ministries and beyond will continue to embrace this model of transitional leadership for the sake of healthy congregations across Canada.
About The Transitional Leadership Network (TLN)
TLN is a network of about 40 trained transitional leaders across Canada. TLN offers basic and advanced training. TLN also provides pastors with experience as Transitional Pastors with a process to be credentialled with a denomination or network of churches as further recognition of their calling. (www.transitionalleadership.org)
From the Fall 2024 edition of VMC Thinking Ahead newsletter