Succession Issues
Pastor Succession: Does your church have a plan for when your pastor leaves? Jeff Chitwood has a great article over at the Christian Standard that talks about pastor succession. You know, many churches are just now beginning to talk openly about pastor succession and leadership transition. Here is some of what Jeff shares about his… read more
6 days, that was the shortest amount of time I ever spent working for one employer. The job was restocking videos and working the register at the local video store in my home town. It really was a shame because I liked the idea of watching movies all day and getting paid for it; however,… read more
The purpose of this study is to examine the succession processes and experiences of senior pastors in megachurches. The term succession is used in the study to refer to the transition in which one leader leaves an organization and another one takes her/his place. The term process speaks of the sequence of individual and collective… read more
Bryan Carter, Senior Pastor at Concord Church in Dallas, Texas speaks about the important topic of “Success for the Succession Pastor.” As Bryan says: “Everyone won’t plant a church.” Bryan followed Dr. E.K. Bailey who had a well-known fantastic ministry. I think Bryan’s lessons are appropriate for any pastor but his first, “Learn to live… read more
It seems only appropriate to conclude this series with the word “succession.” Whether you want to think about it or not, your tenure as senior pastor or executive director (or the tenure of your organization’s leader) will come to an end some day. The problem is that many first chair leaders and leadership teams choose… read more
Pastoral succession planning is a process that develops a plan for replacing the current pastor and begins to implement that plan prior to the current pastor’s departure. The purpose of pastoral succession planning is to enable a church to move forward into the next phase of its external mission and internal development with a new… read more
First, there’s a planning phase. “Every important issue pertaining to succession must get surfaced. Who picks? What is the time frame? Will the pastor have any role after the transition?” And so forth. This should not be rushed. Second, seek to find an internal person who can be the successor. If you can’t find an… read more
Does your church have a succession plan for the founding pastor? If so, will it hold legal ground if it had to be enacted? Many husband and wife teams pastor the church together and desire that if either one of them passes away that the other will continue to lead the work. However, many of… read more
We were flying high. Our church had grown every year for over twenty years, and our attendance average topped 4500. On Easter, we’d minister to 8,000. That was early in this decade. I was in my early fifties, and we began talking about a ten year transition plan, including things like debt reduction, completing our… read more
Begin planning sooner than later. Especially when there is a founding or strong Sr. Pastor, a significant time of transition is critical to a smooth transition for these reasons: The successor can build his/her team. The congregation can “know the voice of the shepherd.” The existing pastor can build the credibility of the new. Significant… read more
The senior pastor of a several-hundred member church in the Midwest dies of a heart attack. A youth pastor of a suburban Southern California church commits sexual indiscretion. The children’s pastor of a megachurch in Florida accepts an invitation to the district office. The faithful church administrator of a thriving church in the Northwest Ministry… read more
Succession planning has long been a topic of conversation among a number of my friends and associates. Not because we’re eager for those who are in authority over us to step aside, but because it’s actually very encouraging for those under authority to know that those in authority are thinking about these things. Their eye… read more
Working with a small Bible study group, Tim Keller planted Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan in 1989. The transition from a church’s first to second senior pastor is particularly difficult for a thriving congregation. So Redeemer isn’t even bothering to try. Instead, Redeemer revealed in June that it plans to eventually divide into four distinct… read more