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Working Yourself Out Of A Job

(How interim pastors can help their church’s pastoral search committees)

 

Of the many projects I’ve undertaken as an interim pastor in several churches, helping these church’s long-term pastor search committees has been among the most satisfying.  The help I have given has been greatly appreciated, the task of leading these groups has been comparatively easy (if leadership is ever easy) and the long-term results of the projects (all three pastors called were very good “matches”) have been gratifying.  On top of that the long-term pastors who’ve succeeded me have become personal friends.  Each time the process has left me feeling that if the only thing I had done for the church was this guidance of their search committee, it would have been worth the effort on the part of the church to have me there.  As John the Baptist discovered before us (John 3:29), there is real joy in being the “bridegroom”!

 

Here’s what has differed in the three churches in which I have helped their search committees:

 

* The “delivery method” of the help I’ve given has differed.  During my first interim pastorate I was with an organization which would not allow me to meet with the search committee at all.  In this church I served like a coach who’s been tossed out of the game: I coached from the locker room.  Before each meeting of the committee I “did breakfast” with the search committee chairman and thoroughly discussed the upcoming meeting with him.  In my second church I was the official chairman of the committee, but worked hard at keeping my personal opinions out of their process and excused myself from the room during some crucial discussions.  In the third church I again met with the chairman before each meeting and then sat beside him as a coach at each meeting.  I would do any of these scenarios again; they all “worked” in their own way.

 

* The extent of the help I’ve given has also differed.  The first church needed my guidance desperately.  The second church needed and received my help extensively. The third search committee needed and received my help moderately. 

 

With that said, here are some specific ways I was able to help the three churches:

 

1.  I helped each church to get the right people on the search committee.  This is a crucial role in which the interim should always play a part because having the best people possible on the committee is “key” to a great result.

 

2.  I had more time than any of the church’s lay leaders to study the search committee materials ahead of time and “get a handle” on the process as it was recommended to me by the Evangelical Free Church district leaders I was working with.   The committee members still had to read the handbooks but they had a “native guide” with them (me) who understood the “pastor-speak” in which they were written and was able to make as many phone calls as necessary (during the day) to our district leaders.

 

3. In each situation I took the church through a thorough-going strategic planning or ReFocusing process before the search committee was even formed.  This means that when the search committee began its work, more than one third of its mission was already completed.  This was very encouraging for each group, as you might imagine.  It was also immeasurably important for each of these churches to go through most of the aspects of a strategic planning process – through which they wrote or re-wrote a mission statement, core values, vision statement and chose a target group - before they began working on formulating the profile of the pastor they would be looking for.  (For some thoughts on strategic planning materials, see my Resource page.)

 

4.  All through the process I was able to help the committee members to understand pastors.  I explained, as mentioned, the language used in the search committee guidebooks, the jargon used in resumes, the nomenclature used in the “MinisterConnection.Net” computer data base (computer dating for pastors and churches, if you’re not familiar with this tool) and the “Ministry Match” pastor profiles. At many points along the way it was my joy to diffuse offenses and correct misunderstandings which arose from lay persons not understanding the language of pastoral resumes.  Examples?  How about the search committee that thought that a pastor must be a Rick Warren “clone” because he used the term “purpose driven”?  Then there was the search committee who thought that an E-Free pastor who had attended a liberal seminary must still be a liberal.  In this case, my personal knowledge of the candidate was a big help!

 

5.  To a certain extent I served as secretary for each search committee, making copies, taking minutes, channeling paperwork to church secretaries, etc. As a highly organized person I know I helped these groups to stay on track.

 

6.  Because I see many churches and study church health, I am probably better able than the folks in the church to see their congregation and area objectively and write honest and accurate church histories and community and church profiles.  This helps to ensure that the right man “falls in love with” the congregation and is not disillusioned by what he finds when he arrives on the scene. 

 

7.  Because I am a pastor myself I have been able to help the committees to draft good questions to put to their candidates in their phone and personal interviews.  I trust that I have also been able to help the pastors the committees have considered by protecting them from unnecessary paperwork, letting them know quickly if they are no longer being considered by the church, sparing them from unrealistic candidating trip schedules etc.  In turn, my wife has helped me tremendously in this process by reminding me of what is unfair and burdensome for pastors’ wives and children.

 

8.  At times I’ve served as spiritual leader and peacemaker in the committees.  Sometimes having the church’s senior leader in the search committee room has been very helpful for gently correcting bad behavior. The leaders of the two groups which I did not officially lead were sometimes bowed down by the weight of the task; I’m grateful I was able to hold up their arms and strengthen their hands at crucial junctures. We became really good friends in the process. 

 

Are there dangers involved in the interim pastor being involved in the process?  Of course.  Here are a few:

 

(1) First and foremost, the interim should resist the temptation to make himself a candidate for the position.  I know that this can work out in unusual circumstances, but for the most part, the interim pastor needs to declare his “non-candidacy” from day one of his pastorate and stick to it.  Making himself a candidate will “muddy” the process, making it impossible for the committee to do its work objectively.  To choose someone other than the interim (and the same scenario applies to pastoral associates within the church) amounts to a rejection of the interim pastor; something most search committee members don’t have the courage to do. 

 

(2) Some interim pastors unduly control the process and virtually hand-pick their successor.  If the interim has too strong a voice in the process and the new long-term pastor isn’t a good fit, the interim pastor (and the concept of interim pastorates) will be blamed.

 

(3) The interim pastor will be tempted to push the committee in the direction of getting someone like him, instead of getting the kind of man they need. I always end up telling the churches that “I may have been the best man on the planet for this church over the past eighteen (or whatever) months, but right now and in the future you need a man with gifts that are different from mine.”

 

(4) It’s tempting to steer the committee in the direction of someone whose doctrinal or philosophical biases please the interim but make him a poor match for the church. 

 

(5) It’s certainly possible for the interim to do too much for the committee and its chairman, robbing them of the growth that God wants for them and the experience they’ll need at some point in the future. (More than likely I'm guilty of having done this!)

 

In short, the guidance of the search committee is one of the most satisfying things the interim pastor can do for the church and one of the best reasons for churches to call interim pastors.  Like the harbor pilot spoken of in the article (at this site), “Metaphorically Speaking,” the experienced interim can help guide churches through the dangerous waters of pastoral transitions before joyfully surrendering the “helm” of the church to the new long-term pastor.

 

The Surgical Model Compared To Nine Developmental Tasks Of The Interim Congregation

Download nine_developmental_tasks.rtf

Determining The Level Of Intentionality Needed In An Interim Pastor

Brian's note: Dr. Ken Moberg designed this grid to help church leaders determine the type of interim pastor their church needs.  A "high level of intentionality" is another way of saying, a transitional or transformational (or interventionist) interim pastor, as opposed to a traditional or "maintenance model" interim pastor (or none at all). 

 

Category	1	2	3	4	5
Relationship between Pastor and Leadership Board	Harmony and mutual support	Normal give-and-take	Characterized by tension; attempts at reconciliation	Tension without reconciliation	Open accusation
Departure of Pastor	Pastor retired out of this ministry	Pastor was called to another ministry	Pastor left without having another ministry	Pastor was asked to leave	Pastor was dismissed for cause
Length and Character of Pastor’s Tenure	6-12 years, well regarded by most	4 to 8 years, well regarded by most	4 to 8 years, mixed reviews	More than 8 years and well regarded, or less than 4 years and not well regarded	More than 12 years and highly esteemed, or less than 2 years not well regarded
Location of Former Pastor	More than 100 miles away	More than 25 miles away	Still in community, looking to move	Still in community, no plans to move	Still in the church, or planting another church in same community
Cohesiveness of Church	No families expected to leave	Less than 10% of families likely to leave	10% of families likely to leave	25% of families likely to leave	More than 50% of families likely to leave
Maturity of Leadership	Leaders mature, trained, rotational turnover	Some maturity, no training, some unplanned turnover	No training, some unplanned turnover	No training, high unplanned turnover	Elected leaders have resigned due to conflict
Nature of Leadership	Healthy turnover of leadership; former leaders become good followers	Elected and non-elected leaders aligned	Same people always elected	Elected leaders are tentative, afraid to lead	Non-elected leadership in charge
Leadership Meetings	Prayer and vision dominate agenda	Short-range goals dominate agenda	Business dominates agenda	Problems and discipline dominate agenda	Survival dominates agenda
Clarity of Vision	Vision documents are clear and agreed upon	Documents present but people can’t articulate vision	Documents present but little agreement	Old documents, vision not agreed upon	No vision documents; evidence of agenda conflict
Congregational Meetings	Congregational meetings are helpful, prayerful, worshipful	Congregational meetings are mostly business	Congregational meetings are generally considered irrelevant	Congregational meetings show tension that nobody addresses	Congregational meetings show open hostility
Growth History	Growing annually by 15% or more over the past five years	Growing annually by 10-15% over the past five years	Growing by 1-10% over the past five years	Stagnant over the past five years	Declining over the past five years
Effective Evangelism	10% conversion growth rate sustained for past five years	Conversion growth rate between 5 and 10% for past five years	Conversion growth rate under 5% for past five years	Occasional stories of conversion over past five years	No evangelistic growth over past five years
Life Cycle of a Church (Bullard)	Vision dominates; relationships and programs healthy VRPm	Programs and relationships dominate, vision okay vRPm	Programs dominate, little vision vrPm	Management dominates, relationships strained vrpM	Vision, relationships, programs, management weak vrpm
Totals

Circle the box for each category that best describes your church situation.  Then add up the points down the columns and determine a total score.  Add up the scores of all the columns for a grand total.  The higher the grand total, the greater the need you will have for an intentional interim pastor.

Used by permission of Dr Ken Moberg

Gaining Restoration Authority

Where do strategic (or “restoration” or “redevelopment”) interim pastors get the authority to change so much so fast in the churches they lead?

A church-health expert once told me that “all an interim pastor can do is to give a church a good slap in the face.” As one who has been doing interim pastoring for several years now I’m so glad this isn’t true! Frankly, I’m amazed at how much God has changed the three interim congregations I’ve served. I’ve given some thought to the question above and here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

1. Pray desperately. I don’t want to slap churches; I want to be used by God to change churches significantly for His glory. While I do believe that interim pastors have some ability to change organizational dysfunction through their own interventions, lasting change that honors God comes from the Spirit of God (John 15:5; Zechariah 4:6). If this is true (and it is), then the most important thing I can do is to pray. Seriously. Desperately. Comprehensively – which means – for every sermon and class of course, but also for every church member, every meeting, every encounter. I’ve come to believe that it’s the kind of prayer that takes hours, not moments, that moves God to transform churches. The battle is not ours, it’s the Lord’s (I Samuel 17:47). To the degree that I really believe that, to the same degree I will pray.

2. Tell the truth. All Bible-believing pastors are “about” change, of course. It’s the business we’re in. Many long-term pastors believe in introducing significant church change incrementally and that’s fine for them. Transitional or transformational interim pastors however, don’t have the luxury of having years to change things. The churches we are leading are sinking ships, dying patients, crumbling facades. We have to move fast. We are more like emergency room physicians – for whom bedside manner is not much of a concern – than family doctors. I believe in telling congregations the truth before they vote on us. They can take it and they’ll respect you for it. I explain what interim pastors like me do, tell some stories of our previous adventures and then challenge them to commit themselves and their churches to God, unequivocally. “Leave your guns at the city limits (like the Earp brothers in Tombstone), leave your swords at the door, lay aside your idols and put your church on the operating room table with a willingness for God to change it in any way that He wants to.” Most people who are truly God’s people know that this is the right thing to do and will respond well. Tell them the truth.

3. Be approachable. Most of us are kind of scary to most lay people, at least at first. If we have to walk in the door calling people to repentance for their gossip and disunity – and we must sometimes do this – we can be very scary. We can mitigate this by being physically small – ‘works for me but it might not work for you – and by being as warm as possible, loving kids, dogs, cats, goldfish, home cooking and especially, by listening.

Listening is a wonderful gift which we can give to our church members liberally. It costs us in time, but that’s all. Everybody loves to be listened to, so start listening a lot, right away, before you even arrive on the scene. People will love you for it. I have the blessing of having a wife who is a better listener than I am. She more than doubles my listening power and greatly increases my “leadership coupons” (I’ve also heard these called “pastor points”). Listen to the people who you know you’re going to disagree with. Try to hear their hearts. What are they afraid of? How can I reassure them? Remember that in some cases, they’re not expecting you to agree with them, they just want to be heard.

4. Forgive liberally. When you start changing things people are going to take some “whacks” at you. People are going to gossip about you. Some will say some tacky things in classes or meetings you’re leading. While many behaviors should be lovingly confronted by the interim pastor – especially if they represent patterns of behavior - other things should be simply covered over with love (I Peter 4:8). Pray for the wisdom to know when to confront and forgive and when to simply forgive. If you forgive liberally – and we all have the ability in Christ to do this - some of your strongest and most affectionate supporters at the end of your interim will be people who treated you disrespectfully at the beginning.

5. Work hard. Get your hands dirty. We all know that we should “give ourselves to the ministry of the Word and prayer” like the Apostles in Acts 6:2-4, but sometimes we have to violate that a bit by shoveling snow, moving walls (with permission), pulling weeds, tarring roofs, etc. Most of the best people in your church are hard working people; make sure they know that you’re a hard working person too. The worst thing you can do is to come across like a dressed-up, professional technician – and yes, I’ve seen this. You are “messing with” what they consider to be their church. (Of course we all know that it’s really Jesus’ church, but it’s still their church more than it’s your church and you’d better let them know that you know this.)

6. Show up. Be fun. Okay, maybe you’re like me - not much fun – but you can try anyway, while making fun of yourself for not being much fun. People will give you credit for trying. Attend the parties you’re invited to. Attend the soccer games, wrestling matches, concerts and whatever else you’re invited to. This is such a simple thing, but it means so much to people. Woody Allen said that “50% of success in life is just showing up.” He was right. Show up.

7. Learn names. Everybody loves to hear their own name used...everybody. A few people I know are really good with names. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. I have to work at it. When I meet a visitor at church I’ll not only repeat his/her name out loud, but after walking away, right it down as quickly as possible. We start every interim pastorate with visiting and getting to know as many people in the church as are willing to get together with us. We ask them twenty questions (literally) and hear their life stories. Most people love it. If people don’t want us in their homes, we try to meet them at restaurants. Very few people don’t want this attention. At my next assignment I’m going to carry a digital camera and take photos of family groups on every one of these visits. As soon as I get home, I’ll print the photos and try to get the right names written on the right people, dogs, cats – whoever ended up in the photo.

8. Move to the area. I know that many interim pastors live in a metro area and do a lot of driving to a succession of interim pastorates. I know that they do effective work in this way, but we believe that our work is a little more effective because we move, “lock, stock and barrel” to every community where we interim. We waste no time in learning the history and distinctives of the area. We often know more about the area (within a few months) than the natives who have lived there for decades. This is going to be hard for some of you to hear but we even believe in “cheering for the home team” as much as possible. After fifty years in Wisconsin, I cheered for Arizona teams while in Arizona (even the Cardinals!) and Minnesota teams while in Minnesota. (There are limits to this of course, such as when the Vikings play the Packers.) For the most part though, you will increase your ability to affect change if you will totally move to the area. And, by the way, I’m sure the author of I Corinthians 9:19-23 would recommend this.

9. Choose your battlegrounds. This is also called “choosing the hill you’re going to die on” and it’s oh-so-important for the interim pastor. There are serious problems in the churches we pastor which must be met head-on. These things affect the effectiveness of the church and thus, the glory of God. There are other things which we simply don’t like. Especially as interims, we have no business making issues out of things which are simply not “our style.” Maybe they call the communion table an “alter” and insist on having a pot-luck dinner on the last Sunday of every month. Maybe their music isn’t exactly our cup of tea. Do these things really matter?

I recently had an elder board ask me about my music style. My answer was that “my” music style was irrelevant. The church should be like Paul in I Corinthians 9 and adapt itself in its music to reach the people in its mission field. The pastor – interim or long-term - should adapt himself to fit the church which has adapted itself to reach its community. I can play my style of music at home, all I want.

10. Praise exorbitantly. Somebody said that “nobody ever died from an overdose of encouragement.” The churches we interim pastor are troubled and generally have many faults. They also are not without their strengths. Almost every church has at least some really fine people doing some really fine ministry for all the right reasons. Praise and encourage these people liberally. You will empower them and they, in turn, will empower you. At one of the churches we interimed we discovered a staff member (I’m withholding details to protect the guilty) with an extraordinarily good ministry. It came as a shock to learn that the former senior pastor hadn’t encouraged this brother for years. All it took was some praise and encouragement to see him take his ministry to a whole new level and I was rewarded with his support and cooperation.

11. Ooze faith. I’m not sure if it’s because I (1) have the gift of faith, (2) have walked with God as long as I have, (3) am silly enough to believe the Bible, or (4) all of the above, but I find it pretty easy to walk into some pretty damaged churches with complete faith that God is willing and able to transform them into vibrant, joyful, effective ministries. In each church I’ve served I’ve had people ask me, in great pain, “Do you think our church is going to survive?” I answer that, “If some of you are willing to give it completely to God, it will not only survive, it will thrive.” If you can’t do this you probably shouldn’t be a strategic, transformational interim pastor. If you’re pretty sure that you can do this then you might be able to gain “restoration authority” and be a candidate for this intensely difficult but richly rewarding ministry.

Sample Interim Pastor Contract

Interim Pastor Parameters And Contract For Brian Thorstad And (name of church)

1. It is understood that Pastor Thorstad will not, under any circumstances, be a candidate for the position of long-term pastor of the church. This is because the ability of the intentional interim pastor to fulfill his unique type of ministry is dependant upon the understanding, on both sides, of the short-term nature of his stay.

2. Pastor Thorstad’s term with the church will be for at least one year from the date of the beginning of his ministry with the church and may be extended on a month-by-month basis at the discretion of both the church and Pastor Thorstad. In most cases, intentional interim pastors remain with the church until a long-term pastor is called. (Pastor Brian’s first three interims have been 13, 15 and – approximately - 25 months in length.) If the church elects to end Brian’s ministry with the church before the end of the one year period, he shall be given 30 days severance pay. Should Brian choose to end his ministry before the end of the six month period, he shall give the church 30 days notice of his departure.

3. Pastor Thorstad will give himself to the work of taking the church through its interim time and will not hold any outside employment while he is with the church. He will work at least forty hours per week. He may engage in writing projects, district leadership ministries or the coaching or training of interim pastors “on his own time.”

4. Pastor Thorstad will dialogue with the church’s leadership team regarding the existing senior or solo pastor’s written ministry description, if the church has one. He will labor in prayer, give pastoral care, preach, teach and manage ministries as necessary. His leadership efforts will be focused on the nine developmental tasks which a church needs to go through during the interim time and the training of leaders to equip the church for its future. He will seek to be very proactive and intentional in his work. The specific goals of his interim ministry – which can vary greatly from church to church - will be worked out with the church’s leadership team after several weeks of information gathering.

5. Pastor Brian will receive the salary and benefits (or an equivalent amount of compensation) which were received by the previous long-term pastor.

6. The Thorstad’s moving expenses to your area will be paid by the church. This will usually include truck rental (not a moving service) gas, meals and motel stays. The Thorstads try to keep these expenses as low as possible.

7. Depending on the day of the week on which the Thorstads arrive in your community, Brian may ask to be allowed to devote himself to “settling in” during his first week in your community.

8. Donna Thorstad will not be considered an employee of the church, but will be allowed to use her gifts as God leads her.

9. Pastor Thorstad requests one month of paid vacation per one year of service, to be pro-rated accordingly if his ministry with the church is longer or shorter than one year. (Six months of ministry would equate to two weeks of paid vacation; eighteen months of ministry would equate to six weeks of paid vacation.) Because of the intensive nature of interventionist interim ministry, he may elect to take one or two weeks after the first six months with your church. He may take some or all of his vacation time at the end of his term with the church, so the Thorstad’s can get moved to and mentally rested for their next ministry.

10. In most cases, Pastor Thorstad will take Fridays off and requests that the church honor this need, as much as possible, emergencies excepted. In most cases, Brian will use Monday as his “serious study day” and will not interrupt his sermon preparation on these days to return phone calls, etc. As he will normally work for the church six days per week, he may request some days off if out-of-town guests are with the Thorstad’s.

11. It is understood that the liability insurance policy held by the church currently will apply to Pastor Thorstad’s ministry with the church.

12. Pastor Thorstad will offer as much help as is wanted by the church’s Pastoral Search Committee. (He usually serves in a “coaching” capacity.) He will not be present when a candidate for the long-term pastorate preaches at the church or is voted on.

13. Pastor Thorstad will be allowed and expected to attend Evangelical Free Church functions such as local “cluster group” or “healthy church network” meetings of pastors. He also asks that he be allowed to travel for bi-monthly or quarterly meetings with the District Superintendent and that he and Donna be allowed to attend annual or semi-annual District Conferences. He will use expense account funds for these functions if possible.

14. He also asks to be reimbursed for mileage at the current IRS rate for extended trips needed for the church, such as hospital visitation outside the local area.

We have read, understood and agree to these parameters on this day of

______, 200_

Signed: (Church board/leadership team members)