Leadership transitions will be a part of your church’s story. Unless your founding pastor is still leading the church, you’ve walked down the road of succession before. You will again one day.
As of 2022, only 16 percent of Protestant pastors were under the age of 40. The average age of a pastor was 52 years old.
Chances are, your church is soon going to require a new pastor someday. No matter how long your pastor has been at your church, that will be an emotionally charged change for your church. A pastor serves as the spiritual leader of your congregation. They’re shepherds who marry and bury congregants—and care for so many more of the needs in between.
It doesn’t matter how well your leadership prepares for a change like this. If you’re not taking into consideration the emotional and spiritual impact upon your congregants as you make the move, you’re guaranteeing disaster.
So how do you get your congregation ready for this important transition? This blog post will help you define the transition for your church members, understand the myriad of feelings they may have, and how to help them through the transition.
What is Succession Planning?
Succession planning is an intentional process churches and their leaders take part in as they prepare for upcoming leadership transitions, particularly for the lead pastor role. Think of it as creating a roadmap for where your church will go when your pastor retires or moves to a new ministry.
This written roadmap describes how you’ll:
- Identify people (either inside or outside the church) who could be ministry leaders in the future.
- Prepare these future leaders through mentoring and a gradual transition into their new role.
- Key milestones and responsibilities for each step along the way.
As you can see, a succession plan is broader than just a “replacement plan” for your pastor. Clarity around how the transition takes place helps to calm fears inevitable in a transition like this.
Think of it as an act of stewardship. By planning ahead, you’re caring for the people, resources, and mission the Lord has entrusted to your church. Succession is about cultivating growth, ensuring continuity in your ministry, and being faithful to the next generation.
Common Fears Around Succession
Fear is a normal part of any change, whether you’re changing the style of your bulletin, the brand of coffee in your fellowship hall, or the layout of the parking lot.
But making a change of your lead pastor is on a whole different level. While the intensity of that fear may depend upon the length of time your pastor has been at the church, there are a few fears that you can expect congregants to have when a leadership change is announced.
- Will the church’s values be consistent? Values stem from leadership—and flow to every part of the church. They impact everything from how decisions are made to the tone of the worship service.
- Will I still feel comfortable with the preaching and music? New leadership often means big changes to how the church does ministry. People wonder whether a new pastor will mean a new style in public worship services.
- Will this distract us from our work? It’s hard to continue momentum even when leadership doesn’t change. People know that changing leadership will take much of the focus for an extended period of time. They’ll worry about pauses in all the great activities they love about their church.
- Will I have a place to serve? Many changes could come to the ministries of your church in a transition. When ministries go away, it isn’t just the people served who lose out. Volunteers who found meaning and purpose in those ministries feel a sense of loss, too.
These fears—and others—are why congregants get concerned when pastors begin to talk publicly about transitioning to new leadership.
Normalize those concerns, though. It’s okay—and normal!—to be afraid regarding a change in pastoral leadership. But it’s important that you encourage congregants not to let these concerns control the process.
That’s why it’s critical you have a consistent plan to build trust as you head into this transition period.
How to Talk About Succession Without Causing Fear
Once you understand these common fears, you need to learn how to address them as you plan for your succession. Here is how you can approach these conversations with wisdom and care.
Be Transparent
Lead with honesty. Your congregation’s trust is the most important part of your church’s transition. You’re really trying to successfully hand over to the next leader the trust your congregation has in the previous leader.
You’ll sabotage that trust from day one if you try to hide anything in this process.
Focus on Mission
The more you can remind your congregation about their shared purpose and reassure them it hasn’t changed, the better off they’ll be. Your joint mission — namely the Great Commission — will focus everyone on God’s work, not their fears.
Help your congregants see that every ministry of the church — from age-based ministries to your worship to your outreach efforts—have a joint purpose to reach your community and engage the world with the good news about Jesus.
In the book Passing the Baton, Tom Mullins tells the story of transitioning the leadership of Christ Fellowship Church in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, to his son, Todd. In order to help calm the fears of their team and congregation, they continually brought everyone back to the values and mission, which wouldn’t change during the transition.
“I believe it’s important for the leaders to redirect any feelings of sadness or anxiety about leadership changes, and remind people to celebrate the things that won’t change,” Mullins writes. “This brings a sense of security to your people, while still helping them understand the need for the change.”
Involve the Congregation
The more congregants you get involved in the succession project, the better the “buy-in” will be for the transition. Town halls, surveys, and small group discussions give people an opportunity to give input on the way forward. Among the important discoveries you can find from these discussions, it’s crucial to learn about the qualities your church desires in its next leader.
One of the most important ways you can involve more of your congregation is through prayer. Consider creating a prayer guide to help people lift up the church throughout the transition.
Highlight Growth Opportunities
Change can be a time for renewal and growth in the life of a church. Frame the transition as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. This optimism is particularly important to hear from the outgoing pastor.
This can also be a great time to share stories of other churches that have thrived through transitions like the one you’re heading into.
Communicate Well, Communicate Often—And Trust God
At the core, helping your church through a transition period like this is about communication. People fear the unknown. The more information you provide along the way, the less they’ll be afraid of this important transition.
That’s why it’s important to leverage technology to keep people informed. Tools like a robust church management system that allows you to send personalized, consistent, targeted emails and text messages to congregants are great ways to provide ongoing communication.
Leave no communications channel behind, including your website, mobile app, social media, etc. Work on developing a communication plan that takes all of these considerations into account.
Your goal? You want to make sure there are no surprises.
The fear your congregation may have about an upcoming pastoral transition is normal, but it doesn’t need to be final. It’s an opportunity to trust God with the future of your church.
Be honest throughout the process. Stay focused on your mission. Get as many people involved as possible.
And remind your congregants that God is inviting your church into the next stage of his story. He’ll be there through every step.
To learn more about how your church can prepare for a leadership change, check out our free guide, Planning for Tomorrow: Effective Succession Strategies for Church Leaders.
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