The Intentional Interim Staff Pastor
Eyes Wide Open: Full Knowledge and Acceptance
You accepted the position knowing that it would be temporary, and everyone in the church knows that you are filling the position temporarily. Because you are temporary everyone has three expectations of you.
First, maintain the “status quo.”
Status Quo is a Latin term that refers to the existing state or condition of things. Your first responsibility as interim staff pastor is to learn what things were like before you arrived. Interview the senior pastor and key ministry leaders. Develop a description of positive characteristics to continue and negative ones to avoid. Then, with the full knowledge and support of your leadership team, continue the positive ones. Usually, this will mean maintaining the same schedule, traditions, activities, events, and personnel.
When I was in this position, I discovered that the church received communion monthly. Whether or not I preferred to do it monthly was irrelevant. My duty was to continue the ministry as I received it. I also discovered that they had a preaching service every Sunday evening. Again, I might have preferred to use Sunday evening for a Pastor’s Bible study, or for an adult discipleship evening with multiple learning options, or for a home small group night. All of that would have been irrelevant to their situation at that time. The church needed their Sunday evening tradition to continue, so I preached an entirely new sermon every Sunday evening.
The people you are serving don’t want anything changed, only that you maintain everything as it is until your successor arrives. They don’t want you to develop plans for the ministry that your successor won’t support. They may not welcome your opinion about the type of person they should hire to replace you.
If you fail to maintain things as they were, expect them to voice their disappointment. Privately, they will likely excuse your shortcomings as something they will have to tolerate only for a while before “messiah” comes— the new staff member who rides in on a white horse to save them from your perceived incompetence or mediocrity. Don’t take it personally. If they viewed you differently, they might discover your malleability in God’s hands and that you have the potential to be and do far more than they imagined. So, whatever you do, make every effort to maintain the status quo.
Second, do no harm.
Doing no harm means not offending anyone or hurting the ministry.
Do no harm to their memories: Your predecessor was likely loved and respected by some, if not many, people who are still loyal to him. They are grieving his loss. So honor his memory and speak well of him.
If your predecessor left under unfavorable circumstances, listen to people’s grievances without taking sides. Hear their complaints as a call for healing and hope. Their image of the church and of pastoral leaders has taken a beating. Some of them never thought that anything like this could happen in a church among Christians. Your task is to help rebuild their faith in God and to help them find hope for the future. The storm didn’t last forever. The calm waters that now carry them will fall. The Ark will soon come to rest on solid ground. Everyone who completes the journey will have an opportunity to begin again, having learned from the past.
Do no harm to their numbers: The people know instinctively that the ministry is in a tenuous position. Some may be fearful that people, their friends in the church, may leave. They want to keep everyone on the Ark with the hope of finding dry ground and a fresh start—along with everyone who started the journey (as unrealistic as that may be). Most people will stay on-board until your successor arrives, but a few people may jump ship along the way. This is demoralizing to your “passengers” when it happens. Help them understand that some attrition is normal now and even after your successor begins his ministry. Some people have counted the cost of the journey and don’t want to pay it, whether the cost is relational, emotional, spiritual, or financial. Their departure may affect donations to the ministry. Your mission is to minimize loss of members and income.
If you harm the ministry by speaking ill of your predecessor, or through dropping attendance levels or giving, expect people to harm you. They will be quick to assign blame and you are the most visible target. So, avoid making this a shooting match by doing no harm.
Third, prepare them for your successor.
This isn’t one of their expectations, but it is something that they may permit you to do. As the interim you are in a unique position to help the people in your circle of influence. They know you are temporary—and so do you. Use that to your advantage. You will be with them only a short time. Use that time to prepare them for your successor. You can help them discuss and process the departure of your predecessor. You can facilitate their self-discovery of things that led to his departure. What can they learn from that experience?
- Help them Reflect on the Past:
- What will they miss about their predecessor? What won’t they miss?
- Why did he leave and how has his departure affected the ministry and the church?
- How did they contribute to his decision to leave?
- Are they comfortable with this, or regretful?
- What mistakes did they make, if any, and how can they avoid them with your replacement?
- Help them Heal in the Present:
- Prayer
- Invite them to pray for their prior staff pastor.
- Ask them to pray for their new staff pastor.
- Lead them in prayer during regular planning meetings.
- Bible
- Share encouraging scripture verses that help build their faith and help them develop a biblical perspective on the person who will staff this opening.
- Preach or teach on topics related to faith, hope in periods of transition.
- Retreat
- Suggest that you have a retreat for the purpose of gathering for prayer to plead for God’s help.
- Schedule this as a weekend away from the church, or as an on-campus retreat for a day.
- Prayer
- Help them find Hope for the Future:
- Help them dream about the future in an effort to raise their level of anticipation for the new staff pastor and his ministry.
- Talk to them about how their new pastor will be different form the previous one. As much as possible, take the shine off their idealistic dream and paint a real picture of what a pastor is like: Faults and foibles, strengths and weaknesses, talents and the lack of them. You’ll do him a favor, enabling him to get a better start.
