Special Circumstances: the Assistant/Associate Pastor becomes the Senior, part one

One of my "dreams" for the church is that pastoral transitions would go more smoothly for most, if not all, churches. I am convinced that one way for this to happen more frequently is if the transition is a planned "hand-off" of the outgoing Pastor's rather than a "from-scratch" restart of pastoral ministry every time the Senior Pastor (or any other pastoral staff member) leaves. I want to focus on this topic with a short series. There are four areas to consider:

• Why a "hand-off" is valuable
• Should the Associate/Assistant become the Senior?
• Strategies for the newly named Senior Pastor
• Planning for succession

I'll look at all three in their own post, starting with the first in this post.

Why would a church, or a search committee, consider naming one of their Assistant or Associate Pastors as their new Senior Pastor? Maybe a better question is, why wouldn't they consider it?

I'm often surprised that this is not considered a more viable option than it is. After all, in every other area of our lives, we would expect this to be the case: a hard-working employee might get first consideration for a promotion to management. A natural leader on an athletic team will be named as captain. An effective Sunday School teacher might be nominated for a church office. In almost every circumstance, it is not difficult to imagine that someone who proves their capacities in one area will be seriously considered in a similar area.

Why is it so difficult to imagine the same thing happening with a pastor? I can see three reasons that immediately commend giving serious consideration to an Assistant or Associate Pastor for any church that is seeking a Senior Pastor:

• His abilities are known. Quite often, an Assistant or Associate Pastor has already demonstrated his abilities in most, if not all, of the areas of responsibility that the Senior Pastor might have. In many cases, he was what I call the "dump guy"-- in other words, everything that the Senior Pastor didn't have time for that week got dumped on his desk! Which means that he likely has a broad range of competencies, the capacities to handle many things competing for his attention, and the ability to get done the most important parts of ministry. You've probably heard him teach plenty, and unless the previous Senior was a pulpit despot, you've heard him preach a good bit, too.
• His weaknesses are known. This one might be more important even than the first, because these are the things that are difficult, if not impossible, to get a sense of in a typical candidacy process (with resumés, interviews, etc.). You already know where he's going to be a disappointment! What is more, you've probably already gotten over the disappointment he'll bring in those areas, and have accepted those weaknesses along with all of the strengths and abilities that make him a good Associate Pastor. In short, the "honeymoon" ended a while ago-- and you're still together, even though you have a clear sense of what his ministry among your congregation will really be like. How much is it worth not having to go through those disappointments again?
• His character is known. By this I mean, he has already earned the trust of the congregation, or at least of a significant part of it. No new Pastor, be they a Senior or Assistant, fresh from seminary or a well-known name in the denomination, has enough credibility to instantly have the trust of a congregation. Sure, there will be some who got to know him through the interviews and like him a lot, and there may even be some who know his name from a conference where he spoke or an article he wrote for the denominational magazine. But if he is new, most of the congregation will not grant him their explicit trust right away. Meanwhile, your existing Assistant or Associate has already done the groundwork to earn their trust, and he now has it. Which means that real ministry can actually happen.

Another way to think about this is by way of generalities. Generally speaking, most pastors say they were not able to have a true, impacting ministry until they had been at a church for five to seven years, minimum. Yet, the statistical average of how long a pastor remains at a church is somewhere around two years. See the problem?

Now, I know what you're thinking: of course, your next Senior Pastor won't be one of those who leaves in around two years. Of course, your next Senior will have true, lasting impact almost right out of the gates. Of course, your church isn't anything like the average church out there.

But if your congregation would name an Assistant or Associate Pastor as the new Senior, you've just done two things to counteract those two statistical points. First, you've all but guaranteed that he'll stay longer than the statistical average, because he's already been there for a little while, and now he'll stay longer than he might have otherwise. Second, you have just shaved off however many years he has already been there from that 5-7 year turning point: his real impact as your Senior Pastor will come a lot sooner, because he already had gotten through the "honeymoon" and earned the trust of the congregation.

There are some circumstances when the existing Assistant or Associate would NOT be a good fit for the Senior Pastor role; I'll consider these in part two. Barring them, however, I would challenge you to think in these terms:

If your existing Assistant or Associate Pastor is not fit to be considered as the next Senior Pastor, then what justifies keeping him on staff in his current capacity?

What are their expectations?

Here's an interesting and helpful idea from David Gordon at Gordon-Conwell Seminary:

Dr. Kenneth Swetland, from Gordon-Conwell, recommended a good practice for our students when they were candidating for church positions: that in the later stages of that process, whenever possible, the candidate meet with the appropriate committee and, with a chalkboard or whiteboard, ask the committee members what they expected a minister to do. Dr. Swetland recommended that after listing the variety of activities on the board, the candidate then ask the committee how much time it would take to perform these tasks, including the preparation time. Ordinarily, the result of this exercise is that the committee realizes that the minister is expected to work about seventy-five hours a week, and also to be a good example of a family man!

[T. David Gordon, Why Johnny Can't Preach (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Books, 2009), p. 107.]

When the search lingers... part 2

As I highlighted in my last post on this subject, the core factor here is, are you called to serve in pastoral ministry? If the answer is "yes" then nothing-- not economic crises, not the reality of more seminarians to "compete" with for a position, not the length of time since you began earnestly seeking placement-- NOTHING should keep you from continuing to pursue the fulfillment of that call.

How should someone whose candidacy process has stretched well past his expectations, who is discouraged and heavy-hearted, who has begun to despair of finding placement and has even questioned whether God is truly calling him into ministry-- how should such a man continue to pursue placement into ministry?

To begin with, he ought to continue to serve whenever possible. Are there Sunday School classes to be taught at his church? He should make it clear that he is available to teach them. Are there other volunteer opportunities? Again, he should avail the church of his gifts and service if possible. Can he continue to serve in pulpit supply for area churches that need a preacher? The more the better.

There are a few reasons why. For one thing, ongoing service like this will keep him from getting "rusty"-- his skills and abilities will grow sharper, not more dull, with continued use. He'll actually continue to grow in the calling God has given him, not become stagnant. The discouragement he has from the absence of placement will be tempered somewhat by the opportunity to fulfill, at least in a small measure, the calling that he longs to have made complete.

It will help his candidacy, as well: churches aren't looking for someone who was seminary-trained a while back but shelved his education until he was paid to use it; they are looking for men whose sense of service to the church and Kingdom compel them to find any opportunity to use their gifts for God. They are seeking churchmen-- and a churchman will use all of the resources available to him to serve in all of the capacities available to him.

Such a candidate might also continue to advance his training and education. A "joke" at the seminary I finished was that, if you weren't placed by graduation, you could always start a Master of Theology (Th.M.) degree. While this was offered tongue-in-cheek, there's certainly no harm in continuing to learn and grow as a candidate awaits God's timing for placement. Whether it is a Th.M., a counseling program, a doctoral degree, or some other pursuit, he might seriously consider further academic work.

It doesn't have to be an either-or proposition, either. In most cases, degree programs like this can be completed, at least in part, by distance education-- so if he were to place before finishing the degree, he could continue to make progress (though he would certainly want to slow down!). He shouldn't see this option as "giving up" on placement; instead, he ought to continue to pursue placement while working on his ongoing training.

He also shouldn't feel like he must start another degree, either. There are plenty of seminars and workshops that he could attend; for example, I've mentioned the "From Embers to a Flame" conference on church vitality and revitalization that is a great four-day learning opportunity. There are probably short classes (week-long, or weekends) at the seminary he graduated from, which he could enroll in (perhaps at a discounted rate-- my alma mater offers such classes for free to alumni). Continuing to advance his learning doesn't have to be a long-term commitment.

Long-term or not, what it will be is an opportunity to gain more than what he was offered in his existing seminary degree. I know of no one who is in ministry who can report that seminary prepared them for everything. Every class, workshop, conference, or degree that a graduate accrues is an advantage to him and to his future ministry in this way. (And don't think that search committees won't recognize this, either-- they know as well as anyone that more training and education almost always means "better-equipped.")

Another thing he might begin (or continue) to do: cast an ever-widening net in his candidacy efforts. If he has been searching for an Assistant Pastor role, then he might open up his options to Solo Pastoral positions as well. If he has been looking only in a single denomination, he might also look in like-minded sister denominations. If he's been looking only in presbyterian circles, he might consider a more broadly Reformed circle. There are many avenues where he could expand your search without compromising crucial convictions.

I've blogged about this before, too-- and the longer I'm in ministry, the more I appreciate (and agree with) the advice that my friend Joe Novenson offered concerning that circumstance: there is more agreement, generally, than there is disagreement among brothers and sisters in Christ. Joe said, "I have more in common with my fellow pastors, even in congregations of very different theological convictions, than I do with an unbeliever who shares my political and social agenda."

This isn't to say that we should quickly abandon our theological distinctives for the sake of a pastoral call. But it does emphasize how much room there is to cast a wider net in our search.

When the search lingers... part 1

A seminary graduate recently wrote to me, asking for advice. He graduated from seminary over two years ago, but has not yet found placement into a pastoral call. He has made it to the "short list" a few times, and actually beyond that once or twice. He feels the pressure of the fact that every semester more seminary-trained men enter the ministry field, and he knows that the economic pressures on churches may be causing some to stave off of hiring when they otherwise might. He wonders what advice I might have for him.

I imagine that this man is not alone; there are many guys who graduate without a call, and many go on to linger in their candidacy process for a while-- months, even years pass before they reach a point of resolution. For some, the eventual resolution is placement; for others, it is a decision to abandon the search for pastoral placement (for good or for now) and move on to other things. Regardless, this young man is in a difficult position.

What advice would I have for him? First let me say that I am certain that his level of discouragement is quite high. I know that it must be so difficult to persevere! I know men who have given up; some of them, I am convinced, should not have given up-- I am as sure as I could be that God had called them into ministry. And I know others who persevered, some for longer than you have, and they are now well-placed and thriving in the ministry God had been preparing for them.

Thus, I'll offer two responses: first, some thoughts about how to continue to discern a calling to pastoral ministry; second (in another post), a few things to "do" to continue and press on.

I know that many seminarians sense an inward call to ministry; I trust that, and consider that to be a foundational aspect of a call to ministry-- but it is one aspect of a few. I would say, with confidence, that there are two other aspects.

First, is there a "scriptural" call to ministry? We must ask ourselves, what does the Bible teach about those who are called to ministry? One way to proceed with considering whether you should continue to pursue a pastoral call might be to dig deeply into a study of the Word. Do a survey of those who served as leaders throughout the Scriptures, and consider whether there are normative factors in their calling. Dig into Paul's teachings on gifts, and look at what gifts he teaches are crucial for leadership and servanthood in the pastoral office. Do some serious exegetical work in the pastoral epistles and construct a biblical portrait of the Elder/Overseer. Study the writings of Peter, James, and John on those who lead the church.

There is more study to do here than most have time to complete between now and when the Lord places them! I would strongly suggest spending devotional time in this sort of study-- so that daily, in their time in the Word, a candidate is more deeply affirmed from Scripture of their call to ministry. (Incidentally, if God is NOT calling them into ministry, such a study should reveal that to their hearts, as well.)

Also, is there an external call to ministry? At a point where the search for placement has gone well-beyond what we would think of as a "normal" length of time, the fact that someone hasn't yet received a ministerial call might suggest that there is not an external call. A candidate shouldn't let this be the final decision-factor, however. Instead, they should ask, "Who first encouraged me to attend seminary, and why? How was I affirmed in my call to ministry by seminary professors and classmates? What do those who I served-- and those whom I served under-- during field education and/or internships have to say about affirming my call to ministry? Am I involved in leadership in the church now-- and if so, what do those whom I serve under say about a call into ministry?"

Between now and when they first were led to begin seminary study, there should be many people-- dozens? more than that?-- who have first-hand experience with their ministry, and who can speak honestly and informedly to whether they see God calling them into ministry. The candidate must find them, and ask them. He must invite them to be frank, even blunt with him. If they have any love for the church and for the candidate, they will tell him whether they see God calling him to ministry.