As the car door opened, I took a deep breath, taking in the scene of the property. The well-established traditional brick church had a giant white steeple that reached heaven, or so it seemed. The green grass of the parsonage yard was offset by the white picket fence that shaped its edges, and two maturing trees shaded a portion of the yard. In the distance, a large field held a playground and picnic shelter, beckoning families like mine to come to play. The night before, I missed most of this scene, as the nerves had clouded my view. The church board seemed warm but unsure about the church’s future or the candidate they had before them. It would be a frank interview where the church leadership would ask probing questions and I would provide rather blunt answers, as I was still uncertain of the calling to this new assignment. In a way, I was seeking a sign from God that this was the new community of faith where he was calling me.

Roused from the voices inside my vehicle, I exited the car with my family. Greeted by a board member, I instantly engaged in small talk about this or that, but nothing materially important. My son, ever eager to keep moving forward, waved to my wife and daughter to move on from this conversation. It was in this opening of space that the board member put on a big smile and reached for my hand, and as we shook hands, he slipped two crisp $100 bills into my palms. Wow! What a blessing to see the outpouring of love from what ostensibly was a stranger. That would be my high point with this board member and his wife. For the next three years, our relationship would be rocky, to say the least, and nonexistent for most of the time. Within months of coming to the church, he left leadership, withheld tithes, and left the church altogether. After a few months, the couple came back, warm and inviting, but sadly, a pattern began to develop where they would get silently mad about something and disappear for months on end, only for me to visit and encourage them, and they would come back.

In the final months of my pastorate, the church was moving toward a building campaign. This couple saw it as a waste of resources. Along with two other couples, they began to aggressively try to convince individuals and spouses to vote against the project. Each Sunday as I would finish my sermon, you would see them fan out across that small sanctuary, pull a different couple aside, and begin the arm twisting to end the project before it began. Ultimately, their view won out, and feeling disheartened, I left the church, leaving them to continue to maneuver God’s church in a way that I knew was harmful—but like many pastors before, I did nothing to stop them out of fear of losing members. I wish I could say that things changed after I left, but sadly, the same pattern repeated itself, and they left the church again.

Ministry is challenging in a traditional year, but ministering during a pandemic has brought new challenges that seemed unheard of two years ago. With a new variant of COVID-19 taking hold as I sit down to write, members not returning, and the mandate for change fought at every turn, church leadership is facing a crisis like never before. Many churches have seen the loss of 40 to 50 percent of their average weekly attendance early on and the numbers are settling around a 25 percent non-return rate.1 Others are seeing members return sparingly since the reopening. For the established church, this double whammy of the new variant of COVID-19 and legacy issues has created a critical mass where the critical spirit of members has taken hold.

When a key leader (staff member, teacher, board member, or large tither) leaves the church, the pastor’s first reaction is to do anything and everything to keep them, even if it is a detriment to the ministry and church health. I have thought many times about what would have happened if I had let the couple go in my previous church and not kept wooing them to come back. What opportunity was lost by trying to love them back into the community of faith? Maybe as you read those words, you began to think, “You were Jesus.’’ Still others might say, “You should have let them go.’’ The truth is that these seemingly small decisions made daily impact a ministry for the long term. I have come to view these small decisions as windows of time that lay the foundation for success or failure in the established church. It all begins with the pastor seemingly making an insignificant decision that has a lasting impact.

For every season in the church’s life, God brings forth the right person at the right time. However, for many churches, the person is so synonymous with the position that they become one and the same. When the crucial leader chooses to leave, it seems to onlookers that the position/program will fall apart. This is when the established church pastor has an opportunity to to reject this outlook by celebrating the person more than the position.

Throughout Scripture, God has raised leaders up from the remnants of those left behind to lead the church. So why not in the church today? Instead of fretting over a loss, focus on the person who is leaving the position. When my worship leader left abruptly, I was sad that I could not personally celebrate him, but the church made a point to thank him publicly for his service during the next worship service. Even if a person leaves a position in a way that does not honor the church, thank them for serving. Use it as an opportunity to share that God is already calling a new leader and that God has a plan for the established church.

When an opening occurs in the church, the first thing you probably want to do is fill the void. But let me encourage you to slow down and pray. Rushing in and filling the position with a warm body without praying, seeking wise counsel from others, and waiting on God can cause more pain in the long term. Leadership is not for everyone; trust that God has the right person for the season the church is in if the leader is willing to wait. Carefully selecting the next person is as important as having the next person in the position. Strategically, the pastor and leadership team must evaluate the critical components needed for the situation, the program’s weaknesses, and who is best suited to bring their strengths to bear. See the opening as an opportunity to build a stronger team for the future and not simply as a gap in the leadership platform.

Think about it this way: Some people sit in the church who want to serve but do not know how or where. For some, they are wondering if they are welcomed to help. If asked, they would serve, but sadly, far too many are not invited. Use the loss of a crucial leader to create opportunities for people to help. If you have a greeting team that usually has four people, why not make it six or even rotate them? If you typically have two teachers per classroom for children, why not add a third? By creating opportunities and rethinking the leadership approach, the pastor makes room for a guest to move from guest to member and then to helper by connecting them within the church.

When you create opportunities for people to serve, people naturally step up and serve. When my worship leader left, three people stepped up to help lead singing and play instruments. That was God preparing for the new season. When my children’s director stepped down after a great season of service, another dynamic duo stepped in and reshaped the program. That was God moving in ways I did not see coming. Time and time again, I have seen people want to help, but they must know where to help. Instead of falling apart when a crucial leader leaves, stand in faith; God has a plan and create spaces for guests to invest in.

Even if the proverbial sky is falling by all the losses, be an encourager rather than taking an unfavorable view. Often, the church turns to the opposing view when subtraction happens and begins to moan all the losses instead of seeing the losses as opportunities for addition—for God to do something new. Be a leader who projects confidence in the face of adversity. No one wants to follow a downcast leader, but they will follow a leader who projects a future-forward momentum that shares the concern of the loss but is committed to rebuilding the church one position at a time. Each position in the church is more significant than the person who holds the position. Leaders should always be forward-looking, forward focused, and forward driven as they move on from a loss.

In a season of discomfort, pastors find themselves looking down the road at growing ministries and begin to think, “Maybe I should change to fit what they are doing, because it seems to work.” The mentality of greener pastures has caused division and envy in the church, forcing the church to miss opportunities to allow God to work through its leaders. Pastors are not superhuman, even when they think they are, as they face fears much like everyone else. The giftings that God has given the pastor are the right giftings for the church that he called the pastor to if the church enables the giftings to be used. A revitalizer must feel comfortable in the giftings or miss what God has for the pastor’s ministry.

What sustains a pastor over the long haul is not the prestige, income, or pats on the back; it is the calling from God. Far too many pastors lose their way in ministry because they take their eyes off their calling and turn it to the worldly things around them. I get it—leaders want to be highly favored, but far too many serve in churches where they feel they are failing. While numbers are an essential indicator of a certain level of health within the church, numbers are not the be-all and end-all. A revitalizer’s worth should not be found in numbers but in the lives impacted through the calling that they have answered. Sometimes, effectiveness is seen through growth in attendance, but the one-on-one discipleship oppor...