Walk with Me to Another Land

A Narrative Approach to Transitional Ministry

Zimmerman

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781532615559
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

The loss of a pastor throws a congregation into emotional turmoil. Sometimes bad circumstances force a pastor to leave. Sometimes an effective pastor moves to a new congregation or retires. Either way, the congregation is thrust into a unique journey through change and loss. People often fail to identify or understand the emotions of loss churning under the surface. Whether a congregation embraces a good future or gets stuck in the dynamics of the past depends in part on skillful and wise leadership. When faced with confusing signs, transitional leaders seek wisdom about the unique dynamics of a congregational system in flux. How can one leader adapt to the sudden and surprising needs inherent in transitional leadership? Firmly rooted in the biblical narratives of leading through journeys of transition, this book matches those narratives with case studies and other stories to connect the present practice of transitional leadership with the deep wisdom in the biblical accounts. The perseverance and hope inherent in the Bible's story of redemption deeply engages the dynamics of transition, suggesting ways to lead congregations to embrace a renewed mission. This combination of narratives points to a new level of understanding what is happening within communities in transition.

1

Where to Begin?

Eric stared out the window of his new office. A stack of boxes cluttered one corner. The shelves were mostly empty with the exception of a few odd remnants left by the previous pastor. He had plenty to do but he paused for a moment to catch his breath. He had successfully made it through the interviews and the job of interim pastor had been handed over to him. Now what?

He opened one of the boxes and started filling the shelves with the books in random order. I’ll rearrange them in some way that makes sense later, he thought to himself. His eye caught the title of one of his favorite books on leadership as he pulled it out of the box: Leading From The Heart, by Robert Munger. He paused for a moment and flipped through the pages of the book. His eyes landed on a sentence that he had underlined when he read the book the first time. “While keenly aware of my limitations, I was confident that God would lead me through.”

That felt right. Then he read on to the next sentence—not underlined—but now perhaps more relevant to his current situation. “But I was not prepared for the deplorable situation that greeted me at the church.”1

Eric could not remember what events greeted Munger in that narrative, but he could relate to the feeling. He was having a hard time getting a firm handle on what was really going on at this church. If he took reports at face value, the assignment before him was to lead the congregation through the transition after a pastor who was either similar to the Apostle Paul or David Koresh, depending on who was telling the stories. The loss of a beloved, long time pastor was bringing out the extremes in people. Clearly, many people were overreacting.

Just then the phone rang. An old friend was on the other line—an interim pastor who had led three different churches through pastoral transitions.

“How does it feel to be unpacking your books in another man’s office?” his friend Brad asked.

Eric felt his chest tighten. “Well that’s exactly how it seems, but how did you know that it would feel that way?”

“Hey I’ve seen it and felt it. That office is associated in the minds and hearts of the people of that congregation as the domain of the pastor before you. That is natural. The office is where they met on countless occasions for the most important events of their lives for the past several years. I’m not sure every transitional pastor has this feeling, but it is symbolic of what we do in this calling. We consent to enter into the challenge of living in the absence—the blank space—the place of a missing leader.”

“Well, okay, but what do I do about it?”

“You need to take things like this feeling you are experiencing and give it a turn until you can see it from a different angle. Don’t be the story. Instead, see the story.”

“See the story?”

“Yes. People will constantly tell you that your significance—your identity really—belongs in the gap, the absence, and the negative space. You are the blank between pastors. You can’t fight that, because, from a certain point of view that is entirely true. But your job is to see the story that is happening in them and from time to time, at just the right time, to help them see what their story is.”

“That sounds good. Any suggestions for how I actually do that?”

“First of all, remember that it is never personal. You have consented to take on the role of transitional leader and that puts you into many interactions with people who are reacting emotionally to the experiences they are going through. But it is not about you; it is about the role you are in. So when you feel like you are being treated like a character in a story, take a look at that character. Pretty soon you will see yourself as part of the story, and you won’t be dragged into the emotions of being that character. Does that make sense?”

“I guess so. It is yet to be seen if I can actually do it.”

“True, and I believe all transitional pastors are only capable of doing it more or less. Still, that is the challenge. You can be most helpful if you are carefully attentive while being prayerfully aloof. I don’t mean that you should be uncaring, you just need to maintain a certain emotional distance in order to really help them. One person sent me a letter thanking me for how I led them through their transition. He wrote, “I am especially appreciative of your disinterested interest in our congregation, all of us individually and our community.” You have to find a way to genuinely care for them, while remaining free of the emotional traps.

Eric was truly grateful to have this advice from an experienced interim pastor, so he just listened quietly as Brad continued. “My way of keeping track of the many confusing events that happen is to maintain a story in my mind about what is happening in the congregational system. If the story is not accurate then you will be blinded to some things. So you need a story that can be easily revised. And maybe it needs to be constantly revised over the course of your time at the church. Your first question is, “Where does the story begin?” You can read through the congregational records going all of the way back to the founding of the church and even if they began many years ago you will probably detect the beginnings of interactions that are still happening in the church’s story today. But more than that, spend time with people and listen to what they say for clues about the ongoing story.”

Eric was eager to get started but he knew he was going to need more help as time went on. “This has been great. Can we get together sometime for lunch and talk more about this?”

Brad’s voice sounded pleased when he replied, “Sure, I would love to have some time with you. I am sure you can also help me with some of the things I am going through in my congregation.”

* * *

Most of the time pastoral ministry is like sailing against the wind. It takes skill, you feel like your heading against the flow, and the whole thing could get tipped into the water at any time. Now add the reality that a pastor is not a solitary skipper of an empty thirteen-foot sailboat, but instead is the leader of a whole boatload of people who, while ultimately responsible for themselves, depend on the pastor for much of their spiritual lives. If the boat tips over a whole crowd of people will go over with it.

These are the dynamics of pastoral leadership under normal conditions. But in any kind of transition all of this is intensified. The winds are heavier, the storms more fierce, and the ship feels a bit more leaky. When the transition involves the loss of a pastor the congregation is thrown into an emotional turmoil. Sometimes circumstances or individuals force the pastor to leave. Sometimes a dearly loved pastor moves to a new congregation or retires. Whatever the circumstances, the congregation is thrust into a unique journey through change and loss. Yet the people of the congregation often do not identify or understand those emotions of loss churning under the surface. A transitional leader can make a tremendous difference in whether a congregation embraces a good future or gets stuck in troubled dynamics from the past.

Transitional or interim church leadership requires flexibility, improvisation, and persistent spiritual maturity in order to lead people through this journey. When faced with confusing signs, transitional leaders often crave greater wisdom about the unique dynamics of a congregational system in flux. How can one person with a limited set of gifts and skills adapt to the sudden and surprising needs inherent in diverse situations? In this book I will walk with you through the grief, loss, perseverance and hope presented in several biblical narratives as a way to deeply engage the dynamics of leading a congregation in transition. Having led multiple congregations through complicated transitions I have then gone back and reviewed the most important elements of any transition. Several biblical stories of how God used situational leaders to journey with people through significant transitions help to make sense of my experiences. It is my hope that these narratives, coupled with several case studies, my experiences, and other narratives, will make you ready to take action and to improvise as a transitional leader.

Now you may be wondering, is it really that bad? Or you may be thinking that the troubles facing a congregation in an interim are only intense if the pastor who has left was a disaster. In my experience, pastoral transitions are challenging regardless of whether the departed pastor was great or awful.

Consider the powerful impact of how pastors shape congregations. Either the strength of the pastor’s leadership or the problems and disappointments of the pastor’s tenure leave a mark, for better or worse, on the congregation. An interim or transitional pastor2 is a specialist for the care and nurture of congregations adjusting to the new reality as they move from one pastor’s leadership to the next. A change in pastors means a change in the most influential person in the congregational system. Change brings anxiety and anxious people crave stability. Yet the change of leaders forces the congregation to consider a whole array of other changes. These changes are often challenging. So the calling to be an interim pastor necessarily includes a calling to be a good steward of the congregations conflicting needs for both stability and change.

This voyage all takes place in a new reality of people’s expectations—expectations based on past leadership, but increasingly, expectations have been intensified as the culture surrounding churches has changed. If pastoral ministry was like sailing a boat in days gone by, it is more like being the captain of a cruise ship in today’s world. The consumerism pervading the attitudes of people means many church participants come with an expectation to be fulfilled by the activities of the church. Like cruise ship passengers evaluating the activities and destinations and looking to the captain to guarantee the safety of everyone on board, today’s church participant often comes as a shopper asking what’s in this for me? This is an inescapable condition of ministry in our context. Consumerism has invaded the thinking of virtually everyone in multiple unconscious ways. We see it in marriages, where people stay together as long as they are getting something from the relationship. We see it in the fundraising activities of nonprofit organizations as most appeals for funds involve a payback in some form for the “gift.” We see it in our churches.

Consumerism is not all bad. It works pretty well to produce better televisions and cars as companies compete with one another to provide the best products at the lowest prices. But the constant appeal of marketing inevitably alters the outlook of every person participating in the culture. We all begin to ask is this the best way to spend my money/time, or should I look for a more appealing option? We begin to think we are supposed to ask that question all of the time before committing to anything.

This consumerism element is intensified when people are experiencing the stress of anxiety caused by change. The consumerist approach takes over thought patterns and creates an attitude of entitlement that poisons all interactions. G. Lloyd Rediger sums this up well. “A general sense of entitlement is growing in the church, as well as in society. Church members feel entitled to comfort and privilege. If a pastor does not please them, they feel free to criticize and punish.”3 So instead of floating as a great big ark of salvation, the church becomes one big cruise ship, primarily existing to entertain and to please. Congregations are glad to have a leader who produces the feelings and outcomes they desire. The trouble for leaders during a transition comes in the reality that not much of what happens within a transition—especially a pastoral transition—satisfies the felt needs and expectations of people.

Get used to the implied message: you could be replaced. And in fact you will be replaced—that is your unique contribution if you are the interim pastor called to fill the gap.

At its best, a pastoral transition is a time for turning back from a consumerist approach to church life—for returning to a more healthy understanding of the relationship between pastor and congregation. This will not be why most of the congregation thinks you are there. A transitional pastor gives a gift that no one is asking for: a fresh sense of the identity and mission of the congregation apart from whoever happens to be the pastor. This case study will give a glimpse ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Chapter 1: Where to Begin?
• Chapter 2: Walk with Me
• Chapter 3: Why is Transitional Leadership Complex?
• Chapter 4: You See the Need
• Chapter 5: On the Leading Edge of Loss
• Chapter 6: Transitional Leadership and Transformation
• Chapter 7: Where is the Hope? What is the Reality?
• Chapter 8: The Battle against Discouragement
• Chapter 9: Time to Refrain
• Chapter 10: Moving toward Healing
• Chapter 11: Leading through Shipwreck
• Chapter 12: Time to Say Goodbye
• Bibliography