How Do You Retire When Your Successor Ain’t Ready?

By Tyler McKenzie

At the age of 29, I became lead pastor of Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, and I was a bad hire!  

At least that’s my opinion. I succeeded the founding pastor, Bob Cherry, a visionary leader who planted Northeast in a local elementary school in 1977. After decades of faithful ministry, God used him to build the church to well over 2,000 people in attendance. This church was his labor of love in life. It had become a vital institution in our community. How could he hand it over to a kid? 

It was the fall of 2011 when I applied for the job. I was beginning the last year of an MDiv. Tom Thatcher, my professor at Cincinnati Christian University, told me that Bob would be retiring soon and was looking to hire a teaching pastor to succeed him. This was very appealing to me. I had no church experience, but I felt called to preach and lead. I needed an opportunity to learn from a seasoned veteran before assuming lead responsibilities.  

When I went back to my apartment that night and looked up Northeast, I spit out my drink and gasped. The church was huge, and Bob was very gifted! Based on the size and scope of the ministry, I assumed there was no chance they would consider someone as young and experienced as me. Either way, the application process would be good practice. I sent it in with low expectations. 

• But then I got called back for a phone interview.  

• Then I was invited for an in-person interview with Bob and the elders.  

• Next, they wanted to meet my wife. 

• Before I knew it, they told me I was one of their final few candidates.  

I was stunned. How were they drawn to me? At one point in the process, they asked me for sermon videos to review. I didn’t have any! I had been preaching for about 18 months. Smaller rural churches would call Cincinnati Christian University, and I would go preach for gas money and lunch. These experiences were formative, but the churches didn’t have the ability to record me.  

I was eventually able to send Northeast a video of a sermon I preached at a larger church. I spoke there on behalf of CCU. It was the only video I had. After Northeast hired me, I often joked with Bob and my elders, “I was a bad hire! No way you should’ve trusted me!” They would laugh. I’m sure there have been days since they agreed! 

They had their work cut out for them with me. I was a young man in need of development. I started as teaching pastor on June 1, 2012. Within the first week, my confidence grew. I had the church figured out. I knew everything that was wrong, everything that needed to be fixed, and I was certain I could take the lead pastor position by the end of the week. Move over, Bob! Afterall, I had an MDiv, and I knew Greek. Fast-forward to April 17, 2016, when Bob handed the baton of leadership to me, I was certain I wasn’t ready!  

It’s funny how experience humbles you. My eyes were opened to the complexity of church leadership in those 46 months as the successor. Though I was less certain of my capabilities, I was more ready than ever thanks to the careful developmental plan that Bob and our elders put together. Below, I have listed four ingredients in my developmental plan that were vital to turning a bad hire into a better one! 

1. Vision Advocacy: The exiting leader spends their remaining leadership currency on the new leader’s vision for change! 

The most empowering gift Bob gave me in preparation for the transition was vision advocacy. He embraced and championed my vision. He emptied all the leadership currency left in his bank account in order to sell some of my new ideas to the church. When we were two years away from the transition date, Bob said to me, “Tyler, share with me one or two big dreams you have for the future of Northeast so that I can help you.” Bob believed that if he could launch this new vision with me while he was still in the lead pastor chair, it would be received by the longstanding members of the church. Instead of it feeling like the know-it-all-new-guy coming in and smashing sacred cows while disrupting everything, it would feel like a joint initiative between the new and old guard.  

It worked! We launched an outreach initiative we now call “Love the ‘Ville” that is over 10 years old. It has become the heartbeat of our church. Bob not only helped me envision the church, he also helped me refine the implementation process. There were many landmines I avoided because Bob spent his last days supporting my vision. 

2. Multidimensional Mentorship: The exiting leader strategically chooses diverse mentoring relationships for the new leader. 

Part of my developmental plan was the maintenance of four mentoring relationships. 

• With the Exiting Leader – One was with Bob. We spent hours each week seated around a table outside our offices talking leadership. Ninety percent of our conversations revolved around my curiosity. I questioned everything. Not because I was suspicious but because I wanted to understand the motivations and wisdom beneath Bob’s decision. Ten years later, we still have a warm friendship. 

• With an Elder – I also was required to meet monthly with one of our Elders. Mark was a young but trusted leader who was new to the team. He was close enough to me in age to understand my stage of life but old enough to offer wisdom from his own experiences. Ten years later, Mark serves as our chairman, and I trust him as much as anyone in the church. 

• With a Fortune 500 CEO – Our church was blessed to have an incredible man of God who also led a very successful business. This man was kind enough to offer me unlimited access to him. He counseled me through a lot of my big firsts—expansions, terminations, reorganizations, etc. Ten years later, he no longer lives in Louisville but remains one of my closest Christian confidants. We communicate every week. 

• Through a Leadership Program at the University – Bob also required me to participate in a cohort style leadership program at the University of Louisville. Honestly, this was the least helpful of the four. However, I built some new relationships and convinced a couple of my classmates to check out our church. 

3. Driver’s-Ed Delegation: The exiting leader empowers the new leader from the passenger seat.  

When I was 16, my Driver’s Education teacher calmly offered instruction from the passenger seat as we merged on the interstate, parallel parked, and navigated four-way stops. While I was behind the wheel, the car was designed with a brake pedal on the passenger-side floorboard. Basically, my teacher had an emergency brake he could stomp at any time. I won’t tell you how many times he had to use it. 

In the same way, there was a two-year period where Bob handed over more and more leadership to me. I was planning the sermon schedules, leading staff meetings, weighing in with the elders, and setting vision. By the time we were one-year from the transition date, it appeared to any engaged onlooker that I was the one leading the church. However, what people didn’t see was the emergency break at Bob’s feet. He didn’t push it much. Usually, he just calmly offered instruction as we cruised along. But there was a time or two he stomped the pedal so that I didn’t wreck the car. 

4. Joyful Decrease: The exiting leader exudes deep joy as they hand over their vocational identity. 

As Jesus’ fame eclipsed that of John the Baptist, John said this to his disciples, “Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less” (John 3:29-30, New Living Translation). Vision Advocacy, Multidimensional Mentorship, and Drivers-Ed Delegation all grew me professionally, but nothing impacted me spiritually like watching Bob Cherry practice John 3:29-30. 

To be clear, I ain’t Jesus! But Bob sure looked like John as he publicly exuded deep joy at my ascension into leadership. He spoke of me with pride like I was his adopted son. He bragged about my sermons and vision. He challenged my critics. And he did it all while losing what had been his vocational identity for nearly 40 years. I know he was anxious about retiring. I know he was grieving the transition out of power. Where did he find the strength to count such a sacrifice as joy? 

You know where! 

I was profoundly moved by Bob’s humility. When people would come to me and ask, “How’s the transition really going?”, I never found myself complaining or worried. I rarely felt led to talk about leadership, culture, or vision. Instead, I found myself doting over Bob’s character. I said over and over, “It feels like Bob loves me and our church more than himself.” Maybe he didn’t, but he had us all fooled! Just like John the Baptist, he radiated joy as my role became greater and his became less.  

This is how it should be. If you’ve spent your career walking with Jesus, your last days should be your best days, not your worst. Jesus’ last moments before his death were spent pouring himself completely out for us. Then his last moments before his ascension to heaven were spent transferring mission (Mt. 28:18-20), extending blessing (Lk. 24:50), and infusing power (Acts 1:8). Thanks for retiring like Jesus, Bob! May I be so faithful as to one day do the same.  

Tyler McKenzie serves as lead pastor with Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.