Succession and the Church

By Curtis McGinnis

The churches in the network I serve average under 200 attendees, many of them under 100. Often I find that these churches have never considered lead minister transitions or succession plans. They just assume that when one minister leaves, they will find another. However, this oversimplifies what can be a demanding season in the life of a church. To complicate this further, many of the resources commonly shared, or best practices for succession (like having an overlap between the outgoing and incoming pastor), are not possible due to financial or other constraints. Over the past decade, I have seen a few churches handle lead minister succession well, but for the most part, I have seen churches come to succession with no plan at all. Here are four steps I urge churches to have for an effective succession PLAN. 

P – Prepare 

Succession planning starts long before a minister says he is going to retire. No minister wants to be pushed out, and no church wants to be accused of forcing a minister to leave. However, many churches and ministers are not prepared to manage the challenges that often arise when a minister decides to retire. For example, numerous ministers in their 70s or even 80s have opted out of Social Security and have lived in parsonages their entire ministry. To retire and leave a church means they lose their salary and housing, which impedes their leaving because they are not adequately prepared financially for retirement. This not only puts the minister in a tough place, but the church as well. Part of preparing to help a minister retire well is to address retirement when the minister is first hired. Whenever I consult with a church on hiring staff, I address retirement and present options that include working with one of the many church extension funds, or organizations like Christian Churches Pension Plan, Servant Solutions, or Clergy Advantage, which help ministers set up a Pension or Clergy 403b.  

L – Look Ahead 

Churches and ministers that are adequately prepared can then have honest conversations and look ahead to the time when the minister will no longer be with the congregation. Most congregations underestimate this look-ahead period, and it is often ignored because of fear or uncertainty about how to address succession. To aid in this, e2 has developed tremendous resources to help churches look ahead. Dr. Gary Johnson has written an excellent book, Leader >< Shift, that I would highly encourage every elder on your team to read. E2 also has a succession template that will walk church leaders through various concerns throughout the transition process. These tools help churches look ahead and plan for succession before it is at their doorstep.  

A- Assess 

As a church approaches the succession process, one of the questions they must ask is “What is our church’s identity without our current minister?” I find this question especially relevant in small churches with long-tenured ministers because the church’s identity is often heavily influenced by the minister’s identity. One way a church can assess its identity and current needs is to engage in a church-health assessment. The goal of the assessment is to identify both strengths and weaknesses of the local church and develop a plan for greater health and effectiveness. I encourage churches to take the Natural Church Development assessment to gauge where they are health-wise. David Vaughn, with the CCL Network, has created a promising tool as well to assess the seven systems of a healthy church. In addition, an assessment can help clarify the ideal new lead minister candidate profile. There could also be areas of weakness that a specific candidate could help address in the church.  

Another outcome of the assessment can also be whether your church should consider an interim minister. I have seen that the longer a minister is tenured, the higher the value there is to bring in an interim for a season. This interim allows the church to form its new identity without the pastor and to implement some of the goals created through the assessment process. 

N- Navigate 

At some point in the process, the church will hit “Go” on its succession plan and the clock will start when the minister announces his departure. One of the challenges to navigate in our current environment is the length of time it will take to find a new lead minister. While finding solid statistics on this is difficult, my observation is that it seems to take one to two years to find a new minister, and for smaller churches, it can take much longer. While I have seen a few churches find a minister in under a year, I have also seen churches that are still looking for three years or longer. As churches navigate the succession process, they must also allow for contingencies in their plan. 

One final word on navigating the plan. A new, in-coming minister needs space. By that, I mean the retiring minister should consider attending church elsewhere or traveling for a brief season (perhaps six months or so). This helps the new minister get established, allows the congregation to connect to their new minister, and enables the retiring minister to find his identity outside of the local church.  

Benjamin Franklin remarked, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” These steps, when implemented appropriately, will help you and your church go through the succession process. As you develop a proper PLAN, it will allow for a smooth transition so your church can continue to focus on and fulfill God’s mission for your church.