Articles for tag: succession planning

May 8, 2016

Christian Standard

First Look Inward (Part 1: The Person)

By Gary Johnson The interior world of the outgoing leader is a key factor to transitions that succeed. While each of us knows about different kinds of journeys, I”m exploring a journey that is unique. This journey involves Christians in a local church or parachurch organization, and it is called succession. It happens when the senior leader leaves and a new leader arrives in his place. Just as every person in the plane, on the train, or in the car travel together, this journey involves everyone in the particular church or parachurch organization. Succession involves more than one minister leaving

May 7, 2016

Christian Standard

Everybody Leaves Sooner or Later

An Interview with Warren Bird, coauthor of Next: Pastoral Succession that Works By Kent Fillinger What are the key points from Next? The first is the sobering reminder that we”re all interims. A reality of life is that whatever our role is, someone is going to come after us unless Jesus comes back before then. We try to unfold that in the book. And there”s a theology behind that. Jesus had a succession plan, so shouldn”t you? Moses had a succession plan. And look at how, from Moses to Joshua, it worked so well. But Joshua didn”t have a successor, and

May 6, 2016

Christian Standard

6 Pointers for Leaders Getting Ready to Retire

By LeRoy Lawson While admitting there is no sure-fire formula for success in succession, I have learned a few things from retiring and watching others retire. Here”s my advice. “I wanted you to do well. I didn”t want you to do this well.” I had been away from my 20-year ministry with Central Christian Church in Mesa, Arizona, for more than a year when Cal Jernigan, my successor, invited me back to preach one weekend. It was already evident the church was prospering under his guidance. All I had hoped would happen in that first year after my departure had

May 2, 2016

Christian Standard

Hopes, Fears, & Priorities (2015 Megachurch & Statistics Report)

By Kent Fillinger Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd released a song a few years ago called “Something to Live For.” Churches and individuals could echo the lyrics of the song; we, too, need something we can live for, hold on to, and believe in. Hebrews 6:18, 19 says, “We who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Bill Hybels said, “The church is the hope of the world.” Hopes This year”s survey asked churches to share “one hope or

November 29, 2015

Christian Standard

Moving On

By Bob Mink I had the privilege of planting Discovery Christian Church (originally Moreno Valley Christian Church) in 1984 in a small but rapidly growing distant suburb of Los Angeles. I was 33 years old at the time, and our family moved from the Greater Philadelphia area. On our 30th anniversary in 2014, I stepped down as senior pastor. Looking back, I now realize the transition began in 2011, when one of our associate pastors left our church to become campus minister at his alma mater. I was fully supportive of the move, but after almost 27 years, I was worn down and

July 13, 2014

Christian Standard

Example, and a Few Words

By Bill Greer (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I’ve Ever Received.”) Few people have had as much impact on me as my predecessor, friend, and mentor, Dr. Don Jeanes. With Don, it wasn”t so much that he shared advice verbally. Instead, he shared most of his advice through example. As the 14th president of Milligan College, he was consistent in his treatment of people, steadfast in his faith, and persistent in his quest for excellence.  But as he turned the presidency of Milligan over to me, I will always be grateful that he took the time to

April 17, 2014

Christian Standard

A Smooth Transition

By John Plunkett In September 2011, I had preached at Creve Coeur (Illinois) Christian Church for 33 years, more than half its existence. But I was ready to retire. I had been thinking about this for some time. As early as 2006 I proposed a plan with an associate minister that would have implemented a three-year transition moving me to retirement and him to the senior minister”s role. But that plan fell apart when the associate was called to be senior minister of another congregation. In September 2011, I told the elders of my pending retirement and that my last

August 5, 2012

Christian Standard

It”s All About the Mission

By Mark A. Taylor Sometimes we discover truth from an unexpected source. Not long ago, I pondered the implications for the church in a Harvard Business Review blog post by a columnist for Time magazine. Joel Stein shared a conclusion he had reached as he did research for his new book, Man Made: A Stupid Quest for Masculinity. “I learned that my vision of what makes a good leader was all wrong,” he wrote.*   I spent hours working alongside fire chiefs, army captains, Boy Scout troop leaders, and others who guide teams. To my surprise, the best of them

April 11, 2010

Christian Standard

Megachurches: A Mega Decade

By Kent Fillinger The 2000s were a turbulent decade. We went from Y2K to 9/11 to H1N1. We had a housing boom followed by an economic bust. As we came to experience the world in high-definition, the sights were often scary and unpleasant””wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina, the Boxing Day Tsunami, AIDS, and global poverty. “Hanging chads” made one president”s election controversial, and then the first African-American president won by a clear majority. We went from watching Friends to drinking Starbucks to opening coffee cafés in our churches. We went from church in one location to one church in

November 15, 2009

Christian Standard

Developing the Leadership Culture

By Glen Schneiders READ THE SIDEBAR: “Keys to Cultivating Leaders” Leadership development never happens accidentally. I learned this important lesson in the early years of our new church. I had a very young, inexperienced staff, and I found myself increasingly frustrated that they were not more assertive leaders. They were tentative at times, and at other moments were like bulls in a china shop. “Why don”t they just step up and lead?” I kept asking myself. One day as a staff member and I were making a hospital visit, it hit me. Actually, I made the visit while he was

September 20, 2009

Christian Standard

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES: The Leadership Factor

  by Kent E. Fillinger What situations foster or frustrate church growth? Some statistics correlate directly to growth, while other items have an indirect effect or no apparent impact at all. But two recurring statistics directly impact a church”s growth rate in ways that deserve attention. These two statistics have held true from megachurches to medium-sized churches over four surveys in a four-year period (2005″“08). The two factors both relate to the senior minister. One is his age. The other is his tenure. Combined, they create what I call the “leadership factor.”   The Leadership Factor  The average age of

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