This is the second episode in a series about the conversations I’m having with our leadership at Christ the King Lutheran Church, where I serve as pastor. I’m starting to think seriously about retirement and what that might mean for me and for our congregation, and hope these conversations will help us to plan together for the transition from this current ministry to the ministry of the next pastor.

Our conversations are based on the book titled “NEXT: Pastoral Succession that Works.” (As always in this series, in the shownotes I’ve included links for the book as well as for the ministries of both Zach and Mark Zehnder). In today’s episode, I want to focus on the second chapter, “The Ten Commandments of Succession Planning.”

First, though, I feel like I should make the following disclaimers:

1. I’m always leary when somebody labels a ten-item list as “Ten Commandments.” When a writer does that, he’s probably aware that nobody should take him literally, since there’s really only one list of “Ten Commandments” that really matter. He’s probably thinking, though, that people should take him fairly seriously.
2. In the book NEXT, there are actually TWO ten-item lists in this chapter – one for folks (like me) who are on the threshhold of succession, and another for those who are nowhere near that age yet. In this episode, I’ll make some comments about both lists.

The “Ten Commandments” of PREPARING FOR SUCCESSION 

1. Read this book with others. This is often a good suggestion for people in ministry. If I think a particular book has a lot of good things to say, it might be worth getting copies others and working through it together. I’ve done that in the past. With the book NEXT, though, I’m reading it and digesting it through these episodes for our leadership because there’s much in it that doesn’t apply to our situation, and I’d rather that we didn’t get lost in weeds that aren’t in our field.
2. Set a healthy pace for the long run. The book suggests that the congregation establish a policy on sabbaticals, insists each leader take days off and the allotted vacation time, and that leaders be part of some kind of “accountability group” of people from outside the congregation. I have several observations here, based on personal experience and observation:
   1. Like many pastors of my generation in small churches, I’ve never had a “sabbatical.” However, it’s possible that younger pastors may be expecting something like a “sabbatical” periodically, so it may be a good idea for a congregation to prepare for that possibility ahead of time.
   2. Like many pastors in small churches, even taking a weekend off seems to be more trouble than it’s worth! It’s almost easier to write a sermon and a Bible study, and show up on a Sunday morning, than try to get a substitute and also make sure all the other bases are covered. So days off during the week (even a couple of overnights during the year) can make treasured memories.
   3. On the other hand, some kind of “vacation” is good every year for the pastor – and for the people! Some years ago as I was sitting with some of our youth group in another church’s worship service before the beginning of a Workcamp service project, one of our youth leaned over and said to me “I guess this is a good break for you, Pastor” – and before I had a chance to respond he added “I guess this is a good break for Christ the King people, too.”
3. Prepare an “emergency envelope.” Some of us pastors have a file on our desk (yes, a literal, printed-on-paper manila-folder file!) with a couple of “emergency sermons” in it, and we sometimes remind the Elders where it is “just in case” the pastor has appendicitis on a Saturday night. This “commandment” suggests that a pastor might think about a whole bunch of pages of notes or instructions on every aspect of his life and ministry, “just in case he gets hit by a bus.” Pages might include emergency sermons, the shut-in list, how to turn on the lights or the furnace on a Sunday morning, and more. It would probably be a good idea to do a personal “envelope” like this, too, so that you and your spouse knows where to find your life insurance policy, your will and DNR order, and other important documents that nobody wants to think about.
4. Develop a plan for a nonemergency but unforeseen departure. In our denominational system, pastors move from one church to another based on a “call” issued by the second church. The pastor may not have been angling for another call, and when it comes there’s a lot of emotional turmoil in the pastor, his family, and in both congregations while they’re waiting for his prayerful decision. This “commandment” suggests that the pastor and leadership develop a plan to address some of the issues that might come up, that might be in place before this turmoil happens – and if you never really need it, so much the better.
5. Anticipate your (eventual) retirement. One of the interesting thoughts I heard from Mark Zehnder was along these lines – when thinking of retirement, most people are focused on what their finances will be, where they are going to live, and what activities they might enjoy. Mark Zehnder suggests that we ministry leaders might focus on the degree to which we’re ready to retire not only financially and geographically, but emotionally, relationally (is your spouse ready for you to retire?), vocationally (what will you do?), intellectually (how do you plan to keep sharp?), and spiritually (what church will you attend? what about Bible studies and devotions?).
6. Annually evaluate the state of your succession plan. Whether it’s on paper or on your computer, it probably would be a good idea to set a date on your calendar to review it each year – things can change in a year’s time! Now I’ll pause here to say that these first six “commandments” have been about the pastor’s plans for transition into another phase of life, with some implications for the congregation’s leaders. The remaining four commandments are more about the congregation.
7. Create a broad culture of leadership development. Sometimes, despite the best intentions of congregational bylaws that call for annual elections, in many congregations election to a particular board might end up to be a lifetime appointment. While some people thrive on that (and others hold on to it fiercely, for dear life), it could be good to develop others in the congregation to lead in other ways – maybe by serving on special committees, or to work on a particular project. In particular, there are these next two areas:
8. Share the teaching. Some churches build their adult ministry around the ministry of small groups. The pastor doesn’t teach all the groups, but he does teach and supervise the leaders of the groups. Other churches may only have one or two adult Bible studies, taught by the pastor. Perhaps someome could be identified to substitute for the pastor as Bible study teacher sometimes? Perhaps someone would be willing to be a Bible study leader for a second Bible study, that the pastor wouldn’t be involved in? If you include the Sunday morning worship in this section, here might be a good place to talk together about the role of lay readers, Communion assistants, and others in the worship services.
9. Share the leading. The pastor doesn’t have to be – and, with some hopefully rare exceptions, shouldn’t be – the chairman of the congregation. The book NEXT says “The goal would be to make sure each of the senior pastor’s responsibilities has one or more people who have participated in it enough that they could take it over. Another way to approach this is to make a list of what presently only the senior pastor knows in terms of information about the church and how it is run, and then train others by enlarging the circle of senior-level decision-making.” (p. 51)
10. Look beyond the baton pass. This one is for the pastor himself – what do you envision your life to be like after the transition process is complete – after you’ve cleared out your office, after the retirement party is over, after all is said and done? But here’s another thing for the pastor to think about: in a relay race, when a runner passes the baton to the next person in the relay, the first runner doesn’t hold on to the baton! That only slows down the second runner and increases the chances of them both stumbling and falling. The better plan is for the first runner to hand off the baton to the second runner, then move out of the race completely and watch from the sidelnes (and cheer on the next guy).

The ten Long-Range Succession Planning Commandments for Younger Pastors or Leaders

Each of these “commandments” is fairly similar to one or more of the “commandments” in the first section, but that doesn’t mean they come automatically, like magic. It’s too easy for these notions to get lost in the shuffle of day-to-day and season-to-season church work, especially for a younger pastor who’s still just trying to figure out what this ministry thing is all about, or for a pastor new to a congregation who’s still trying to figure out what’s expected of him in this place. Each of these “ten commandments” below might be a good conversation-starter for ten months’ worth of Elders or Board meetings. In fact, each of these also requires some thought, some prayer, some focused conversations, and some writing and rewriting before all is said and done – but the outcome will be worth it.

1. Write yourself a letter.
2. Make sure an orderly process is clearly mapped out.
3. Forecast the church’s leadership needs three to five years ahead.
4. Develop a list of internal candidates to cultivate.
5. Develop criteria for external candidates.
6. Do necessary financial planning.
7. Solidify a seasoned leadership team.
8. Define “success” three years after the succession.
9. Anticipate communication issues.
10. Interview other churches.

​RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

1. Zach Zehnder is author and program leader of the Red Letter Challenge at https://redletterchallenge.com/; along with Chris Johnson, Zach cohosts the Red Letter Disciple podcast at https://redletterchallenge.com/red-letter-disciple-podcast/
2. Mark Zehnder recently retired as the senior pastor of King of Kings Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska, and currently ministers at https://www.alwaysforwardministries.com/ to pastors, boards, staffs, and churches as they work through periods of leadership transition.
3. The book “NEXT: Pastoral Succession that Works” by William Vanerbloemen and Warren Bird is available at Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Next-Pastoral-Succession-That-Works/dp/080100571X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=SF9EGP9KPD3&keywords=next+vanderbloemen+bird&qid=1681756932&sprefix=next+Vand%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-1

​Hi everyone!

I recently asked members of our Church Council to listen to an episode of my "Basin and Towel Podcast," and begin a series of conversations over the next couple of years about how we can work together as Pastor and Congregation to transition into a new phase of our ministry here.  At our Council meeting on April 23 we had the first of those conversations.  In this post you can read the transcript of the podcast episode (or listen to it HERE>>), and then read about the questions and concerns that were raised by our Council members that day (my responses are in red).

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When I (Pastor Cahill) turned 65 years old, quite a few of the folks at Christ the King asked me “So, Pastor, you’re not planning to retire yet, are you?” I smilled and said, no, not for a while yet. But I also started telling people here and there “If we made a ten-year plan for Christ the King today, you have to realize that it’s likely I won’t be here by the end of those ten years.’

Now it’s five years later - my wife and I both turned 70 years old in January - and I’m realizing that it’s time for me to say “I might not be here five years from now!” And it’s time for us to have some serious conversations about what that might mean for the congregation of Christ the King. This episode is the starter for the first of those conversations; and I’m Pastor Chris Cahill.

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I’ve watched from the sidelines over the last few years as several pastors I’ve known began a time of transition from active ministry into retirement. A couple of them who were at larger churches stepped aside from the role of senior pastor into associate roles. A couple of them retired outright, even though it would take a while for the next pastor to come in. For some of their congregations, the transition was smooth and seamless; for others, it was rough and rocky. Then the year 2022 came. It was a tough year for my wife and me, marked by the losses of family members and dear friends, including a couple of wonderful pastors who were dearly loved by their congregations. Despite the fact that those pastors had already retired from active ministry, many people in the congregations that loved them were deeply saddened by their losses.

Meanwhile my wife Bev and I started looking at what might be possible for our future together. I’ll get into some of those details in future episodes, but for today let me say that we’ve been talking to advisors, reading books, and listening to webinars to try to navigate the personal voyage ahead. Among those were my friend Zach Zehnder and his dad Mark, who recently hosted a webinar on this whole area. They recommended a book titled “NEXT: Pastoral Succession that Works", that forms the outline for these conversations. (By the way, in the shownotes I’ve included links for the book as well as for the ministries of both Zach and Mark Zehnder). In today’s episode, I just want to focus on the first chapter, “Why Every Leader Needs this Book” and to summarize the Key Lessons from that chapter:
 
KEY LESSONS 

1. The Bible teaches and models succession planning. You might remember that God called Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and to the promised land; but Moses also mentored young Joshua for years until God called Joshua to be the actual leader of the people into the promised land. King David was ably succeeded by his son Solomon, who made the kingdom of Israel even more glorious than it had been under David. And, of course, Jesus called twelve men to walk with Him in His ministry so that they could learn from Him during His life, and carry the Gospel into all the world after His ascension.
2. Conversations are starting.  I remember pastors (and maybe so do you) who served their congregations faithfully for decades, but rarely if ever gave thought to their own retirement, much less to the pastor who would follow them. They were good and faithful pastors in the ministry, but often the congregations they had served faced a long, rough, and rocky transition period when they retired as the congregation tried to make the adjustment to life without that pastor. Some of those pastors thought they should just not even talk about retiring until about three to six months before the actual retirement; these days, research is showing that the more we can communicate about the transition, even if it’s a couple of years away, the better the transition is for everyone (or at least, there are maybe fewer surprises).

1. Every pastor is an interim pastor.  What this means is, that every pastor should have in mind that there will be another pastor after them, and realize that what they’re teaching their church explicitly or by example will have an impact on that next guy whether positively or negatively. For instance, in the first church I served, the pastor who had been there for almost four decades had routinely refused salary raises when the Council offered them, always saying “the church can’t afford to give me a raise this year.” As a result, the congregation inappropriately learned that it was acceptable to pay the pastor well below the scale recommended by the District.

1. Constant succession planning builds long-term health. I confess that I haven’t been constantly planning on how I’ll leave Christ the King, nor who the next pastor will be, for the 34 years I’ve been here. But I do realize that when we talk about an idea frequently (if not constantly), the idea is often shaped, developed, and even embraced as time goes on as opposed to when we remember to think of it only occasionally.

1. Early planning produces higher-quality planning. You know what happens when you come up suddenly to an important event or occasion and realize you haven’t done any (or very little) planning for it? You want to find a nice Christmas present for somebody - and end up giving them a gift card. You hope to celebrate a friend’s milestone birthday - and end up taking them out for lunch to Bob Evans. Those of you who’ve retired may also have experienced this: without good planning you may have been unprepared for something about retirement - maybe not the financial part, but maybe you were unprepared for all the free time you suddenly had? maybe you were unprepared to have your spouse underfoot all the time? You see what I mean? The more time you give yourself to plan, the more you’ll be satisfied with the final result.

1. Succession clarity requires time to develop. Here is why this one is important: As I sit here and write out the wording of this episode, I wonder what questions will you have when you hear it? What feelings will be going through your minds and hearts? Is there anything here that I haven’t explained clearly enough for you? What concerns will you have about the future, or even about the next couple of years? That’s why I not only want to share these thoughts with you, but talk about them when we meet. Developing clarity together will give all of us a sense of relief and peace in the days and months to come.

1. The earlier you plan, the more likely you are to succeed. I’ve mentioned this several times here, but just let me conclude with this thought - This process, these conversations, will probably take us a couple of years to get through. I have this notion that somewhere along the line things will start to gel and solidify in my mind - or in your minds - or in our minds together - and specific ideas, plans, and even a timeline will become clear to us all.

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QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS RAISED at Christ the King Council April 23, 2023 (my responses in red)

• “Pastors should consider themselves an interim pastor”
  • “Interim pastor” is the guy between two pastors - how does he hold the ministry together between these two guys
• What about a vicar / someone to come along beside you? Is that feasible for Christ the King?
  • Not enough people at CTK to easily identify someone to become the next pastor
  • Our route might be to get somebody from the seminary (as pastor or vicar); but those options are limited because there aren’t currently enough seminary students to meet the needs
  • When a pastor comes from outside the congregation, it takes him and the congregation 3-5 years to become accustomed to each other
  • The best we can do is to examine ourselves like we did with Jacob (and with District self-evaluation tools) so that we can say to ourselves, the District, and potential pastors, “this is who we are and who we need”
• What about an associate pastor to come along side for a couple years, then be the senior pastor?
  • CTK has limited office space; an associate pastor and CTC would be tripping over each other
  • A better plan would be for CTC to get out of the way completely
  • We’ll be talking more about this later (where could the next guy come from?)
• We’re financially able to support a pastor of 40 years of experience with a doctorate; we should be able to financially support a younger pastor with less experience
• Should the council members plan to read the book NEXT?
  • I don’t think it’s necessary or advisable - it contains a bunch of stuff about pastoral transitions in huge congregations that just don’t apply to CTK’s situation; please trust that CTC has plowed through these weeds to dig out the parts that do apply
• Is it reasonable to think that a church this small could get another pastor?
  • Whether a pastor would accept a call to CTK is always somewhat unpredictable and unknown, but it’s reasonable to try
• What about sharing a pastor with a neighboring congregation?
• How long is the average call process? Do we have that luxury of time?
  • Interim ministry specialists say that when a pastor leaves it’s not a period of grieving to be rushed through (even though there is grieving) but rather an incubation period until the congregation is ready for the new ministry to begin
• It’s great that we’re starting to discuss this early and take our time to go through the process step by step
  • Part of this process may be that CTK begins a process of self-study; the District is the HR department, and needs to know as much about CTK and its ministry as possible in order to search for good candidates for the next pastor
  • Part of the self-study is the work we did with Jacob Hoyer; may do more with him, but who knows
  • We’ll get to other self-study items later, or as we go along in this process