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:
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.
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.”
- 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.
- 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.
- 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?).
- 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.
- 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:
- 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.
- 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)
- 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.
- Write yourself a letter.
- Make sure an orderly process is clearly mapped out.
- Forecast the church’s leadership needs three to five years ahead.
- Develop a list of internal candidates to cultivate.
- Develop criteria for external candidates.
- Do necessary financial planning.
- Solidify a seasoned leadership team.
- Define “success” three years after the succession.
- Anticipate communication issues.
- Interview other churches.
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
- 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/
- 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.
- 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