The Art of Transition: What to Consider When Your Pastor is Leaving

At Luminex, we believe strongly in the value of experienced, strategic transition ministry. That’s why we’ve worked hard to create a Transition Ministry Services team that is trained, equipped, and ready to help churches that are in transition.

Here are seven important elements that we provide:

1. Objectivity: Fresh eyes see both overlooked issues and new opportunities. An experienced, well trained transition pastor brings powerful objectivity to a time of leadership transition.
2. Continuity: One of the greatest fears that churches face when a pastor moves on is that the ministry will stall and suffer loss. A skilled transition pastor provides continuity while helping the church move ahead.
3. Guidance: Concerns about where a church is headed, and what kind of pastor the church needs, are addressed by a trained and gifted transition pastor. It has been said that the best navigation system during a pastoral transition is a skilled leader who listens well and guides effectively.
4. Questions: Transitions represent an ideal time to ask critical questions: How has God been at work in our congregation and community? What is God calling us to be, and to do, as we look ahead? How might a transition help to mobilize and more deeply unleash the gifts and talents of our leaders and members? A transition pastor will be intentional to lead the church and its leaders to grapple with these questions and more.
5. Confidence: A ship needs a captain or the crew gets anxious. Transition pastors are called, equipped, and ideally suited to be the “captain” for churches in transition.
6. Preparedness: Transition pastors have served in a variety of churches and ministry settings, and have experienced just about everything under the sun (well, maybe not quite everything, but you get the idea). Why not bring someone in who has walked in those shoes and can help prepare the way for the next pastor?
7. Hope: One of the most powerful elements that impact a positive leadership transition is hope. Even as we know that our ultimate hope is in Christ, a transition pastor who helps fill a key leadership void helps churches to rest assured that there is hope for a bright and blessed future.