You are the chair of your church council\/board and your senior pastor has recently informed the council that he\/she is resigning to take up a ministry position in another city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pastor has been in the role for the last 18 years and 70% of the current membership has joined during their ministry. As chair of the council you have called a special meeting to consider calling a new senior pastor. During the meeting one of the members suggested recruiting an Intentional Interim Minister (IIM) instead and as a result you\u2019ve been asked to research the role and benefits of an IIM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Basic Role of an Intentional Interim Minister<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n An IIM is appointed to fill the vacancy between the departure of the previous senior pastor and the appointment of a new permanent pastor. The role is particularly appropriate when:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to oversighting the worship, pastoral, spiritual and missional life of the church the specific role of the IIM is to address the particular issue\/s identified above (see #s 1-5). Appointing an IIM enables the appointee to give focused attention to the core issue\/s, make the relevant recommendations to the church council for implementation, establish the necessary training and systems to implement the final decision, field test the possibilities as much as possible and address pushback and criticism without having to remain long term. As a result a permanent senior pastor can then be called who doesn\u2019t have to deal directly with any remaining political fallout from the changes that have been made. Most likely the majority of any disaffected members would have by then moved on. The new permanent pastor could start with a clean slate. Also, ideally a new pastor could then be appointed who has the necessary gifts, skills and experience to lead the church into the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Benefits of Intentional Interim Ministry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Considering each of the five reasons for appointing an IIM below are the benefits of the role for each respective scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Long Term Placement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Often when a senior pastor who has been in the same role in the same church for more than 10 years and then leaves there can be a feeling of disruption, uncertainty about the future and significant grief among some church members. This is especially true when a large proportion of members has joined the congregation during the pastor\u2019s ministry. The pastor has been there for them through key times of celebration such as the baptism\/dedication of their children and for celebrating family weddings. Also the pastor has supported them through times of grief – eg. marriage breakups, funerals and health crises providing support, care and counselling. Several of them probably regard the pastor and family as one of their personal friends. In such situations without an interim pastor filling the role it\u2019s very difficult for a new permanent placement to live up to the unrealistic expectations that are often generated particularly during their first few years in the role. The \u2018halo effect\u2019 of their previous pastor often makes comparisons quite challenging and inappropriate. An IIM can provide a \u2018circuit breaker\u2019 allowing the new permanent pastor to begin with a level playing field having provided sufficient time and enabled systemic changes for the congregation to move on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.<\/strong> Church Conflict<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the main reasons churches recognise the value of having an IIM is when there\u2019s been a major church conflict. The conflict may have been between a particular faction in the congregation and the pastor, between warring factions themselves, between the church council and most of the congregation, between the congregation and\/or council and the exiting senior pastor, among members of the council, between the council and the ministry staff team, among staff team members or between the staff team and the senior pastor. In some cases the conflict has been so serious it has resulted in a church split with several members leaving and either starting a new church, joining another congregation or disengaging from church altogether. In such situations a skilled IIM can facilitate the healing needed to help the faith community recover and authentically express what it means to be the body of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. New Missional Direction<\/strong> \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having identified, or wanting to identify, a new direction often means a church needs specific leadership resourcing in establishing and developing that mission. This is when an IIM with specific skills and experience in strategic planning and\/or in the identified mission itself can be especially helpful. It will also require the training of team leaders and the development of various systems and ministries to pursue the mission and test as far as practicable whether it is achievable. If it becomes successful then a permanent pastor with the relevant background can be called. If not, then the IIM could help the church discern what God is showing before being committed to employing a permanent new pastor. An IIM therefore gives the church leadership the opportunity to pursue new missional possibilities, discern which are likely to be effective, train the congregation and develop and test the required systems and resources before a new permanent pastor who is suited for that ministry is called.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Changes in the Wider Community<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As the local community from which a church draws most of it active members ages, regenerates, or has new people groups moving in, a new missional strategy is invariably required. Demographic change in the church\u2019s primary geographic ministry area usually necessitates a different approach to ministry and mission. Of course this is often the reason for scenario # 3. An IIM with the relevant skillset can help as explained in # 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Facing Non-viability<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When a church loses more than half of its active members it is facing the very real possibility of becoming unsustainable. (However, it is better to engage a church consultant while the current senior pastor is still in place, and not an IIM, before the church reaches that stage, ideally even before active membership numbers begin to plateau. It\u2019s much easier to renew a church while it is still growing. Once a church starts losing more members than it is gaining questions about long term viability become an issue.) Nevertheless, an IIM can be especially helpful when a church is experiencing significant loss. He\/she can help the congregation process the grief and reality of decline, decide which stipended ministries should be concluded and which should remain, discern whether the church still has a missional future and if so what that future should be, or whether it is in a terminal condition. In that last situation the IIM can help the congregation face its death with gratitude for its life and history – after all no single organism lives forever. Moreover, engaging an IIM in this scenario may save the congregation from the trauma of calling another pastor and then within a few short years having to close down. If its condition is terminal it also enables the church to end with dignity by bequeathing its physical and financial resources to another missional venture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In some respects having an Intentional Interim Minister has similarities to engaging a church consultant. Both are external specialist resource people. The key difference is a consultant works with a church for a limited period of time (usually for a matter of weeks) as an external resource person and brings recommendations to the church council. However, an IIM journeys with the church for an extended period usually 1-2 years becoming part of the organic life of the church community during that time. The recommendations the IIM brings therefore have been worked through with the church council, field tested in practice as much as possible and established into the life and ministry of the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an external resource specialist neither a church consultant nor an IIM is or should be part of the on-going life of the congregation. Therefore it is vital that there be a mutual understanding between the church council and the IIM that the minister is not available to be the future pastor. Otherwise she\/he would not be able to exercise their role with honesty and integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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