What a Warm Welcome!
First of all, Karol and I want to thank you for the way you have wonderfully welcomed us to Steamboat Rock Baptist Church. As you are well aware, we are here through Interim Pastor Ministries for whatever period of time that it takes to find God’s next Lead Pastor. I want to take this time to explain in just a little more detail, what I shared briefly on Sunday, October 20th about our expected ministry here through IPM.
Why Is an Interim Pastor a Good Idea?
The time between pastors can be the worst of times OR an effective time in the life of a church. It can be a time of stress as lay leaders who feel ‘out of their element’ try to find ‘pulpit supply pastors’ or figure out where a church goes to look for pastoral candidates. For a church who is blessed to have additional pastoral staff, it can be an additional strain on those staff members who are trying to maintain their own area of ministry while picking up the slack that the missing pastor formerly carried. This is where the Interim Pastor can step in and relieve some of the ongoing ministry pressure as well as help the church to have the time and experienced pastoral leadership to make a smooth pastoral transition. IPM has developed an effective plan which is a Five Stage Process.
Stage One: Connecting With People. Karol and I will conduct informal (non-scary) ‘listening’ interviews with many of you which will help us to get to know each other and to learn what your perceptions of the church are. This stage also involves the availability for all of you to take an online church health survey that will then be sent to a specialist who will distill all of the information into ‘bite-sized’ pieces. (For those who don’t ‘do computers,’ help to fill out a survey can be provided.) With church leadership’s help and input, I will also establish a Transition Team consisting of 8-10 representative people from the church. (This stage will take 2-3 months to accomplish.)
Stage Two: Assessing church health. The interviews, general interaction with the congregation, and the survey results will help me and the congregation better understand the current condition of the church and to properly prepare a plan for increased effectiveness in ministry. It’s important to understand existing issues, patterns, and reasons behind them. This stage is crucial if the church is going to determine the best path forward. An Assessment Report will be developed at the end of this stage.
Stage Three: Facilitating Church Action. I will work alongside the Transition Team, the Deacons, and the Staff to determine how to address the recommendations that come from the Assessment Report. Some of these actions may occur during the transition time while others may occur under the ministry of the new pastor.
Stage Four: Leading Strategic Planning. Strategic planning is a process whereby a church leadership team works together to develop or clarify a biblical mission and a compelling vision, to discover the church’s core values, and to craft a strategy that implements a unique, authentic church model. During this stage the church should answer three basic questions: Who are we? Where are we going? How will we get there? Clearly weighing and articulating answers to these questions will have a more profound impact on the church ministry’s future.
Strategic Planning is the key to the long-term survival of the church, where ministry circumstances are constantly changing. Churches must change and adapt their ministry methods, using strategic planning as their device. (It is obvious that you have already done something like this and after reevaluating, it may be that ‘tweaking’ will be all that is necessary. We shall see.)
Stage Five: Coaching the Pastoral Search Team. When a congregation has properly prepared by achieving sufficient health, unity, and vision clarity and by determining the pastoral qualities that would be a good fit for the church, it is ready to begin the search for Pastor Next. A search committee will be established and the congregation will prepare to receive a new leader and make arrangements for the call, installation, and start-up of its new Pastor. IPM believes that the Interim Pastor can be a valuable guide and advisor to the Pastor Search Team (PTS). It is recommended that the Interim pastor meet regularly with the PST but, of course, he serves at the church’s and the denomination’s desire.
Most Important: While all of this sounds pretty structured and ‘business-like,’ I don’t want us to miss the foremost important focus - that it is the Lord who directs our steps and guides us with His wisdom.
“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip [us] with everything good that [we] may do His will, working in [us] that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Heb. 13:20-21)
May we join together to bring great glory to Him!
Interim Pastor Terry Schoenfeld