All Souls Episcopal Church in Miami is a smaller congregation. It is making a difference as a place where the good news of Jesus is being made real and lives are being transformed. What contributed to this sense of joy and vitality? Leadership at All Souls anticipated the retirement of its rector …. three years before his leaving.
No, the congregation was not fully aware of the retirement date. However, the vestry was well-aware of the coming transition. Instead of waiting until the retirement was upon them, they chose to plan ahead in order to ensure the momentum of their congregational life. They assessed the strengths and needs of their current ministries and the needs of their surrounding community; they engaged in a thorough audit of their physical plant, their finances, and especially of their congregation’s culture, energy, satisfaction, and priorities for the future; and they created action steps for the next three years. In essence, they created a vision and strategic plan for the transition from their current rector to their next.
A clergy transition in the life of a congregation is not and should not be a disruptive event in the life of a congregation. It should be regarded as a piece of continuous, succession-planning mind-set, a witness to the nature of our faith life. When part of the ongoing visioning process, a clergy transition can become a key pathway to increased congregational vitality; without this, it may become a time of high risk. The outcome of the transition essentially rests on the intentionality of congregational leaders, the intentionality of their mind-set, and the organizational intelligence they gather to make critical decisions.
Decisions of whether or not to use an interim minister and about the search/call process have been the typical foci of the clergy-transition process. Diocesan resources are available to assist congregations during this part of the transition. Less common are resources directed at this broader process of planning ahead for a clergy transition. While not all transitions can be planned for, the notion of succession planning should be integral to any congregational-leadership system and practice. We need to develop pastoral transition training for resigning pastors, lay leaders, and congregations.
Succession planning is a visionary and strategic mind-set, a strategic view broader than the transition from one clergy leader to the next and beyond the search process for a new rector. With such a mind-set, congregational leaders pay attention to the culture of their organizational system, the experiences of their members, the strengths and limitations of their communal life, the articulation of their purpose and how their ministries embody that purpose, and the needs of the world outside the church doors. Attention to these factors informs succession planning: What kind of leaders (both clergy and lay) can take the congregation into a vital future? What experiences and training will prepare leaders to lead in effective ways? What kinds of ongoing data and organizational intelligence are necessary to make informed decisions? These questions form the continuing vigilance of congregational leaders so that when a time of pastoral transition happens (as it inevitably will), there is clear preparation for the process.
Considerations when a transition is imminent
This reflection takes particular focus on the time of transition planning immediately before a retirement/leave-taking and the time after a new rector has been called. Leaders need to have a sense of mastery over the succession process and clarity about what to focus on beyond the hiring of an interim and the naming of a search committee.
The transition work from the time of the rector’s resignation/retirement announcement to planning for the next rector’s arrival has many layers. The following checklist provides some directional hints:
- Pastoral:
What are the needs of the outgoing rector and his/her family?
What kind of celebration of ministry would they find most appropriate for a healthy goodbye?
What kind of support system would be helpful as they prepare to leave? - Spiritual:
What are our spiritual resources?
How do we keep the congregation engaged, and how do we provide them a sense of agency in this process?
Into what spiritual disciplines and prayer life might the leadership and the congregation engage to direct their hearts toward God’s desire for this transition process? For example, All Souls began a two-month adult-forum series in which the entire congregation was invited into a recommitment of their spiritual development. A new spiritual discipline was taught and practiced each week, including Lectio Divina, Centering Prayer, Ignatian Examen, Zen Meditation, and simple yoga and breathing exercises. These experiences motivated the congregation to create spiritual-discipline groups. Some were in-person gatherings and others were online groups. The groups were intentional in their focus on God’s will for the future of their congregation, and participants testified that the most important byproduct was the strengthening of their relationships with God and with one another.
- Organizational:
What is our vision for this transition time?
What resources are available to us as we enter this transition? Who are the key players?
Taking a thorough audit of our financial health: What resources do we have now? What resources will be available to us in the future? What resources do we need for the future?
Taking a thorough audit of the physical plant: What aspects of our building and grounds need attention and what can wait? What are the costs involved?
What additional financial resources might we need for this transition time?
What kinds of organizational intelligence do we need to make good decisions throughout the transition?
What are our goals for the time between rectors? Do we need healing/reconciliation?
Are there program or administrative issues that need attention?
What congregational strengths can be called upon?
How do we ensure open and adequate communication throughout the congregation?
How do we care for other staff members?
How do we create a healthy boundary with our outgoing rector (a letter of separation)?
- Startup plan for the next rector:
How will we assist with the relocation of the next rector and family?
Welcome activities/celebrations, internal and in the local community? Office setup?
Communications: internal and external?
Orientation to the facility, operations, and technology?
Organizational data: policies, procedures, congregational-assessment results, meeting minutes?
Scheduling of introductions: formal and informal gatherings?
Vision for the first three to six months, the next year?
A clergy transition in the life of a congregation can be a time of life-giving possibility or of chaotic, stressful, herky-jerky movement from one leader to another. Who we are and what we do as people of faith is shaped by the nature of our organizational life and the God we worship. Our planning and our processes in times of transition are organizational, interpersonal, and spiritual. How we minister to one another and to the outgoing and incoming rectors can serve as a convincing witness to the authenticity of our faith.
In addition, all of our actions are consequential and reflect Christ. Will we be keenly aware of God in our midst and act out of a commitment to faith? Will we demonstrate love to one another and reach out beyond our zones of comfort to assist the transition process? Will our congregation possess a positive, hopeful spirit? We certainly can be known by our acts of Christian generativity and maturity, but the attitude that results in these actions requires our focused intentionality through every step of the process.
Posted at www.ecfvp.org/vestrypapers/transition-and-change/transition-planning/