Intentional Interim Ministry

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Intentional Interim Ministry

• Preparing Churches for
• Their Next Great Pastorates
• The Rev. William W. Nickels, III
• Presbytery of New Hope
• Committee on Ministry

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A Specialized Ministry BO G-14.0513b

• Intentional Interim Ministry is a specialized
  form of pastoral ministry used by churches
  without Installed Pastors while they are seeking
  new Installed Pastors.
• The relationship between an Interim and a church
  is a temporary pastoral relationship established
  by agreement between a Session, a Committee on
  Ministry and a candidate.

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A Specialized Ministry BO G-14.0513b

• The relationship must be established for a
  specific period, one not to exceed twelve months
  at a time. While additional 6-month terms are
  commonly approved, many Presbyteries limit an
  Interim Pastors service to a church to a maximum
  length of 24 months.
• An Interim Pastor may not be called to be the
  next Installed Pastor of the church he or she
  serves.

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Things Commonly Heard When Installed Pastors
Leave

• Without an Installed Pastor leading us, things
  will fall apart around here! People will skip
  church and stop giving.
• Actually, during the tenure of many Interim
  Pastors, attendance and giving go up.

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• Why cant we start searching for our new Pastor
  immediately - get someone in here ASAP?
• Remember doing things decently and in order
  is important to Presbyterians, and its also
  wise! Plus, it has been shown that when churches
  use Intentional Interim Pastors, relations with
  their next Installed Pastors are likely to be
  healthier and to last longer.

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• We dont need to take time to figure out what we
  need in our next pastor we already know
  someone just like the one who left! (Or, someone
  exactly unlike the one who left.)
• Actually, time with an Interim Pastor usually
  brings congregations some helpful perspective and
  balance, and it gives them an opportunity to
  discern Gods guidance about their callings and
  about the kind of leaders they will need to help
  them respond to them faithfully.

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When Installed Pastors Leave, Churches Need

• Opportunity to remember their history, to recall
  who they are and Whose they are
• Time and ways to come to terms with their loss -
• Especially if there has been a long
  pastorate, or
• Especially if there were difficulties in
  the pastorate just ended, and
• Even if everything was wonderful!
• A chance to look forward freshly and to discern a
  new calling.

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What Intentional Interim Ministry Offers a Church

• Stability for a congregation in a time of serious
  transition
• Perceptive, ongoing leadership by someone with
  perspective
• Consistent, relevant preaching

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What Intentional Interim Ministry Offers a Church

• Experienced pastoral caregiving
• An opportunity for reflection, for taking deep
  breaths and for discernment
• A period of ministry without the commitment
  entailed when a Pastor is installed.

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Intentional Interim Pastors

• Understand what congregations go through and need
  when pastors leave
• Can help lessen the anxiety churches feel when
  pastors depart
• Are clear about the special nature of the
  ministry they offer congregations
• Accept that they cannot be the Installed Pastors
  of the churches theyre assisting
• Seek to prepare churches to have healthy and
  productive relationships with their next
  Installed Pastors.

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Situations in which an Interim may be a good
choice for a Session to make

• When the church needs a dismount - a
  thought-through shift from one stage of its life
  and ministry to another
• After a lengthy pastoral tenure or a troubled
  relationship
• When there have been quick turnovers, a series of
  unintentional interims
• In situations where redevelopment is a need and
  possibility.

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Situations in which an Interim may not be the
best choice for a Session to make

• When the church has no interest in or capacity
  for engaging in new ministry
• When theres good reason to believe progress
  already underway is going to suffer
• If the Five Developmental Tasks of Interim Time
  Churches have been accomplished in some way
  already.

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The Five Developmental Tasks of Interim Time
Churches

• Coming to terms with their history
• Discovering a fresh identity and mission
• Strengthening links with the denomination
• Facilitating shifts in leadership and in the
  exercise of power
• Committing to new leadership and to new ministry.

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In Coming to Terms with Their History, Churches

• Remember their congregational stories
• Celebrate past ministries and faithfulness
• Acknowledge past troubles, failures and losses
• Discuss what they have learned from their past
  experiences
• Remember that theyve made it through changes
  before
• Discover help for moving on toward what God has
  in store for them.

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In Discovering Fresh Identities, Churches

• Engage in a deliberate process of reflection on
  their community and its needs
• Listen carefully for the congregations wisdom
• Assess the adequacy of current ministry
  programming
• Undertake a Congregational Mission Study (often
  required by the Presbytery)
• Discern, define and commit to the mission God
  calls them to undertake.

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In Strengthening Denominational Links, Churches

• Experience the value of connection with the
  Presbytery
• Receive support and guidance from Committee on
  Ministry Liaisons
• Gain assistance with their pastoral search from
  the Presbytery and the General Assembly.

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In Facilitating Shifts in Leadership and in the
Exercise of Power, Churches

• Explore and determine what kinds of leaders they
  need in a new era of ministry
• Consider how leadership is exercised and whether
  changes would improve things
• Provide opportunities for longtime leaders to
  rest and for newer leaders to assume
  responsibilities
• Acknowledge that some people work better with
  certain Pastors than with others.

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In Committing to New Leadership and a New Future,
Churches

• Gain a fresh, unified, energizing forward focus
• Provide visitors and prospects a clear
  understanding of what they are about
• Become clear about the kind of pastoral
  leadership they will need to answer their
  God-given calling.

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Other Benefits of Using Intentional Interim
Pastors Include

• Sometimes there are circumstances in a
  congregations life that call for special
  grieving sometimes a conflict has erupted that
  requires careful healing.
• Intentional Interim Pastors are trained to
  assist congregations with their grief-work, to
  help them manage their conflict and to nurture
  healthy ways of operating within a congregational
  system.

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Beyond This, Intentional Interim Pastors

• Offer new insights and practices that may enrich
  a congregations ministry
• Give churches time to dream, to experiment, to
  innovate and to reorganize.

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Finally, Since at Some Point Every Church Will
Lose Its Pastor

• We invite you to consider giving your
  congregation the benefit of an experience with an
  Intentional Interim Pastor. We trust you will
  hear comments like these made by Presbyterians
  who have enjoyed a time of ministry with an
  Interim Pastor

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• Our Interim Pastor provided the kind of
  leadership this congregation needed at the very
  time we needed it.

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• Because of the Congregational Mission Study our
  Interim Pastor took us through, we have really
  come together as a church. We know what God
  wants us to be doing in the world, and we are
  eager to be of use to God in the next stage of
  our ministry.

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• Our Interim Pastor gave us gifts when she came
  to us and when she left us, too. She brought us
  compassion and healing and even laughter,
  eventually and she left us truly ready to start
  over with a new Pastor.

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• Intentional Interim Pastors have a sacred
  trust and a special calling - they make it their
  aim to prepare churches for
• Their Next Great Pastorates!