Providing leadership to your church during a pastoral transition

Interim pastors offer a vital service to the churches they assist. They provide much-needed leadership in the transition between pastors. There are three types of interim pastoral roles:

Intentional Interim
Intentional Interims are experienced ministers who have served as senior pastors. They have gifts and experience in congregational renewal, leadership development and strategic planning. They are solicited by a church that is looking for an interim person who can come in and work heavily with the governing board, as well as perform other assigned pastoral duties, including staff oversight and primary preaching responsibility. They have a key role in helping to implement needed changes in the church as deemed necessary by the board and congregation in order to prepare for the next permanent pastor.

Pastoral Interim Pastoral
Interims are persons who do not have any governance responsibility. They have been hired by a church in order to exercise pastoral care and preaching responsibilities in light of the loss of a permanent pastor. It is not a requirement that they have prior senior pastor experience, even though that would be preferred.

Pulpit Supply Interim
Pulpit Supply Interims are persons whose sole responsibility is to fill the pulpit on Sundays with the possibility of filling other major teaching roles (such as a midweek Bible study).

Agreement between Interim Ministers and Converge Great Lakes

1. In Converge Great Lakes, the Interim Minister must agree wholeheartedly with the Statement of Faith of Converge Great Lakes and also be in wholehearted agreement with the mission statement of the Converge Great Lakes.
2. Remuneration, ministry reimbursement and a detailed job description of his responsibilities must be approved by the governing board of the church, the prospective interim minister and the District Executive Minister before his tenure can officially begin.
3. The Interim Minister must agree prior to assuming this role that he will not be a candidate for the permanent position of senior pastor, and once a senior pastor has been secured, he will immediately leave the church. This can be adjusted under certain very specific circumstances if deemed acceptable by the incoming permanent pastor, governing board, and congregation.
4. The Interim Minister must agree to work with the Executive Minister of Converge Great Lakes as his immediate supervisor. The reasoning behind this is because the interim pastor is ultimately accountable to the Executive Minister or his designee. The Executive Minister or his designee is available at all times for consultation with church concerns or when he is seeking procedural clarity regarding his role with the congregation.
5. The Interim Minister will be under the overall direction of the congregation and governing board as established in the expectations document. This document is signed by all parties at the beginning placement of the pastoral interim.
6. This is a temporary position, and if the placement is not meeting expectations on one side or the other,  the DEM can make a change.  This will allow for the modifications to occur without any negative connotations for the governing board or the interim pastor. The Executive Minister would never take such action without full approval of the church’s governing board. It also gives the Interim Pastor a source of confidential consultation that is separate from the congregation to discuss issues that could arise.