Pastoral Transition: Why Change When You Don’t Have To?

Yesterday, I was back in my home church after being gone for a month doing conferences and taking some vacation time with my wife, Shelley. We’ve taken time away before, of course, but this time it was different. Because when I came back yesterday, for the first Sunday in over 25 years, I wasn’t the lead pastor any more. I didn’t oversee yesterday’s service. I wasn’t responsible for coordinating the staff and volunteers. I don’t even have an office. But I got to participate in the celebration of installing my former youth pastor as our new lead pastor. It felt different. And welcoming. And awkward. And wonderful. In the past couple months, since announcing and writing about our pastoral transition (here, here and here), I’ve been asked a lot of questions, but most of them start with the same word. Why?

March 25, 2018

by Karl Vaters

It’s not how we act when things stay the same that tests our strength and character, it’s how we act when things change.

The transitions are where the risk is.

In church, as in the rest of life, transitions are the greatest test of our ability and character.

Author

Karl Vaters

Karl produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com.
He's the author of five books on church leadership, including his newest, De-Sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next. His other books include The Grasshopper Myth and Small Church Essentials.
Karl also hosts a bi-weekly podcast,The Church Lobby: Conversations on Faith & Ministry, featuring in-depth interviews about topics that concern pastors, especially those who minister in a small church context.
Karl has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years, so he speaks and writes from decades of hands-on pastoral experience. He and his wife, Shelley have three children and two grandkids.

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