It’s Time For A Church Transition: Should The Pastor Leave? Hand Off? Or Reboot?

I’ve pastored three churches. I left the first one in the middle of a long-term turnaround, believing it was best for someone else to finish the job I had started. I left the second one early, when I realized I was not the right pastor to help the turnaround happen. In the third (and current) one, we not only made a turnaround, but we’ve reinvented ourselves several times in the almost 25 years I’ve been pastoring here. So how does a pastor know when it’s time to leave, prepare for a hand-off, or walk with them through a rebirth? Here’s what I’ve learned.

June 9, 2017

by Karl Vaters

I’ve pastored three churches.

I left the first one in the middle of a long-term turnaround, believing it was best for someone else to finish the job I had started.

I left the second one early, when I realized I was not the right pastor to help the turnaround happen.

In the third (and current) one, we not only made a turnaround, but we’ve reinvented ourselves several times in the almost 25 years I’ve been pastoring here.

So how does a pastor know when it’s time to leave, prepare for a hand-off, or walk with them through a rebirth? Here’s what I’ve learned.

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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