Why I Won’t Be The Lead Pastor At Cornerstone Any More – But I’m Not Leaving

Hi, I’m Karl, and I’m still a small church pastor. But I won’t be in the first chair much longer. On Sunday, my long-time youth pastor, Gary Garcia and I presented a plan for him to become the lead pastor of Cornerstone. I will stay on at the church, assuming the position of teaching pastor. It was a great day, filled with surprises, tears, stunned silence, laughter, hugs, relief, uncertainty… All the feels. Pastoral transition is one of the most dangerous times in a congregation’s life. Probably more local churches have seen their mission and ministry crippled or ended by bad pastoral transitions than all other reasons combined. Some of this is because the western church has a far-too-heavy reliance on the pastor’s role. Unlike many of my friends (and a lot of faithful readers), I don’t believe the pastor-led model of church is wrong. But we need to do it better. Especially in the hand-off.

January 21, 2018

by Karl Vaters

Hi, I’m Karl, and I’m still a small church pastor. But I won’t be in the first chair much longer.

On Sunday, my long-time youth pastor, Gary Garcia and I presented a plan for him to become the lead pastor of Cornerstone. I will stay on at the church, assuming the position of teaching pastor.

Pastoral transition is one of the most dangerous times in a congregation’s life. Probably more local churches have seen their mission and ministry crippled or ended by bad pastoral transitions than all other reasons combined.

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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