Well, it is summer – heat and humidity has come in with all of its force. With summer, comes the inevitable pastoral changes across the nation. Why? Because the children are out of school and it is simply easier on the families.
Some churches requested and desired a change in pastoral leadership. Some pastors requested a change because they felt that their work was completed or they simply wanted a new challenge. Some simply moved because that is what they do … they move often.
What isn’t inevitable to all involved is the matching of the DNA of a church to the spiritual DNA of the new pastor and vise-versa. Discovering the DNA of any particular church is rather difficult and quite challenging, as is the understanding of the DNA of any particular pastor.
A couple of examples:
As I was assigned to one particular church in south Florida I discovered that one of my colleagues had grown up at the church and entered the ministry out of its youth group. When I asked him for his best advice he shared, “They ought to take a bulldozer to it and start all over. The long serving and nationally recognized founding pastor had established the DNA of that congregation as a glorified country social club.”
Another church, at the other end of the state – a church to which I will be returning as a part of their 50th Anniversary in a couple of weeks – I was having a hard time understanding the particular uniqueness and challenges in this congregation until we celebrated the 25th Anniversary and invited back the founding pastor. During the Saturday evening dinner this pastor stated, “I knew that this would be a strong church because we never made a decision without a good fight!” BINGO … that was their DNA.
Some church’s DNA can change if the appointed or called pastor can stay there long enough to bring it about. As a present United Methodist bishop once shared with me, “It normally takes 7 to 8 years before the pastor can bring about any lasting DNA changes within the congregation. Unfortunately, the average length of pastoral appointments is just not long enough to make it happen.”
The other factor involved in a good, lasting relationship between a church and its pastor is the spiritual DNA of the pastor … especially if the pastor has had an effective pastorate at their previous assignment. He or she will come into their new situation and simply try to pick up where they left off. It takes spiritual discernment to start where their new congregation is and grow from there. A wise word from Bishop Nolan Harmon, who taught my church administration course in seminary, was, “Start every new assignment as if it is your first pastorate. Do not bring any baggage – good or bad – from your previous church. It will only end up hurting you in the long run.” Unfortunately for me I didn’t take his wisdom to heart and ended up paying the ultimate price.
And so the process begins again for any number of pastors and congregations. I wish them all well. Some will be successful while others will be a total disaster. And … some how in all of this mess … God’s will still gets done. At least let that be our prayer!
Quote for today: a poem from an unknown source
There is a pastor, himself he cherished,
Who loved his position not his parish
So the more he preached
The less he reached
And this is why his parish perished.
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