How do you lead an organization stuck between an ending and a new beginning-when the old way of doing things no longer works but a way forward is not yet clear? I call such in-between times liminal seasons-threshold times when the continuity of tradition disintegrates and uncertainty about the future fuels doubt and chaos. In a liminal season, it simply is not helpful to pretend we understand what needs to happen next. But leaders can still lead.

Liminal seasons come often in a congregation's life: The interim time between established pastorates. The beginning of a new pastorate, when trust in the new leader is still forming. The months after the completion of a strategic plan, when leaders are left wondering where the next big idea will come from. The time following the death of a matriarch or patriarch. Most liminal seasons are resolved within a matter of months or years.

However, in our time the institutional Church is experiencing a liminal era that will not be resolved any time soon. The models and structures that have defined the Church are crumbling around us. New ways are emerging, but we do not yet know what, if any, institutional church structures will remain. The disorientation and disengagement of this time are exhausting all of us.