On a cold winter day, I was talking on the phone with a colleague about the church where I serve as pastor. I was feeling frustrated. I told him I didn't know how to move the church where God wanted it to go.
I had lots of questions: Where's the infrastructure? Who's in control? How do the bylaws function? What happened in the past?
"I wish I could find the 'letter' from the previous pastor," I said. I was talking about the tradition of the outgoing U.S. president leaving a letter of advice and encouragement for the incoming president.
Needless to say, like many pastors and leaders across the nation, I didn't receive the letter I so longed for.
As our clergy population ages, younger ministers are stepping into senior roles at big-steeple churches. How must we mentor and form them so they will thrive?
Having an associate pastor is often necessary, sometimes useful, and frequently a sorrow. It can also be a joy. Clear communication and excellent boundaries can prepare the way for a good relationship or perhaps even a friendship to develop, writes a scholar of the "associate role."
Beginning Ministry Together is about the transition period between the announcement that one pastor is leaving and the time when another pastor is well settled.
The message brought by Roy Oswald and colleagues Jim and Ann Heath is that this is not an impossible time to be survived only with a lot of expert help. Rather, even though the task is complex, committed congregational leaders can handle it -- with the help of people who have been on this journey before. Oswald describes how clergy and congregations can better end and begin pastorates. He shows them how to say good-bye and discern their needs for the future -- how to use the open space between pastorates for evaluation and preparation for a new day.
