Sticky Pastoral Successions And How To Make Them Better

Orginally published on Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 5:04 AM
by Todd Rhoades

When the only pastor an entire generation at a church has known leaves, there’s no set model for ensuring a smooth transition, experts say. The right way to do it at one time in a church’s history may be wrong at another time. And orchestrating a succession at a megachurch is much different than easing into one in a smaller community.

Examples abound. Pastor and three-time Southern Baptist Convention President Adrian Rogers retired in 2005 from Bellevue Baptist Church near Memphis, Tenn., and the church has struggled to rebound. Critics said W.A. Criswell would not or could not let go of First Baptist Church of Dallas after Joel Gregory took over in the 1990s. And First Baptist Church of Atlanta tried unsuccessfully to facilitate a co-pastor for Charles Stanley, who was nearing retirement at the time.

Charles Johnson knows something about the difficulties that come in the wake of long-term pastorates. He currently teaches at Atlanta’s McAfee School of Theology and serves as interim pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn. But, in his previous life as a full-time pastor, Johnson twice followed beloved long-term ministers—Hardy Clemons at Second Baptist Church in Lubbock, Texas; and Buckner Fanning at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio.

Theology and ecclesiology play roles in how a successor is selected, Johnson said. The apostle Paul recognized that “if this Jesus movement is going to get beyond the narrow confines of Judaism … then we’re going to really have to employ the diversity principle,” he said.

While some megachurches accept new pastors who are groomed by the existing pastor or who are related to that pastor, many Baptist congregations avoid that route. Historically, Baptists have selected pastors after search committee recommendations and on the basis of congregational acceptance.

In Johnson’s opinion, Second Baptist had “a team concept of ministry,” while ministry at Trinity Baptist was “very personality-centered.” That made all the difference, he said.

The first test for many megachurches in surviving multiple generations comes when the current pastor resigns.

“There has yet to be a really successful succession in a super church. Most are led by a patriarch-visionary founder or someone who reinvents a vision for a church,” Gregory said in a 1997 interview.

Five years earlier, he had resigned after two years at First Baptist in Dallas. He had taken the pulpit following a beloved pastor who led the prominent congregation for more than 50 years. Gregory later wrote a book, Too Great a Temptation, about the obstacles he faced leading from such a position.

But whether in churches mega-sized or smaller, the underlying question when a dynamic pastor steps down is how to manage the succession. Some pastors believe in mandatory interim periods. Some think the pastor should stay to mentor the newcomer. Others think the predecessor should get as far away from the church as possible—preferably out of town.

More here...

FOR DISCUSSION:  Do you think there should be any rules when a pastor leaves?  Should there be a ‘non compete’ clause (you won’t take or start a church within 30 miles type of thing)?  Maybe that they won’t return to visit?  No weddings, funerals, etc.?  I’ve seen many times some ‘unwritten’ rules… but do you think this should be a more formalized agreement?  Have you ever had a previous pastor cause you problems in your ministry?

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