Plan Your Transition

“Everybody has a plan until they get hit in the face!” said boxer Mike Tyson, champion Joe Louis, and probably others. Getting hit in the face hurts, but having a plan doesn’t need to be painful.

Some pastorates may feel like a fifteen-round boxing match. Whatever the situation, both boxing and pastoring have a beginning, middle, and end. As such, a faithful pastorate should include a plan for how to end and to transition to the next pastor. Yet that plan should connect to and not conflict with the providence of God.

Our Plans

In May 2023, I retired as the pastor of our church in Minnesota after serving there about fourteen years. Most of our family lived about 1000 miles away, and a few family members’ health was beginning to decline. So my wife and I moved back to our home in Virginia. What follows is a brief account of the occasion in which I had a plan and, by the grace of God, witnessed a smooth transition to a successor.

By way of disclaimer, let me admit the obvious: not every plan pans out. I have heard plenty of stories of pastoral transition plans going pear-shaped. As you read about our transition, remember that no matter what your church’s transition looks like, God is faithful and calls you to the same. He is praiseworthy in a smooth transition and a stormy one.

With that in mind, here is a brief overview of how my church moved on from my pastorate.

The Plan

About two years prior to my “retirement,” I discussed our situation at an elder meeting. Privately, my prayer had been that I could disciple someone whom the congregation would recognize as the new senior pastor. Since that possibility did not appear imminent, the elders began to pray for God to connect us with someone whom we could recommend. We drafted a three-phase plan that extended over two and a half years:

Phase One (2–3 Years out, Elders Only)

• Collect an initial list of candidates from various trusted sources.
• Perform an initial screening of candidates.
• Conduct initial interviews by email, then in person.

Phase Two (1 Year out, Elders and Congregation)

• Notify the congregation of the transition plan.
• Announce my resignation by retirement “on or before” 12–13 months.
• Ask members to pray for our transition process and for wisdom and direction from God.
• Ask members to suggest potential candidates for consideration and review.
• Conduct detailed interviews and information exchanges with candidates.

Phase Three (3–6 Months out, Elders and Congregation)

• Solicit continued congregational prayer for the ongoing search.
• Announce the candidate recommendation to the church.
• Hold candidate meetings with the congregation.
• Schedule candidate preaching dates at the church.
• Recommend that the candidate serves as transitional part-time staff, pending congregational vote.
• Determine the transition period and an official retirement date.
• Schedule dates for a congregational vote on the candidate as senior pastor, then installation.

The Providence of God

If we were diligently working our own plans, did we actually trust God? Did God also have a plan? These questions are the concerns of providence.

We believe that God directs even the tiniest details by his providence. “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Prov. 16.33). We believe God generally uses ordinary means, like plans showered in wise counsel (Prov. 15:22), as he directs providence. Of course, we also believe God is free to work outside of those same ordinary means. “Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth” (Ps. 135:6).

As we moved along the pathway of our pastoral transition plans, we prayed for God to direct our steps.

During Phase One, we asked God to help us be patient and wise in our conversations with various churches and networks. We decided to focus on young men who had some background in, or willingness to serve in, the upper Midwest. On several occasions, we invited seminary students to preach. This gave young men some valuable experience and gave us a feel for possible candidates. We praised God for how he helped us to meet new people and refine our sense of what sort of person we were seeking.

Phase Two began with an announcement of my upcoming retirement. This took some people by surprise, leading to some questions and fears of the unknown. We encouraged our members that God was in control and reminded them of his care for us as his people. The fact that we were not proposing a typical interim period and search-committee process was a lot for the congregation to process. We urged members to trust God and to ask him for a smoother transition.

About three months after my announcement, I told a pastor friend in another city about our search. He said we should talk to a young man on his church staff.

In the providence of God, this man was completing his church planting residency and had a strong desire to minister in our city of all places. The two of us began having coffee every few weeks to discuss life and ministry. Over time, I saw this brother potentially as an excellent fit. Our elders prayed for wisdom and ultimately met with the man, presenting a phased offer of staff church planter to senior pastor, pending congregational approval. The brother flatly refused our offer because he wanted to start a new church, not serve an existing congregation.

Wait! How could this be the providence of God?

Our elders and the candidate agreed to suspend the conversation for two weeks so we could pray, seek counsel, and discern the will of God.

How was providence at work in the candidate? He shared:

I had resolved, with my family of six, to plant a church to the glory of God here in Mankato. We repeatedly had prayed that God would go before us, softening the hearts of those he had called us to reach. In his sovereign goodness, God indeed prepared a people for us, but in a surprising way that none of us anticipated.

 

I was stunned to receive an offer from the church, because I had told Michael for months about my church planting plans. But I agreed to prayerfully seek the will of God until the next appointed meeting.

 

Sometime during the following few days, I had an “out of the blue” call from a wise, seasoned pastor, precisely when I needed sound counsel. God used him, and like never before, the Lord made clear that he had brought us to this city not to plant but serve an existing congregation.

By the time we met again, God had given us all a strong, clear, and joyful unity of heart to move ahead together with our recommendation. Praise God!

Phase Three became a tremendous season of joyful thanks for our congregation to see the providence of God and receive this brother as a gift to serve and shepherd them for his glory. We rejoiced in Romans 8:28, “that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

We had plans, and God in his kind providence led us all on the path of blessing.