Skip to content
GOVERNANCE & MINISTRY
by Dan Hotchkiss
Contact Dan
Buy Governance & Ministry
Clergy Transition and the Power of the Past
Open external resource
← Previous
Next →
Excerpt
©2007 Lauren Manning via Flickr | CC-BY For a new ministry to flourish, both clergy and lay leaders need to understand the congregation’s feelings about the predecessor. Every congregation has some history with (or without) clergy. At time of clergy transition, that history influences the selection process and the partnership as it develops. Experience with a former clergy leader may have been so good (or so traumatic) that its influence extends for generations. Sometimes the true “predecessor” is a series of short-tenured clergy or a period of lay leadership. Especially if the predecessor’s ministry was long, people probably accepted certain compromises, leaving them with a pent-up desire for change. For example, someone usually wants changes to the worship service that a given clergy leader is unable or unwilling to make. Or the congregation lives with a clergy leader’s failings, on account of strengths in other areas. When that leader leaves,
Validate Email
Search for: