The protestant church in America is changing. According to an article by Christianity Today, in the 1970s, nearly one third of Americas were part of a church affiliated with a denomination such as Baptist, Lutheran, or Methodist. Today, that percentage is far less—hovering around 10%. In fact, in 2018, the number of Americans attending nondenominational churches surpassed the number of those who say they are part of a denominational church.
There are likely a whole host of reasons for this shift, which we won’t get into in this article. What we do want to discuss is one of the issues that the increasing number of nondenominational may face: what to do when they are suddenly without a lead pastor.
The lead pastor position at a church can become vacant for a variety of reasons—the pastor retires, steps down, takes a new position elsewhere, is relieved of his duties, becomes too ill to continue, or passes away. In some of these cases, the departure is expected and the church can make plans to fill the position. However, in other cases, it is quite unexpected and the church is left with a gaping hole. All of the roles previously filled by the lead pastor—preaching, staff leadership, counseling, etc.—have to be redistributed.
Most churches—especially smaller churches—don’t have the personnel to fill all of these roles effectively, leaving them in a tough spot. Denominational churches can often call upon their denomination for support in these circumstances, since the denomination may have interim pastors on staff for situations just like this. But nondenominational churches have no such option, so they often turn to organizations that specialize in intentional interim ministry.
What Is Intentional Interim Ministry?
Intentional interim ministry occurs when a person or group of people come into a church to serve, on a temporary basis, in the absence of a lead pastor. They very intentionally use the word “intentional” because their ministry is not meant to be a permanent solution for the church. Instead, they are there to get the church through a time of transition—until they can call a new lead pastor.
Intentional interim ministry is a very specialized type of ministry. Not just anyone has the skills, experience, and giftings to fill an interim pastor role, because intentional interim pastors do much more than just preach on Sundays. They are often called upon to address long-standing problems in the churches in which they serve. They may also have to deal with the issues that contributed to the previous lead pastor abruptly leaving or being let go.
Organizations like VitalChurch Ministry specialize in helping revitalizing churches, while also providing them with interim pastoral leadership. They will also help churches search for their next permanent lead pastor. The entire process can take up to two years, but the testimonials from church members and leaders who have been involved in the process overwhelmingly say that that the process is well worth the effort!
