Keith Knight

Perhaps I missed it or perhaps it's assumed. This entire transitional period should be bathed in prayer. As pastors approach the retirement age, I regularly encourage them to take sabbatical time (3 months) to devote to prayer and to discern God's will for this next chapter in your life.

I hate the notion that ministers MUST retire from active ministry by age 66. This should be viewed more as a time of transition from full time pulpit ministry to ..... whatever is next.

 

While this piece is focused on what the minister should do to prepare himself for the transition, this is also an incredible time for the congregation to engage in succession planning.  In my work with churches (and other non-profits), we advocate and facilitate full day succession planning workshops that involve the church's leadership -- elders, deacons, search committee, ministry leaders. It's a time to celebrate where you've been but then also to dream about what the church will (ideally) look like in 5 years.

It's a time to review the church's mission and vision statements. We also have all participants provide three words that describe the church. We have the participants take part in a SWOT analysis: What's working, what's not working, what are the opportunities, what are the threats.

The minister is usually involved in this process. Then he/she leaves the room.

The participants are encouraged to dream about what the church will ideally look like in 5 years. (eg. grow the church by 100 participants, increase youth ministry, become more missional, improve on discipleship)

This is an opportunity to celebrate the gifts of the outgoing pastor and to mention the areas of weakness.

The participants then develop a job description of their next pastor: is the focus on preaching? evangelism? mission? administration? visioning? What about preferred age of the pastor, gender, ethnicity.

Participants leave that full day session aligned around who their next pastor should be.

As the outgoing pastor leaves his years of ministry at the church, the church develops it's 'next chapter', building on the past.

 

Synod 2023's biggest enemy could best be described as "3 p.m. on Thursday".

The clock, rather than the Holy Spirit, ruled Synod .. especially on the last day. Synod's officers were forever mindful of their 3 p.m. deadline to get their work done. Discussions were shortened, there were ever-reducing time limits on individual speeches.

At the risk of harkening back to a better time in the lives of Synods, I will. I attended Synod for 7 consecutive years back in the 1970s and 1980s, two of those years as a delegate; the other five as a Christian journalist.

Synod lasted, on average, 10 days. It was never rushed. We'd have evening banquets and receptions to honor various retirees and ecumenical visitors. But most importantly, we never rushed a discussion ... in committee meetings or on the floor of Synod. Synod was a deliberative body, and every discussion played out however long it took. That included several contentious issues such as women in office and revisions to various creeds.

Synod, back then, deliberated and discussed. The clock didn't rule Synodical Procedures.

When we arrived as delegates, we knew that we'd be together for 10 days and we planned our travel -- as well as committee meetings -- accordingly.

A former Synod's decision to cut off all debate and to conclude the gathering by 3 p.m.on Thursday has done the denomination and the deliberative nature of Synod a great disservice. That hard deadline, more than anything else, left delegates with a bitter taste in their mouths as they left the annual event.

It is my hope that this year's officers will recommend to next year's synod organizers that there be some flexibility in when Synod should end. It seems that Synod has lost the art of debate and deliberation in favor of expediency and efficiency.