Congregational Wellness
By Rev. Alan Shaw
Last month, I introduced transitional interim ministry for those, like me, who may have never heard of it or assumed it was another name for a vacancy pastor. A TIM pastor does more than “fill the sea,t” and certain conditions may exist in churches where it’s better to contract with a TIM pastor before entering the call process. To read a basic introduction to TIM, check out my blog from last month or Click Here to visit the LCMS TIM website.
Last month, I also wrote about understanding your high-performance pattern and how you can shape your environment for success in your career or family. Today, I want to put those two thoughts together and take another look at how my high-performance pattern helped steer me towards transitional interim ministry and what a TIM pastor can do for your congregation.
My pattern is summed up as “high impact – short duration”. I excel in positions where I can offer the greatest impact and then roll off after a few years so that new leaders can use their ideas to shape and polish a finished product. While a vacancy pastor helps keep the “boat afloat” until a new pastor arrives, a TIM pastor helps a congregation look out over the horizon and see how the landscape has affected the church’s current vision and mission. The congregation plays an active role in shaping its future and then incorporates their ideas into a revised congregational profile. This step can save time during call interviews because the church knows what they are looking for in their next pastor, and the call candidate knows whether that vision matches their high-performance pattern or not. Prayerfully, a TIM pastor empowers the congregation so that neither the congregation nor the newly called pastor thinks, “this isn’t who I thought they were during the interview,” after they arrive and begin their call. TIM pastors cannot be the next called pastor, so when the newly called pastor accepts, the TIM pastor “rolls off” and takes another assignment.
My high-performance pattern helped me realize the combination of TIM and Christion Conciliation as well. As a Christian Conciliator, I work with couples and sometimes congregations looking for that high-impact and short-duration result through repentance, reconciliation, restoration, and (sometimes) reinstatement. A conflict between brothers and sisters in Christ within a congregation can negatively affect the call process. The pastor interview can reveal the conflict and shape the pastor’s discernment of whether to accept the call or not, knowing they could be walking straight into a reconciliation effort. A TIM pastor trained in Christian Conciliation can help restore those relationships so the newly called pastor can jump right into serving the church and community.
The key is understanding that congregations act as a system, and when that system has a misaligned vision or personal conflict affecting the body of Christ, churches may want to first reach out to the District President and consider assigning a transitional interim pastor. Unveiling this “secret world” is the first step. The rest is up to you.
Rev Alan Shaw is an Assistant Pastor at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Cary, NC, and a part-time Transitional Interim Minister at Peace Lutheran Church in Goldsboro, NC. He is a retired Army officer and serves as a resource for the SED and LCMS with Christian Conciliation training, workshops, and reconciliation cases. He can be reached at alan@restoringharmonyllc.com.