Churches tend to take for granted the acceptance of a new pastor in the parish and community. As a result, new pastors are sometimes left alone to work their way into the affection of members. Not enough emphasis is given on assisting the bonding process between new pastors and their congregation. Local church elders can help remedy this situation.
The transition of a pastoral family from one parish to another may engender anticipation and enthusiasm on the part of both family and parish. The change can also be delicate and difficult. It is invariably accompanied by some degree of grief.
Transitional trauma
1. Congregational grief. In marriage, a loss through divorce may be more devastating than a loss through death, for in divorce the loved one chooses to leave. As a result, one feels rejected, and rejection leads to anger. Likewise, when a pastor chooses to move from one parish to another, the congregation feels some degree of grief, rejection, and anger: "What's wrong with us?" "Why would our pastor want to leave us?" "I got hurt loving the last pastor. I'm not going to love the new one and get hurt again."
If the previous pastor did not choose to leave, but was arbitrarily reassigned by the conference/mission, the congregation may be angry and resent the re placement. If the previous pastor was not appreciated by the members, they may feel distrust of and anger toward all ministers. Adapted for elders from the new Seventh-day Adventist Minister's Manual.
People tend to resent and resist change—especially conservative people, and these make up a large portion of most congregations. New pastors invariably represent change. Therefore, the temptation is to resent and resist the new pastor.
2. Pastoral family grief. The pastoral family has much more to grieve over than the church family. The family gets uprooted—an experience especially devastating to the spouse and children. They move into a new town and a strange house, with financial and social strains. The children have to start in a new school. The spouse may have to hunt for a new job.
Most serious of all, the pastoral family has had to leave friends. While the congregation may be grieving the loss of one family, the pastoral family is grieving the loss of friends in the previous parish.
All of this adds up to potential problems during pastoral transition.
Smoothing the transition
Some suggestions for smoothing the transition to a new pastorate:
1. Bury the old. The old must be set aside before the new can be accepted. The congregation can express its appreciation and verbalize its grief through a well-promoted and -attended farewell for the outgoing pastor. He or she then must sever ties with the old pastorate, no matter how painful.
2. Don't replace the pastor too soon. Some may feel that the new pastor must assume responsibilities immediately after the former pastor leaves. Research indicates, however, that it typically takes about three months before a congregation is ready to welcome a new pastor. This interim period gives time for church members to separate themselves emotionally from the former pastoral family. It also provides a unique opportunity for the latent lay leadership of the parish to emerge. Meanwhile, the congregation rediscovers its need to be pastored.
3. Adapt the church's pro gram to the new pastor's gifts. No pastor is good at everything. The expected skills are too many and too varied. For example, at one end of the spectrum the pastor is expected to be a scholarly theologian and biblical preacher. This requires a love for books, a preference for the privacy of one's study. At the other end, the pastor is expected to be a counselor, visitor, and promoter. This takes the opposite personality—gregarious and outgoing. No pastor can fill both roles perfectly.
Unless a congregation allows pastors to focus on areas of their strength, they will inevitably spend most of the time in the areas of their weakness, doing things they enjoy the least. This not only makes their work less fulfilling, but deprives the church of the best they have to offer.
4. Celebrate the new. Conferences/ missions and congregations should make the service of installing a new pastor as significant an event as possible. Just as a wedding is an important symbolic act, publicly establishing a new home, an installation service for a pastor is an important symbolic act publicly establishing a new pastorate.
One difference, though, is that the bride can plan her own wedding, but pastors cannot plan their own installation. Elders and conference/mission officials must take the responsibility. Elders or other congregational leaders should not do it by themselves as pastors are employed and assigned by the conference. The elders should work together with conference leaders in arranging a welcome worthy of the new pastor.
