Category: Contracting and Negotiating Before Beginning

Posted in Assessments and Evaluations, Buildings and Property, Contracting and Negotiating Before Beginning, Mission and Vision Tagged with

08 min 43 s

Rev. Dr. Jonathan New

  • How to know if / when it’s appropriate to take on a significant project during the interim time
  • The layers to think about when considering a major project during the interim time such as a capital campaign or an Open & Affirming process
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Posted in Change Management, Church Decline, Contracting and Negotiating Before Beginning, Denomination Related, Entering and Engaging the Congregation, Governance, Leadership Development, Staff Tagged with

14 min 06 s

Rev. Gail Irwin

  • A case study in pastor sharing that began with sharing an interim pastor as a feasibility experiment for sharing a settled pastor;
  • Helping a cong. accept the reality that they can no longer afford a full-time pastor, and leading them into new territory in creative and hopeful ways;
  • Leading the creation of a shared culture when two congregations decide to share a pastor.
  • Good questions to ask when considering a shared pastor ministry model (two congregations sharing a pastor);
  • Helping a cong. understand the details of moving from a full-time to a half-time pastor;
  • Key things that made the half-time pastor sharing model work successfully;
  • My 3 key training areas to equip the lay leaders for success in a half-time pastor-sharing ministry model;
  • How the interim minister can be a catalyst for helping a congregation move into a pastor-sharing model.
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Posted in Boundaries, Children and Youth, Church Decline, Church Growth & Vitality, Contracting and Negotiating Before Beginning, External Relations, Governance, Managing Expectations Tagged with

13 min 28 s

Rev. Gail Irwin

  • Non-threatening ways to help a congregation declining in numbers begin to think about sharing a pastor (or their building) with another congregation;
  • Using your position as the interim minister to investigate the wider community on behalf of the cong.
  • Good questions an entering interim minister can ask to help a congregation declining in numbers gain a positive mindset;
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Posted in Change Management, Church Decline, Church Growth & Vitality, Contracting and Negotiating Before Beginning, Entering and Engaging the Congregation, Is Interim Ministry for Me?, Mission and Vision Tagged with

12 min 30 s

Rev. Chris Mereschuk

  • When is Designated Term appropriate?
  • Designated Term puts everything on the table
  • When serving as an interim pastor, what if calling a settled pastor next isn’t what’s really needed?
  • Designated Term: you do have goals, but maybe not a specific outcome (like being ready to call a settled pastor)
  • How Interim Pastors and Designated Pastors can work together
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Posted in Change Management, Church Growth & Vitality, Contracting and Negotiating Before Beginning, Entering and Engaging the Congregation, Is Interim Ministry for Me?, Managing Expectations Tagged with

12 min 09 s

Rev. Dr. Todd Grant Yonkman

  • Why setting expectations is critical & how to do it
  • How the metaphor of “Midwife” for the transition pastor can clarify roles and responsibilities
  • The church you were is not the church you are going to be…
  • What are you willing to let go of to get what you most want?
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Posted in Assessments and Evaluations, Buildings and Property, Change Management, Church Decline, Contracting and Negotiating Before Beginning, External Relations, Legal, Mission and Vision, Social Justice Tagged with

12 min 33 s

Rev. Dr. Rochelle (Shelly) Stackhouse

  • Book of Acts reminds us that the first congregations shared space;
  • Many New England churches originally called themselves “meeting houses” – places for all kinds of meetings, not just Sunday worship;
  • Assessing the many ways your congregation adds value to your community;
  • “Partners for Sacred Places” can help your church think creatively about uses for your building;
  • Over the centuries, churches have functioned as patrons of the arts;
  • Integrating social justice in multi-purposing your space;
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Posted in Buildings and Property, Change Management, Church Decline, Church Growth & Vitality, Contracting and Negotiating Before Beginning, External Relations, Faith Formation, Healing / Grief Work, Managing Expectations, Self-Care Tagged with

10 min 59 s

Rev. Dr. Rochelle (Shelly) Stackhouse

  • Is the church over?
  • Is this great experiment that was started by Jesus – this experiment that the Holy Spirit exploded on Pentecost – is it really over?
  • Perhaps we’re asking the wrong question….
  • If our role isn’t to preserve the Church, what is it?
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Posted in Boundaries, Contracting and Negotiating Before Beginning, Governance, Leadership Development, Managing Expectations, Staff, Team Building Tagged with

10 min 19 s

Rev. Holly MillerShank

  • Some routine things the interim minister can do to create containers for the challenging staff conversations that will likely come;
  • The plusses and minuses of having a staff person report to a committee versus reporting to an individual person;
  • Recommended staff practices to put in place as the Interim;
  • Some difficult conversations that interims need to have with staff;
  • Tips for teambuilding among the staff;
  • Creating accountability relationships with staff;
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Posted in Boundaries, Conflict Management, Contracting and Negotiating Before Beginning, Governance, Managing Expectations, Pastoral Care, Staff Tagged with

12 min 51 s

Rev. Holly MillerShank

  • How to have good conversations around boundaries with staff who are also members of the congregation;
  • Navigating the tension between the need for job performance by staff and the need for compassionate pastoral care to them;
  • What obligation – or responsibility – do interim ministers have to initiate those difficult conversations with staff?
  • What options do we have as the interim, when a staff member, who is also a congregation member, is no longer able to perform their staff duties?
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Posted in Church Growth & Vitality, Contracting and Negotiating Before Beginning, Entering and Engaging the Congregation, Leadership Development, Preaching, Worship Tagged with

13 min 23s

Rev. Quentin Chin

  • Bringing 1 Corinthians 12 to life;
  • How clergy and congregation can make space for each other to shine!;
  • Collaborative ministry requires clergy and congregation to share with each other their respective strengths and weaker areas – especially important for part-time pastorates;
  • Some of the things I’m doing to prepare the congregation for a potentially indefinite period of part-time pastorates;
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