10 min 41 s
Joining stands on the shoulders of farewell;
The nature of your last farewell will hugely influence how you join your next community of faith;
Joining has 5 practices:
Joining is about sharing your heart and receiving theirs.
Listen or Read Now!
15 min 06 s
As an Interim Minister, have you ever wondered about the rest of the story? You know – feedback about the impact of your ministry on the congregation after you left? In this episode, settled ELCA pastor, Rev. Heidi Johnston, expresses her gratitude to the Intentional Interim Minister who preceded her, including specifics of how the IM set her up for success.
Particular things IM did to set me up for success –
The IM expressed clear boundaries about the number of hours/week she would work & equipped laity to negotiate the use of pastoral time and energy – focusing and prioritizing;
IM didn’t work beyond her stated limit of working hours when temped to do so – and helped the congregation understand why and adapt;
Two, she led leadership through honest sometimes hard conversations about their current reality – and its implications for calling next pastor;
IM presented new limitations as opportunities, not losses, which led to a new joy in opportunities for more hands-on ministry for lay people.
Three – The transition conversations nudged people beyond all the ways the past was more abundant – celebrate the wonderful things of the past, and also name past hurts and conflicts – helped me not to get blindsided by issues the congregation may be sweeping under the rug.
Listen or Read Now!
12 min 07s
Book came out of my experiments, failures & successes of a more laid-back approach to ministry;
Laidback means pastoring from the sidelines rather than from center court.
My Aha! moment after season of being burned out came when I wasn’t insisting on being in the center of everything & the church was still doing just fine;
I know I’ve done well equipping them when they own the ideas, not saying “Pastor Liz said we should…” As a transition pastor, key to be able to very quickly say: This is who I am. This is what you will experience working with me.
Listen or Read Now!
12 min 28s
I’ve come to realize that transitional ministry in a church in transition feels very similar to a settled position, but it’s a lot more honest about the transitions that are happening there at the forefront, rather than in the background;
Avoid giving in to the sense of urgency by doing too much myself; rather, staying on the sidelines for equipping and empowering people;
A lot of helping the congregation reframe ownership for existing things or new ideas so it’s really coming from them, not just what a pastor said they should do;
Listen or Read Now!