Governance - Coaching For Interims

How I Helped Initiate a Shared Ministry Project

14 min 06 s

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.

13 min 28 s

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;

14 min 30 s

How the pastor can overcome resistance by the laity;
How can a pastor help a congregation move beyond the resistance that just comes up when, when change is in the air;
Being intentional rather than reactionary in the move to a part-time pastorate;
Questions to help the laity get clear about their roles in the move to a part-time pastorate;
Key questions to ask yourself to understand how your pastorate is structured now;
Formal vs. unspoken expectations and their consequences;
Allowing the laity to do what they’ve long been authorized to do but don’t realize it;
Helping the laity to see that there’s actually very little that is doable only by the pastor;
Seeing the pastor as a strategic resource to advance the mission of the congregation;
Why being clear about the congregation’s mission is so essential to a successful part-time

14 min 03 s

How a part-time pastorate can actually be more empowering for lay people;
How part-time ministry can be a career boon for creative types who have other streams of income;
How a part-time pastorate can be life-giving for both the pastor and the congregation;
How a part-time pastorate can create a grounding and stable life for the creative gig worker;

10 min 19 s

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;

12 min 51 s

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?