8 min 16 s

Rev. Dr. Laura Barnes

  • What their financial documents reveal about the condition of the congregation – what to look for
  • Here’s when and how I ask for their financial documents and what I do with them
  • What if I don’t have any financial training? Should I just leave all that to others?
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12 min 26 s

Rev. Dr. Laura Barnes

  • Creating a Covenant of Agreement with the staff
  • Why I make a point of spending time with the top financial donors
  • How I use my perceived objectivity as an outsider to advantage
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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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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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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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18 min 50 s

Rev. Peter Ilgenfritz & Rev. Todd Weir

Some specific examples of nurturing & empowering the staff during the interim time;

Implementing a staff evaluation process during the interim time – some specifics;

How having a staff evaluation process in place is so helpful to the next settled pastor;

Questions to ask to help staff thrive;

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16 min 58 s

Rev. Peter Ilgenfritz & Rev. Todd Weir

It’s about more than boundaries…

Having a pastoral conversation about moving on – framing the conversation as about their own life and ministry;

Who are you now? Who do you need to be? How are you going to be in a way that serves the church, and this next pastor?

Helping them to relate to the congregation in a new way and have a new story;

And about grief – about letting go of the host of emotions that get tangled up in us when we’ve served a beloved community for a long period of time.

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