I Got Next: Ten Essential Lessons for an Effective Pastoral Transition

By Rev. Dr. Marcus D. Allen

When a pastor has served at one church for a long time, they are considered “legends.” They are held in high regard for having conducted marriage ceremonies, presided over funerals, and led congregants through their most difficult moments.

But when a new pastor is called to serve, they are often met with skepticism or unfair expectations. Many times, they find congregants who are unwilling to be challenged or change.

The Rev. Dr. Marcus D. Allen draws on questionnaires of African American Baptist congregations and interviews with ten pastors called to lead churches in this guide for new pastor’s intent on making a difference. Learn how to:

• navigate the transition process in a smooth fashion;
• energize and encourage congregations to move to the next level;
• help the church regain confidence and overcome the challenges of transition;
• lead congregants in mourning a former leader who has died or been called to serve elsewhere.

Each pastoral call comes with various transitional challenges, and it’s important to be ready for whatever is ahead. Get guidance to inspire others and achieve success with the lessons in I Got Next.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781973692522

Rev. Dr. Marcus D. Allen

The Rev. Dr. Marcus D. Allen is the pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Madison, WI. He was licensed to preach in July 1997, ordained in the Baptist church July 2005, and has been pastoring since January 2011. He served honorably in the United States Army for over ten years and completed three combat tours before becoming the leader he is today. He has a tremendous desire for God’s word coupled with a love for God’s people. His contagious spirit of generosity flows through every facet of his ministry. He is passionate about leading God’s people and serving God faithfully.

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Copyright © 2020 Rev. Dr. Marcus D. Allen.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Unless marked otherwise, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-9251-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-9253-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-9252-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020910262

WestBow Press rev. date: 6/9/2020

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1: Get Understanding

Lesson 1: Get Understanding of the Legend

Lesson 2: Get Understanding of the Grieving Process

Lesson 3: Get Understanding about Transition

Chapter 2: Build on the Foundation That Has Already Been Established

Lesson 4: Build Trust

Build Trust through Communication and Connection

Build Trust with Courage

Be willing to make the difficult decisions

Build Trust with a Team

Lesson 5: Build Bridges

Sermon Preparation Is Key

Transitional Preaching

Lesson 6: Build a Vision

Capture God’s Vision

The New Pastor Must Be Able to Articulate His Vision Effectively

Lesson 7: Build a Monument

Chapter 3: Ministry Depends On How Much the New Pastor Cares

Lesson 8: Tend to the Sheep

Transform the Heart

Lesson 9: Allow God’s Grace to Be Sufficient

Find Some Margin

Connect with One’s Emotions

No One Can Take Care of Oneself Better Than Himself or Herself

Family First

Lesson 10: It’s Not Good for Man to Be Alone

Pastors Are Not Alone

Every Pastor Needs a Pastor

Chapter 4: Thriving in Transition

Effects of Transition

Engaging in Transition

Emerging through Transition

Bibliography

First, I want to thank God. I want to dedicate this book to my wife, Terra, who has been my rock; my children, Alexandrea, Marcus Jr., and Mekiyah; and my mom and siblings. Finally, to my close friends and church family.

INTRODUCTION

The call to pastor God’s Church comes with a blessing and a burden. The blessing is that God has entrusted the pastor to lead His people. The burden comes when the pastor is responsible for transitioning the church and leading the congregation through God’s agenda. Each pastoral call comes with various transitional challenges. Upon being called to a church, there are numerous settings new pastors may encounter.

• A new church plant.

• The previous pastor had moral failures and resigned from the church.

• The previous pastor was not a good fit for the church, so the church voted him or her out of the church.

• The church is familiar with voting in a new pastor every three to five years.

• The church has endured a church split and is experiencing mounds of turmoil.

• The church loved the previous pastor, but God changed his assignment.

• The previous pastor was great but died while serving the church.

• The previous pastor served exceptionally well for over twenty years, and the church is grieving the loss of a great man or woman of God.

With each context, there are various challenges new pastors will face when attempting to transition any church. Transitioning is never a cake walk.¹ Transitioning can be chaotic, frustrating, confusing, and complicated. It’s necessary, but many do not enjoy the conflict and change that comes with newness. Pastoral transition brings a combination of emotions, including excitement and anxiety. The new pastor will be excited about the change but filled with anxiety about the uncertainties that comes with the change. A healthy pastoral transition is one that enables a church to move forward into the next phase of its external and internal development with a new leader appropriate to those developmental tasks and with a minimum of spiritual programmatic, material, and people losses during the transition.² Pastoral transition is a difficult process. No matter which context a new pastor is leading, it is never an easy endeavor.

This book will focus on how to transition a church where the previous pastor has served well for over twenty years. The purpose is to provide the proper tools required to overcome numerous challenges new pastors face when selected to lead a congregation where the predecessor is considered a legend. The definition of a legend pastor is someone who served faithfully for over twenty years, left a great legacy, and was loved greatly by the congregation because of the wonderful attributes he or she left behind. In addition, this pastor experienced life’s lows and highs with the majority of the membership. Following a legend pastor is a unique position.

New pastors must understand that the transition process requires grace and patience. Effective pastors must be willing to embrace the transition process with confidence and assurance. Those who have never pastored and are selected to enter a context where the previous pastor served well for an extended sum of time will experience a substantial amount of on-the-job training. If on-the-job experience is a critical element of business leader development, this should be no less true for pastoral leaders.³ Too often, new leaders are left to navigate through this transition process on their own. They are forced to learn on the job. Research over the last two decades has indicated that most leadership development in today’s business organizations happens on the job as leaders are doing their work and facing the challenges that come with the job of the leader.⁴ Seminary does not prepare many of its students for some of the challenges that they will face in the local church; however, the author desires to offer new pastors a strip map to follow for success.

Leaders require those around them to abandon the known and embrace the unknown—with no guarantee of success.⁵ This can be the most challenging part of being a pastor: trying to get people to let go of their comfort zones. Pastors must be willing to take people to places they have never been before and where the pastor may have never visited. During my first assignment, I made many mistakes, but I have also succeeded in many areas of pastoral transition. It is my passion to develop a strategy and plan that will help naïve new pastors in this environment to prosper in their service to God and the church.

It is a unique position to be in when one is called to a church where the previous pastor served a long term exceptionally well. New pastors succeeding what some would call legends can be a very difficult position. There are multiple challenges and difficulties new pastors may face when they are called to a context where the previous pastor served over twenty years. The previous pastor has had the privilege to be engaged in the lives of many of the congregants since birth. He or she has performed baby dedications, funerals, marriages, house blessings, and all major accomplishments and shortcomings, and he or she has been able to be a part of the good and bad days of the lives of his or her parishioners. D. Darrell Griffin, in his book Navigating Pastoral Leadership in the Transition Zone, suggests when a new pastor is called to a church that is already established, it is similar to someone arriving at the movie theater, and the movie has already started. Upon being called to an established congregation, the new pastor encounters a story that is already in progress. A congregation already has a history, a full story of complex subplots, and a myriad of intriguing and intricate characters.⁶ It is the responsibility of the new pastor to develop strategies in transitioning the church to new levels in ministry. Some common challenges new pastors will face in this context are as follows.

The membership will possess high expectations for the new pastor.

The membership is hesitant to change and new concepts.

Membership has become complacent, is satisfied with where the church is, and offers the infamous words, We have always done it this way.

There are also some advantages to being called to a church where the previous pastor was a legend.

The members know how to love a pastor.

The church already has a solid foundation.

The church has already established a mission and vision.

Being called to be a pastor of any church is a daunting task; however, being a new pastor of an established church where the previous pastor served well for over twenty years can feel like an overwhelming assignment. In