How I Approach Interim Ministry

My approach to Interim Ministry can be summed up by the following:

Interim ministry is about reaffirming covenantal relationships, instigating self-reflection, encouraging curiosity, curating discernment, facilitating movement — and then leaving. It is a particular calling that requires courage, compassion, humility, trust, patience, flexibility, kindness, curiosity, hope, discipline, and love — lots of love. Interim ministry, especially during seasons of conflict, grief, and loss requires a deep and abiding belief in and an ability to communicate that, at the end of the day, we are a resurrection people, guided by the movement of the Spirit, and claimed and loved by God.

I wanted to title this think piece “Decolonizing Interim Ministry,” but while effective clickbait, it seems trite considering current events. But TBH, sometimes this colonizing mindset is precisely how people approach interim work. We interim folks can often come off as if we are the only ones with the ability and perspective to identify problems and provide subsequent and ideal solutions. This approach can be so infected by cultural assumptions and colored by pastoral narcissism that when played out, unnecessary havoc ensues, and guess what . . . the Interim Pastor is again the one with the ideal solutions.

Okay, I may be being a little hard on folks, but I have heard and seen (and maybe lived) this approach to interim ministry. My experience and exposure have been primarily in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and United Church of Christ adjacent, but I suspect there are many commonalities throughout the interim ministry world. Before the @s start flying, I know our intentions are genuine, but too often, our purest intentions end up being acts of pastoral hubris. No matter how practiced our tactical skills or how nuanced our strategic thinking is, we are not doctors or surgeons sent to diagnose, dissect, and cure. As Interim Pastors, we are tasked with the unique calling to accompany a community in their discernment of God’s hopes and intentions during a particular season of transition and change.

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To be clear, I am not saying that trained Interim Pastors bring nothing to the table; quite the opposite. Being an Interim Pastor requires some particular skills and approaches that, when honed and accessed, can help a community move in amazing ways. I absolutely love being part of this transitional time in congregational lives. I’ve served seven churches in my 28 years of ordained ministry, six as Interim, Transitional, Designated, or Bridge Pastor. I still have much to learn, but have gleaned a few things over those years.

Here are a few postures and approaches that I take with me into any interim, bridge, or transitional setting:

reaffirming covenant: call of the interim pastor and call of the congregation.

Too often, diving into the difficult work of calling an Interim Pastor to a church is replaced with what seems like a better strategy: expediency. Likewise, sometimes pastors jump into interim work without taking the time to discern if it is truly a calling. This is dangerous because moving too fast can lead to congregations calling pastors who are ill-fitted to interim work or pastors serving congregations who are overwhelmingly focused on how quickly a new pastor can be found. Some interims become interims out of convenience or necessity and not out of calling. Life happens; sometimes, you just need a job, and a church just needs a pastor. Calls can originate from unexpected origin stories, but Interim Pastors must be careful not to short-change the particularities of the process and subconsciously approach the job as “installed pastor lite” or treat it as a placeholder paycheck until a real call can be found. Likewise, churches must embrace the idea that the interim time is more than a set of steps that Rev. John J. Robot can complete before they are “allowed” to call a new pastor, but a rare opportunity to serve with someone who can help a congregation to reclaim and reimagine their calling in the world. When we allow tactical postures to drive the pace of the interim process, the called and calling become much more contractual than covenantal in relationship. This kind of relationship builds barriers to discoveries that could be made when space is made for the movement, inspiration, and calling of the Spirit to take root.

instigating self-reflection: taking time to name and notice patterns

One of the greatest dangers of the Interim Pastor is expecting conflict and disease around every corner. Yes, an Interim Pastor helps to reveal and uncover, but one of the gifts of the interim time and an Interim Pastor is that there is space for observation and reflection. The greatest gift of an Interim Pastor is the perspective to ask, without history or bias, “Why? Why does this happen this way?” and “How? How did this come to be?” And to do so without preconceived notions about the answer to the question. Sure, specific patterns may pop up from church to church and Interim Pastors are equipped to navigate organizational systems, but journeying alongside individuals and communities as they reflect upon, and quite possibly realize for the first time, why certain things happen or how certain things came to be can be quite the revelatory and liberating experience for all involved.

encouraging curiosity: play without permanence

When I was in seminary way back in the blue book era [insert an other self-deprecating, old person joke here :-) ], pastors were told when first arriving at a church, “Don’t change anything for at least a year.” Interim Pastors were undoubtedly not supposed to change much other than things that might get in the way of some moving forward in the process of finding a new pastor. That said, times are a changin’, and I have fond the interim time to be a delightful time to invite a community to play a bit, to explore new ideas, to be curious about all kinds of stuff, to expand expressions of faith, and to do so knowing that very little is permanent, especially during this time. Sure, keep enough for folks to feel familiarity, but it is a mistake to let these oft-anxious seasons of transition and change go by without revealing that they are not only a time of feeling unsettled but can also be a time of new life and discovery.

curating discernment: take a breath and give it time

The most challenging aspect of the interim process is to help a community truly, madly, deeply embrace the idea that discernment takes time and that, in addition to the pastoral search process, many discernment processes also need to happen during an interim time. Convincing those who would like to point to the rapid nature of the business world as the ideal model for choosing leadership means reminding folks that meaningful discernment and direction-setting take time when not driven by the clarity of a profit line.

The questions are numerous:

• Who are you as a community?
• Who is your community?
• Who is God calling you to serve?
• What identity: theological, cultural, social, liturgical, etc.?
• How do you express belonging?
• What activities, cultural norms, and behavior patterns exist in this community, and what needs to be examined, released, or reaffirmed?
• What and who is God calling you to be and become?
• What kind of pastor will best help you move toward God’s hopes?
• And so on... and so on... and so on . . . and so on . . .

I have found that as soon as a community embraces and embodies this season of discernment as a positive and unique opportunity to think creatively about who the community has been and who God hopes the community to become — the sooner they open up to the possibility that may unfold — and the sooner new leadership is invited to be a part of that revealing.

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facilitating movement: setting them up to succeed

It is not good enough to just create space for folks to discern. Gathering everyone in one large group with an, “Okay, we’re all here, what do you think?" or only listening to voices that are a wee bit too eager to be heard are not paths that will yield in-depth communal engagement and discovery, but a game of chance that produces a way forward driven by those who have had the most to protect. A lack of thoughtful facilitation sets the entire community up for failure. A key component and skill set for Interim Pastors is knowing how to facilitate that discernment in ways that make sense for the local community. From crafting compelling liturgy to utilizing effective communication strategies to facilitating inclusive group process work to moderating meaningful meetings to knowing when to listen or when to speak up, to knowing when to step in or when to let things play out, to knowing what needs to be saved and what needs to fail; this is where the craft, the dance, the wonderful chaos of Interim Ministry comes alive and Interim Pastors flourish.

and leaving: if you must stay, stay, but if you can, leave

Okay, this last one, I admit, is a bit of a “get off my lawn” or “back in my day” piece of advice. There was a day in my tradition when Interim Pastors were not allowed to become the permanent pastor. Times have changed, economies have shifted, and work patterns are all over the place. I can adapt, but I wouldn’t say I like it. You see, knowing that you are not going to stay provides important guides for an Interim Pastor:

• cautionary guardrails so you don’t take on or disrupt patterns that you will not be able to move towards some healthy baseline;
• a clearly defined period time of relationship with congregants that permits you to address complex pastoral or personal issues;
• and a collegial obligation to address the things that the next pastor will be grateful that you did.

Again, I understand that the ways leadership has evolved in the church have changed. However, I still believe that, if possible, the ideal way to enter into interim ministry is with the understanding that the interim will be just that, interim.

Okay, that’s all I have for now, and I hope these musings help provoke more conversations about interim ministry. I would love for others to offer their valuable perspectives regarding the calling of interim ministry, but you do have to be paid subscriber to comment.

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