Church Staff

Engaging Retired Pastors as Interims

Soon-Hock Lim 6 Comments

by Lim Soon Hock

One of the resources that is not tapped by the Malaysian church is the pool of retired pastors. Many of them often end up in an itinerant ministry that is generally limited to preaching at worship services. Their knowledge and experience of leading and pastoring a church remain largely unutilised. Could they be better engaged? I believe they can—as interim pastors.

Benefits of Engaging a Retired Pastor as an Interim

1. General pastoral ministry.  A church will greatly benefit from the services of a retired pastor as an interim. The first and most obvious benefit is that the church has someone who is able to handle much of the ministry that had been carried out by the former pastor. These include organising the pulpit programme and preaching; coordinating the ministries of the church; visitation and counselling; and assisting the leaders to provide leadership for the church.

2. Specific and intentional ministry.  Indeed, the interim can do more. Apart from the traditional pastoral services, the interim may also be tasked to address certain issues affecting the church, such as conflicts. Perhaps, it was precisely this reason that the former pastor left the church. Understanding, healing, closure, and restoring unity would then be absolutely necessary if the church were to move on without being shackled by the trauma.

Another area an interim might specially be entrusted to do is to implement and manage change in the church, such as reorganising the ministries of the church. Each ministry may be operating in its own silo, and the ministry of the church as a whole has become unwieldly and ineffective. Aligning the ministries to the purpose and vision of the church would be necessary to unite the church, and forging the different ministries to work in collaboration with one another would enhance the church’s effectiveness.

The interim’s role in this regard, then, is not simply to keep the church going from Sunday to Sunday—a maintenance-type ministry. Rather, his role is intentional—to help the church progress during a period of transition. The expected outcome is that the next tenured minister has a healthier church to pastor, and perhaps, one that is poised for greater things.

I am certain that a church will benefit from the ministry of an interim. Conversely, the retired pastor will also benefit from his new role as an interim.

Benefits to a Retired Pastor Engaged in Interim Ministry

1. Sense of purpose.  Many pastors become anxious when they approach retirement age primarily due to two reasons. The first has to do with their life-purpose. Being a pastor of a church is a defining-identity for most pastors, especially if they have been at it for a long time. When a pastor stops being a pastor, he starts to question the purpose of his life. Even the occasional itinerant preaching ministry will not give him a great deal of fulfilment.

However, if he were engaged as an interim, whether full-time or part-time, the service, the ministry, the work, and the new relationships will give him a sense of purpose, usefulness and fulfilment. He is still able to use his gifts, knowledge and experience to serve the Lord and His church. The new role might indeed invigorate him because it’s a little different from his previous responsibility as the pastor of a church.

2. Financial security and dignity.  The second reason a pastor might be anxious as he approaches retirement has to do with finances. Most churches in Malaysia don’t provide any kind of financial support for their pastors when they retire. How then would he support himself? This is a real-world concern (notwithstanding the faithfulness of the Lord to provide for His servant). Living off one’s savings and EPF1 contributions can last only so long. Honorariums from speaking engagements in Malaysian churches are not, generally speaking, generous.

A definite monthly income as an interim will cushion the drastic change in his financial position. A regular income will give him a sense of financial security and dignity.

3. Limited duration of engagement.  Further benefits to the interim minister include the limited duration of his commitment to the church. A pastor in his senior years may no longer want to be engaged for an indefinite period of service. A six to 24 months stint to help a church might be ideal. At the end of the engagement he can assess whether he wants to continue in the interim ministry in another church.

4. Limited hours of service.   A pastor in his senior years may also not want a full-time job. A part-time engagement as an interim might indeed be ideal for both him and the church. He is able to find purpose for his life and ministry, and at the same time be assured of some financial support. On the other hand, a church may not have the finances to support a full-time interim; and yet if they engage an interim in a part-time capacity they can still benefit from his pastoral maturity and experience.

I truly believe that empowering the retired-pastor as an interim is a good move in the right direction for the Malaysian church. Regardless of language group or denominational make-up, pursuing the understanding and practice of the interim ministry will bring great benefits to both the church and the pastor.

(You may want to read a previous article, “Some Churches in Malaysia May Need Interim Pastors.” Click here.)

Some Churches in Malaysia Need Interim Pastors

Soon-Hock Lim 9 Comments

by Lim Soon Hock

The interim pastor or minister is a very much studied and well-developed practice in Western churches. Not so in Malaysia, and I suspect, in Asia. In my 40 odd years of church ministry I have not heard it being mentioned. When I started to research on the topic I was, however, surprised to find a dissertation on the internet by a Malaysian pastor on the interim ministry.2

By its simplest definition, an interim pastor is a minister who is engaged by a church after the departure of its previous pastor and before a new pastor arrives.3 By definition, the period of engagement of an interim is short—usually a year to two. His (or her) role is also defined by the place he stands in the timeline between two tenured pastors—to transit the church from the ministry and leadership of one pastor to the next.

Why Malaysian Churches Don’t Engage Interims

With the above understanding about the interim minister, let’s go back to the question, why isn’t it practised among Malaysian churches? The first and most obvious reason is because they don’t know that there is such a thing as an interim pastor. Engaging an interim would not have crossed their minds. They don’t know they need one and they don’t know what to look for.

Secondly, many evangelical churches in Malaysia, more so among the non-denominational type, are not heavily dependent on a full-time pastor or a Senior Pastor to lead the church. The group of lay-leaders can capably (albeit with the constraints of time) minister and lead the church.4

Thirdly, churches don’t perceive the transition period between tenured pastors as an opportunity to work on critical issues facing the church. The sad truth, from my personal experience and observation, is that most churches don’t believe they have any serious issues. If they do, they don’t want to deal with them. Much less, to engage someone from the outside to guide it through the process.

When Malaysian Churches Should Engage Interims

It would be right to say that not all churches going through a transition between two tenured pastors need to engage an interim for the intervening period. For example, when the succeeding pastor has already been identified, lay-leaders are able to carry out pastoral functions, there aren’t any issues that the church cannot effectively resolve itself, and the church is generally quite healthy and united.

However, many churches are far from that ideal condition. When such a church is without a pastor for a long or indefinite period it usually leads to a worsening of its condition. One answer is to engage an interim pastor to help the church through at least two basic issues.

One, to address any effects from the departure of the former pastor. The former pastor could very well be a beloved pastor whose departure is not due to any negative reason, but simply because he is retiring from full-time pastoral ministry. Nonetheless, the church might be experiencing grief as a result of the pastor’s retirement and/or anxiety about the future of the church.

If the departure of the former pastor is due to some issue like sin, conflict, or poor performance, there will be an even greater need for an interim. In such cases, the latter is needed to help the church deal with the residual effects of the former pastor’s departure, including the reason for and the way his tenure had been terminated. The goal of the interim is to bring healing and closure for the church.

Secondly, if a church has had a difficult experience arising from the departure of its former pastor, it may be ill-prepared to look for the next pastor. And I add, who is a right fit for the church. In another instance, a church might have been searching for a pastor for a long time, but without success. An interim can fill the ministry and leadership gap while guiding the church to search for and prepare it to receive its new pastor.

In an era when there is a short supply of full-time pastors, an interim might also be instrumental to raise up a full-time or bi-vocational pastor from within the church.

The above points are just two of the most basic reasons why and when a church needs to engage an interim pastor. We will look at other critical reasons in subsequent articles as we discuss the unique role of an intentional interim. I believe many churches in Malaysia could do with the services of a trained intentional interim and greatly benefit from his (or her) ministry.

(Go to the next article on the interim pastor: “Engaging Retired Pastors as Interims.”)

Staff Retreat (Part 3): Envisioning

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In Parts 1 & 2 I wrote about two of the three priorities for a Staff Retreat; namely, Prayer and Team Building. (If you have not read them yet, go to links here for Part 1 and Part 2). This final part focuses on the primary purpose of the retreat where the pastoral staff huddle down together to look at what needs to be done to strengthen the church to be healthier and to do better.

This may include planning, but the retreat is more than just about planning programmes for the coming year. It is more about the big-picture; where the church is at, where it is going and what needs to be done to get there. It involves looking at everything and anything that will help the pastoral team accomplish that. I will simply call it Envisioning.

I am using the term rather loosely here. It is not limited to crafting a vision statement. Of course, if a church does not have one, then this is among the very first things the pastoral team should pray and work on. If it already has a vision but requires a serious relook or just a bit tweaking, then an appropriate amount of time should be given to do what is needed at the Retreat.

Areas of Focus

The area of focus at each retreat will understandably be different. It depends on what the Senior Pastor discerns to be the need of the church during this season of its journey. Below are examples of what some of these needs might be:

  1. Drafting Vision and/or Mission Statements
  2. Determining Core Values
  3. Setting 5-year Goals
  4. Establishing Discipleship and Leadership Development Processes
  5. How to Retain Visitors and Close the Back Door
  6. Removing Growth Obstacles and Establishing Growth Strategies
  7. Developing Church Health
  8. Developing Church Culture
  9. Carrying Out Change

From my experience there is time for the team to deal with only one or two areas at any one retreat. This is because we want to be thorough, and secondly, because of the method employed for this kind of an exercise.

Methodology

The SP is expected to lead in the sessions, but the outcome should be a team effort. That means, the sessions are to be conducted in a way that allows for every team member to participate. A lot of time is to be given to collective brainstorming, discussion and sharing of opinions.

Putting up the ideas and insights coming from the different members with the use of “post it”, white board, flip chart and/or LCD projection is indispensable to aid clarity and to avoid misunderstanding.

In order to maximise the time at the retreat the SP should clue-in the team with the agenda. Some of the staff may be assigned to do some pre-retreat research and questions may be given to the team to guide their personal pre-retreat reflection. This will give everyone time to think, be better prepared and have more useful contributions to make at the Retreat.

Action Steps

The last thing any pastoral team would want is to go away from a retreat not really knowing what they have done or accomplished.

The Staff Retreat must end with clear conclusions, deliberate action steps for those areas where there is agreement, and outstanding matters noted for further discussion back in the office (perhaps, at the weekly pastoral staff meeting).

Summary Report

Within a week, preferably before the next pastoral staff meeting, the SP should have sent out a summary report of the Staff Retreat encapsulating the conclusions, action steps and outstanding matters. This document is to be the basis for further deliberations at both the pastoral and church leadership (eg. Church Board) levels until agreement is achieved. Following this the decisions and strategies are then cascaded to the members of the church for united action.

(If your church does not a team of pastoral staff, my recommendations for a Staff Retreat may be applied for a Church Leaders Retreat such as the Eldership team or Church Board.)

Staff Retreat (Part 2): Team Building

Soon-Hock Lim 2 Comments

In Part 1 I wrote about the need of having an annual pastoral staff retreat, with envisioning, prayer and team building as priority on the agenda. If you missed this and my pointers on prayer you can read my post here.  

The second objective of a staff retreat is Team Building.

All pastoral staff are usually given a specific ministry for which he (or she) is personally responsible. While he may be the man in-charge of that ministry he is not, however, to function in a silo. It is very unfortunate that the latter is a common problem in many churches. This is true of both paid staff and unpaid volunteers. Too many church workers are focussed only on their ministry, they fight for the church’s resources for their ministry, they even pray just for their ministry—oblivious of the bigger picture.

It is critical that everyone works as a team, including the leaders across the various ministries of the church (and, leaders need to lead the way and show the way). The greater the unity the greater the effectiveness. The greater the bond between the workers the greater the unity. The better the understanding of one another’s ministry and how each adds to the health of the church the stronger the shared vision to advance the church.

The pastoral staff retreat is a wonderful opportunity to foster this very much needed team spirit. They set the tone and the example for the rest of the church.

How is this done?

Informal Chats

At a staff retreat bonding between staff can happen informally over meals or over a cup of tea during the “free hours”. In such an atmosphere it is natural to catch up on family, share about personal aspirations or even air personal ministry struggles. At a right moment with the right person, colleagues often easily open up to one another on deeper personal issues, which might otherwise be hidden away.

Programmed Exercises

While connections between staff members may happen spontaneously in the conducive atmosphere of a retreat, still, it is extremely helpful to schedule into the programme exercises for team building. The lead pastor or someone in the group may facilitate the exercises, but that may mean that that person will not be able to participate. At one retreat we invited a professional team builder to join us, and it proved to be very useful as all the staff could participate in the exercises.

In some of the staff retreats I had led, I had some time carved out in the programme to evaluate how we had done as a team. We asked questions like, What have we accomplished as a team? How would we rate the support we received from each other? How much do we know of each other’s personal and ministry challenges? What are some things we can do to strengthen our team spirit? The sharing helped us to understand and appreciate one another more.

Forging Together

The ultimate purpose of building team spirit among a group of colleagues is to enable them to work together effectively. Hence, it isn’t enough just to have social camaraderie over a cup of coffee or to bond during team building exercises. As the saying goes, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating,”—so, the test of the team is during those times when the team members work together.

The Staff Retreat is one such platform when this happens. This “planning” time calls for as much team work as when the team is carrying out a project for the church. Regardless of what’s up for discussion, each is to bring his (or her) contribution to the table, and together the team forge a united way forward for the common good of the church. This is part of the envisioning process which I hope to write about in Part 3 next week.

Staff Retreat (Part 1)

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If I were to pick one event in the church calendar that had been a consistent highlight in the churches I pastored it would be the annual pastoral staff retreat. It was one of the most useful, time-well-spent, cost-beneficial, and I hasten to add, necessary, events to be scheduled into the calendar.

Where?  A quiet place like the Cameron Highlands or Fraser’s Hill, because I like the cool weather and great food served up by the resident caretakers. (Picture on the right is the OMF Bungalow in Cameron Highlands.)

How long?  Usually a few days.

When?  Normally, in October. With three-quarters of the year done, enough have happened for some serious evaluation. With only a few months left before the new year, October is also a good time to start working on the big picture for the following year. In most church settings, a reasonable lead time is also needed because the “plans” coming from the pastoral team have to be cascaded to the Church Board for their agreement.

Who? Obviously, the pastoral/ministry staff. But I have sometimes included the elders (or senior members of the church leadership) to let them see what we do at such pastoral staff retreats and also to benefit from their input. (There is certainly a place for a larger church leaders retreat, but a pastoral staff retreat is irreplaceable. I believe that the pastoral team should be at the cutting-edge of the church’s advancement.)

Purpose? Like the Staff Meeting (read the blogpost here) many things can be brought to the table for a Staff Retreat, but the following should be topmost on the agenda: 1. Envisioning, 2. Prayer and 3. Team Building.

I’ll deal with prayer in this post and leave team building and envisioning to subsequent posts.

PRAYER

I am certain that you believe that prayer is not something we simply pay lip-service to—we need to get down to seriously praying. And if the pastoral team cannot do that then we might as well hand in our resignation letters. Time away for a staff retreat must also mean setting aside time for prayer at the retreat.

Prayer Priority

Prayer should be the first thing on the programme when everyone has arrived (though I have to confess that afternoon tea with scones, cream and strawberry jam often come first!). There is such a great temptation to jump right into business—talking and strategising—without first seeking the face of the Lord and listening to Him. Each new day should begin with corporate worship and prayer, and a good part of the evenings should be dedicated to prayer.

Prayer Agenda

  1. Praying for the Retreat. We don’t want to be led by human understanding, we want to be led by the Spirit of Lord. We don’t just want good ideas, we want to be divinely inspired. We shouldn’t be satisfied with doing good things, we must want to do the God-thing. Hence, we must pray and seek the face of the Lord.
  2. Praying for One Another. Only those who are in the full-time pastoral ministry know how tough the job is. It follows that we are the best people to pray for each other.

The retreat is a good time to pray into one another’s life. The setting lends itself to it. From my experience I know this can be so powerful. As the staff minister to one another inner hurts are healed, spirits are lifted up, a fresh anointing of the Spirit falls on one or more people, and maybe, even on the whole group!

At one retreat we invited a spiritual director to lead us for the first one and a-half days in a silent retreat. It was a short but significant time—evidenced by the sharing at the conclusion of our personal and quiet waiting upon the Lord.

  1. Praying for the Church. The chief reason why the pastoral staff are at the retreat is because of the church. We are there to seek the Lord for the church. Hence, it is only natural and right for the staff to seize the time to make strong intercession on behalf of the church.

The Staff Retreat is not a prayer retreat, but you can’t do without serious prayer if you want to accomplish something significant at the Staff Retreat.

Next blog post: Staff Retreat (Part 2) on “Team Building”.