How to Kill the Church You Planted When You Move On
Chris Backert
Jun 24, 2016

There are some occasions when I wish that I was an actual Bishop.   One of those repeated moments is when I find out that a church within Ecclesia is about to go through a pastoral transition.   In fact, I cringe almost every time that I first get the news.   Quite honestly this is born out of the pain of seeing several new churches (and some within Ecclesia) carry out the process of transition so poorly.   Normally, the transition decimates them to the degree that it sets the congregation on an inevitable path of closure.   What is most unfortunate about this is that prior to the change, they were actually quite vital.   Up until recently, Ecclesia has offered help in each of these situations for the churches in our network (and even some without).   I can tell you that in the situations our outside guidance has been received, the church has found itself on a good path.   In those situations where it has not (which is more often than I wish) in every situation, the church has been crippled or killed. 

Transitions are hard for all churches, but they are particularly hard for churches that have never gone through them before.   I’m not saying that the Ecclesia staff or other member churches are all knowing when it comes to pastoral changes, but in an abundance of counsel there is wisdom.   More than likely, our collective experience is greater than any of our individual churches. 

Here are the common mistakes I see made for younger congregations.

Mistake # 1:   The Lead Pastor or Founding Pastor assumes that the church they started will be fine.   They are almost always wrong.   If a church has been around a few dozen years and has seen a transition or two, they have weathered these storms before.   They are also not nearly as likely to be as attached to the pastor, as they have already had a few. 

Mistake # 2:   The Lead Pastor or Founding Pastor leaves too quickly.   For most churches, a month between announcement and departure is a good timeline. According to guardianship lawyers in Texas ,  i f it’s a retirement, longer is better and more tenable.   However, in most new congregations, longer is needed.   Usually 3-6 months is ideal.  You can click for info to know about the retirement benefits that they will enjoy.

Mistake # 3:   The church chooses the wrong interim leadership plan.   If the transition of the Founding Pastor cripples a new congregation, the wrong interim leadership plan is often a death blow.   The most honest reason for this is that young congregations are overwhelmed at the departure and also over stretched in time.   Typically they will choose interim leadership without the qualification that they cannot be considered for long-term leadership.   It should be clear that all interim situations cannot be the eventual situation to all parties.   Obviously, there may be rare exceptions, but they should be considered only at the very end of a leadership search or discernment process.

Mistake # 4:   The church chooses the wrong successor or successors to the founding pastor. 

More often than not, they choose someone internal to the congregation.   This may or may not be a good choice.   However, in our network, it should be a choice where other Ecclesia leaders look at and say “that makes sense”.   I have seen too many churches fail to heed our council.   None of them have done well. 

It is common practice to receive outside guidance during transition and for a new leadership situation to be affirmed from those “close” but not “in” the congregation.

Mistake # 5:   In a shared leadership situation, it is assumed that one of the other leaders is the right choice. 

This is a further application of the previous mistake.   Shared leadership is a complicated scenario.   Whereas I used to be an advocate of shared leadership, I now see its many pitfalls, despite my internal optimism that it should “work”.   Its pitfalls are often most obvious in times of transition.   The major problem with shared leadership is there is the lack of an honest account of “why” it works when it does.   My experience on this is wide-ranging and I only know of 3 situations where those in shared leadership had an internal and shared understanding of why it works and the gifts they each bring.   When that happens shared leadership can be beautiful, when it does not, transitions expose the cracks that were typically unspoken or obvious to those outside. 

Mistake # 6:   Not involving the founding pastor in the future direction. 

While I can often understand the rationale for excluding the previous leader in the future picture, among those who have started the church, I believe it should be held open for their inclusion.   I further believe that an external reference should be a primary guide on whether or not they should be.   From one angle, if the transition has come under good and noble circumstances, then there is likely no person more vested in seeing the church thrive upon their departure.   They also have a certain objective proximity that is invaluable.   The main reason I would suggest not involving them is if they have any associations of guilt or burnout with their departure.   These two realities typically make the founder un-objective. 

Why am I communicating this now?

I’ve noticed these things for a long while and wanting to maintain our value of the “primacy of the local church” I have always offered to help in transition, but have been quiet when it has not been received.   I know there are churches within Ecclesia going through transitions right now, and it’s possible that they will read this with an assumption that it is written for them specifically – it is not (though it is written for them generally).

I’m breaking my silence on this now for two reasons.   First, I’m very tired of seeing churches in Ecclesia (and those like our congregations) decimated by poor transition.   Almost always they are decimated needlessly.   I am also observing, at this very moment, what appears to be the conclusion of a very good transition that Ecclesia was involved with and our outside input was greatly considered.   Second, I’m returning from speaking to the entire Kentucky Methodist Annual Conference which happened to coincide with the retirement of Bishop Lindsay Davis.   It was a joy and honor to attend his retirement celebration.   He had been a good Bishop and it was obvious.   His help and wisdom in seasons of difficulty within churches and the conference was particularly valued.   Of course, he had the authority in which his help was not in question.

While I am not a Bishop, I have a Bishop’s care.   The least I can do is speak plainly and provide a warning to all our churches and those like them elsewhere. 

How It Is Now Is Not How It Will Always Be

By Bob Hyatt • 20 Mar, 2024
One of the main tricks in life, I believe, is not to extrapolate current conditions and circumstances off into the future. However, that’s exactly the tendency we have as humans, and especially, I’ve discovered, as ministry leaders. We look at things now and think they will always be that way. We long to see landmarks in the road, mileposts that tell us either we have now reached the pinnacle, the place we always dreamed of being (even if that place is only “stability”), or conversely, the bottom has fallen out and now is the time to bail out. But the mileposts are merely markers on the journey, telling us where we are now, promising nothing of the journey ahead. And so, when things are good, we see nothing but success and good times stretching out in front of us. In the depths of despair, during the most challenging times of life and ministry we feel as though the darkness has become the new normal. The reality is much more complex: there are always better times ahead, and worse ones as well. During those dark times, when ministry becomes more of a weight than a joy, I tell myself, “whatever is happening now will not keep happening forever.” Those words have kept me through relational breaks in our staff that seemed unfixable, through budget woes when we didn’t think we were going to meet payroll, even a time when our community lost a third of its members because we had let a beloved pastor go. In this way I have found hope. In the same way, during the successful times when we were growing, budget was bigger than ever, and when new people were engaging with the church seemingly every week I continued to tell myself, “what is happening now will not keep happening forever.” In this way I have found a measure of humility. There’s another way to read this mantra as well, one that encourages us not to miss what is happening right now as we overly focus on where we’d like to be or what we’d like to see happen. The challenge of ministry, like the challenge of life in general, is to be present to what’s happening now . Too many single people miss the joys of singleness longing to be married. Too many young married couples miss the joys of the early years without children because they long to be parents. Too many parents of young children miss the joys of the infant years, longing for the days when their children are more independent, less dependent on them for everything. And on it goes. In the same way we in ministry can miss the joys of a small, close community by looking at larger communities and wishing we had their resources and influence. We can miss the inherent learning and even joy of being shoulder to shoulder in community with others through challenging times because the difficulties and pain we are experiencing mask the ways in which we are being brought together, the ways in which we are being formed and the invaluable things we are learning. In life, and in ministry, remember: How it is now is not how it will always be. Learn to appreciate how things are now, but also take comfort in the fact that if things are difficult, there are better days ahead. Stay humble because no success is forever. Stay hopeful because, in Christ, no failure is permanent.

Exciting Announcement- Ecclesia is Joining Ascent!

By Chris Backert • 19 Feb, 2024
I’m writing to share some exciting and important news with you that we believe will be significant for Ecclesia in the days ahead! For the last few years, I have been engaged with other church and network leaders across the US and Canada about forming a new “connection” for the church in North America. The heart of the effort is around unifying, amplifying, and multiplying the kind of Christian witness that Ecclesia represents, for the sake of the gospel, over the next few decades. This new effort is called The Ascent Movement, and within the last 12 months, its momentum has picked up increasing speed. A few months ago, I was asked by the council of Ascent if I would help spearhead the development of the network in its next phase. I agreed to accept that task. One of the core goals of Ascent is to connect, coordinate, and collaborate with groups like Ecclesia so that we can do more together than we could in isolation. In many ways, it will function as a “network of networks” like Ecclesia functions as a “network of churches”. In addition to ministries like Ecclesia, there are also seminaries, mission agencies, and other ministry support organizations that are joining Ascent in these early days. For the last several months the Ecclesia board has been discerning whether or not Ecclesia would officially enter into a partnership affiliation with Ascent. We unanimously affirmed that decision at our recent board meeting. Since Ascent is in its early phases of formation, more information on the benefits and opportunities of this new partnership will be ongoing. However, we are happy to share some of the aspects of this new affiliation that we find compelling and will not only bless Ecclesia, but also all of the churches within Ecclesia. First, given the size of Ecclesia, there have always been areas of ministry that we believe are important, but toward which we have not had the scale to accomplish or contribute. Among these are concrete efforts around - increasing the witness of the Hispanic church in North America - supporting mission expansion to less-resourced parts of North America - increasing opportunities for disaster relief and response - and mobilizing prayer networks. Further, there are also specific and tangible benefits that are made possible through this partnership for any Ecclesia Churches. Some of these include things like - discounted tuition costs to Truett Seminary for any Ecclesia leader or member serving an Ecclesia Church. - discounted rate in utilizing the services of Chemistry Staffing for future hiring - access to a church-based missionary sending ministry for those Ecclesia Churches engaged globally, and more! Lastly, there is a specific aspect to this partnership affiliation that is particularly helpful to Ecclesia. Ascent has agreed to partner with Ecclesia over the next year to expand our church planting and multiplication reach in a way that benefits both Ecclesia and Ascent. Practically, this looks like Ascent investing a little over $1,000/month into Ecclesia over this next year and together working toward a set of mutually beneficial goals. As I think about this opportunity within the current moment of our network, it seems right for multiple reasons beyond the purely practical. At our Ecclesia board meeting in late 2022, we established a path for individual affiliation within Ecclesia to make concrete space for leaders who are outside ministry contexts that allow for our core congregational affiliation. The heart of this decision was a desire to increase the kinds of relationships that Ecclesia has within our scope of ministry. The decision to affiliate with Ascent is similar. Also, as I shared at our Ecclesia Gathering in January, this decision fits within the Core DNA of Ecclesia. When I look back at the founding of our network, three aspects were central then and have carried forward. First, our desire to extend the gospel to increasingly post-Christian, or more challenging, settings and groups of people. Second, a desire to exemplify a Christian witness aligned with the theological and missiological direction of affirmations like the Capetown Commitment. Third, our desire to provide a relationally rich journey of friendship for the churches and leaders who are part of our family. When I consider the affiliation with Ascent, we share in common those first two Core DNA. As for the 3rd foundational aspect of our network, I believe the time has come where Ecclesia itself needs “friends for the journey” in the same way that Ecclesia has provided a context of friendship for those within our community. On the other side of COVID, it’s clear that ministry in the days ahead is more exciting, while also more challenging and complex. We believe we need a greater community to be the most faithful to the gospel that we can. You can go to www.ascentmovement.org to get a quick glimpse of its vision. The current website is a placeholder for a more thorough site coming later this Spring. Ecclesia, of course, will have a seat at the table in its formation. We have also provided a one-page overview of Ascent on the attached document. We will keep you updated on this exciting development. Please feel free to reach out with any questions. - Chris
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