Pastor, Are You Planning A Move?

Here is a checklist of things you’ll need to tackle as you prepare your team for your departure:

1. Inform your staff and team - let your staff and team know your desire to leave, your transition plan, and how long you have to conduct the transition. Start with staff, then with their guidance determine when to inform your team. Be sure to let your team know why and that it isn’t anything they did, as some may take it personally.
2. Ensure your leaders and managers can operate without you around - you may want to test this by taking a week off occasionally and see what happens. Give them some notice that you’re taking a week off and see if things go smooth without your involvement. If not, you have work to do.
3. Document all procedures - you should already have your procedures documented, but if not now is the time. Make sure everything is up-to-date, simple, and easy to understand
   Plan for plenty of time to transition - be sure to allocate plenty of time. Bill gates took years to prepare his leadership team before leaving the day-to-day operations to others. You may not be leading Microsoft, but you still need to give everyone some time to deal with the process.
4. Help your staff find a new leader - your staff will often need your input on who should take over the team. Don’t just find the first person and shove them into it. Spend some time in prayer and consideration of a few candidates. Then, work with your staff to select the right one.

[from Agile Ministry by James Higginbotham]

Clergy Leaving The Episcopal Church

According to the Washington Times, national leaders of the Episcopal Church have ousted 61 clergy who aligned with a former bishop in California when he broke with the national church in a dispute over the Bible and homosexuality.

Former Bishop John-David Schofield led the Diocese of San Joaquin to become the first full diocese to secede from the U.S. denomination in 2007. Four years earlier, Episcopalians consecrated their first openly gay bishop, setting off a wide-ranging debate within the church and upsetting conservative congregations. Schofield ultimately was removed as head of the diocese and barred from performing any religious rites. He maintains he is an Anglican bishop under the worldwide church. Episcopal leaders said Wednesday they were deposing all clergy who severed their ties and joined Schofield in affiliating with an Anglican archdiocese in Argentina.

Jerry Lamb, the new Episcopal Bishop of San Joaquin, called the decision to oust the clergy “heartbreaking.”

“But, the fact is, they chose to abandon their relationship with the Episcopal Church,” he said.

So, anyone who opposes the denomination is automatically wrong? Denominational leaders can make any decisions they wish, and clergy must follow or be ousted? Are all Bishops/Pastors/Rectors capable of exegesis of scripture or hearing from God?

How many denominations have this mind-set? What could your denomination do that would force you to take a different stand? Would you be willing to stand for Biblical principles even of it cost you your denominational Bishop credentials?

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