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Transitional Ministry: New Cutting Edge
ROSEMONT, IL (January 31, 2001) - By Craig Pinley
When a church is without a pastor, congregations
often turn to a recently retired minister to serve in an interim role until a permanent replacement is found.
A new type of interim pastor is emerging, however, and one conference in the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) has taken advantage of a pastor who has committed himself to this role. Michael "Mick" Murphy has served the past three years as a "transitional" interim pastor working
with the Northwest Conference superintendent Paul Erickson. He is currently serving at First Covenant Church in Duluth, Minnesota.
Murphy presented his transitional pastor model for the second year at the Midwinter Pastors Conference under way here - Traveling Toward Sunrise: Beginning
Your Ministry as an Intentional Interim Pastor.
Murphy has served at First Covenant during the past year while the church has begun a search process for what Murphy calls a "settled" pastor. Murphy sees himself as "adjunct staff" of the superintendent. In his role as superintendent, Erickson recommends Murphy to a congregation and introduces him to the situation; however, the church is not obligated to select a transitional pastor for its situation.
"I'm accountable to God, I'm accountable to my superintendent, and I'm accountable to the church - that order," said Murphy, who previously served as a transitional pastor at Knollbrook Covenant Church in Fargo, North Dakota. "When you decide to accept a superintendent's
recommendation, the congregation's involved in the process. The superintendent is asking the church to do something they may not be comfortable with." He said the transitional pastor's job is to work in a manner that affirms the wisdom of the decision to work with a transitional concept.
"I enjoy what I do," Murphy said. "I enjoy being in different places and seeing what a church can be. I do feel God called me and I believe the role of other people in the process of call can be a real thing. It is a very humbling feeling, an exhilarating thing."
Churches traditionally have provided congregations with short-term pastors through "pulpit supply" (Sunday-to-Sunday) pastors, part-timers (whose responsibilities may include preaching, Bible studies, and some visitation), or in an interim role. In churches where there are larger
pastoral staffs, associates may divide the duties of a senior pastor.
Murphy says all of those models can be effective, but he thinks a transitional pastor can be more beneficial because the defined role is to aid the church in its own self-discovery. He's not alone in that opinion. Other denominations have already used transitional pastors successfully and Donn Engebretson, executive director for the ECC's Department of Ministry, hopes that transitional pastors will be a regular part of Covenant ministry some day.
At First Covenant, Murphy has focused on helping the church discern a new direction in ministry. A change in the neighborhood prompted a Vision to Action demographic survey. Murphy has been part of the process of evaluating how the neighborhood is changing and what church ministries can do to aid the community of the future.
As Murphy guides churches in the self-discovery process, he follows five basic steps:
- Review the congregation's history
- Reconnect the church with the denomination
- Discuss the future mission of the church (which may include a Vision to Action survey process)
- Help initiate and coordinate leadership changes
- Prepare the church for its next permanent or "settled" pastor
Murphy believes transitional pastors should stay at a church no longer than two years, giving the pastor the freedom to be more objective. "The first half (of that self-discovery period), we're talking leadership, mission and history issues," he said. "I'm constantly reminding them that I'm not their settled pastor. In my first sermon to a church I say goodbye. There is no installation service, it's an affirmation service (of a direction the church has taken)," he continued.
"When you walk into a church, it's not about you," he said. "If there's turmoil, you didn't create it. If they are bursting with enthusiasm from the previous pastor, it's not you either. But it (transitional ministry) allows me to present a solid, proven program and I don't have to rely on my personality. People don't have to like me, but I can still do my job."
Sometimes, a transitional pastor may spend more time helping a church grieve the loss of its previous pastor. "When a pastor leaves, sometimes it's a divorce, sometimes it's a death," he said. "But spouses don't take (only) eight weeks after a death to go looking for a spouse." At other times, readying the congregation for the next pastor may require an extended education process. "Anyone can call a pastor," said Murphy. "The bigger question is what do you do to keep a pastor?"
A Red Oak, Iowa, native, Murphy worked in advertising and radio media before attending North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. He began full-time pastoral ministry in Winthrop, Minnesota, and continued pastoral work in Kearney, Missouri (Community Covenant
Church), and Harris, Minnesota.
Following much discussion, in 1997 Erickson helped Murphy establish his first transitional pastorate at Knollbrook Covenant Church in Fargo, North Dakota. Murphy says the positive experience served as a turning point in his ministry.
"It was just magic," said Murphy of his 18-month tenure at Knollbrook Covenant. "They were so gracious in their reception of me. Alan J. Gripe's An Interim Pastor's Handbook gave me a basic knowledge (of being a transitional pastor) and within months I knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my ministerial career."
Knollbrook Covenant Church pastor Greg Fullerton came to North Dakota after Murphy's first transitional pastor experience. He believes Murphy helped the church move into a healthier phase of ministry and is grateful for Murphy's work.
"I know it was a very good thing for the church and it was a good thing for me that they had a time to focus on what was, and to be ready to move to a new situation," said Fullerton. "It was quite a unique privilege to be the one who was following after a person whose ministry, in many ways, was focused on helping the church prepare for my coming. That's kind of unusual."
Murphy knows transitional pastorates are not for every pastor. "When I leave a church, I leave a church," said Murphy. "And you've got to be willing to go. One of the downsides of transitional ministry is your reluctance to make friends." Disorientation is also common for the spouse and family of a transitional pastor. The Murphys lived in three different houses in a three-year period and wife, Vickie, has had to switch jobs in similar fashion. He's grateful for the support. "Everything I am as a person I attribute to my wife," he said.
Murphy is also grateful for a six-month program run by Interim Ministry Network (IMN), an ecumenical organization located in Baltimore, Maryland. It has helped him understand both the ins and outs of transitional ministry and the attitude it takes to do it successfully. "You're a mist that vanishes," Murphy said. "Hopefully, I'm the person you forget, but hopefully, seven or eight years down the road when you're at a potluck and there are new faces, they will ask how it all got started. If I'm someone's anonymous memory at a church, that's simply great."
For more information on intentional/transitional pastors, contact Murphy at 218-722-5451.
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