Lora Steinerlsteiner@franconiaconference.org
In order to grow spiritually and become more missional, sometimes congregations have to take a rest, step back and reevaluate who they are and where they are going.This usually happens during times of pastoral transition, when intentional interim pastors are brought into a congregation to prepare them for the next pastor. The interim period often turns into a time during which churches assess strengths and weaknesses, examine communication patterns and address conflicts.Ray Yoder, who has pastored in Franconia, Eastern District, Lancaster and Atlantic Coast Conference congregations, says that one of the first things he usually requires when stepping into a congregation as an interim pastor is that the church participates in a consultation with a team of people from outside the congregation. This process involves filling out questionnaires and being interviewed to determine the strengths and needs of the congregation, and the end result is eight to twelve recommendations that give attention to particular areas of congregational life. This, says Yoder, “becomes a kind of road map” for the interim period.Other intentional interim pastors agree that a formal assessment is important.Bob Petersheim, current pastor of Swamp Mennonite Church, says that any number of issues can get in the way of a church’s mission: power dynamics, poor communication, lack of a focused mission, knowing who is authorized to do what, how conflict gets resolved, or just a lack of skills to carry out a goal.Petersheim says that no matter what the conflict is about, those root issues are always the same, and it’s important to address all those aspects within a congregation. “You don’t just focus on what’s out of order and what’s broken,” says Petersheim, “the job is to get down to the foundation, so that if you put that in order the church has the most chance of getting mission and ministry done.”Yoder adds, “I call it a net-mending ministry; the net needs to be repaired in order to go fishing again.”All pastors interviewed for this article agreed that they love their work and seeing people grow in their relationship with God and each other.Dan Graber is currently serving as interim pastor at both the West Swamp and Whitehall Mennonite congregations; he uses interim ministry as a way of encouraging members to explore their gifts, and he invites both men and women to preach on Sunday mornings.Petersheim agrees that it can be an empowering time. “It often increases the congregation’s awareness of lay leadership gifts. There’s often a fresh sense of ‘Oh, we can do well through times of transition!’”Yoder says that after he’s been in the congregation about a year, the church holds an evening healing service, which includes a corporate prayer of confession and renewal. “No matter how deeply we love each other, we still cause wounds and offense with one another because of our imperfections, and there’s a need for acknowledging that, confessing and forgiveness.” He adds, “Quite often, the incentive for calling in an interim is that there had been a crisis, or pain of some sort in the congregation, and that then creates a readiness to do something different. My view is that that’s the Lord’s doing.”Petersheim says that it’s not just useful to have an interim pastor after a period of crisis; it can be useful during any transition. “It’s a preventative measure—for the same reason you get your oil changed before there’s a problem.”Pastors agree that interim ministry can be an enriching time for both congregations and pastors. Yoder says that one of the most rewarding parts is “meeting a whole group of wonderful brothers and sisters in the Lord.”“I love challenges,” says Petersheim. “I love situations that rely more on being intuitive or prayerful, giving room for the Holy Spirit to move.”“We’re an impatient society and impatient for change,” says Petersheim, “and one of the challenges is to help people live with the tension of doing transformation work. It does take time, and it’s unsettling. But when churches embrace that work, and are willing to live with that tension, it bears good fruit.”
Emma Frederick, co-pastor at Perkasie Mennonite Church with her husband, J. Mark, works to set up a pastoral care team and a prayer ministry in the congregation, and encourages people to pray specifically for the interim process. “Prayer ministry needs to go alongside these intentional interims.” she says, “[Otherwise] What we’re doing is on our own steam.”For interim pastors, the challenges are also unique: intentional interim pastors work in congregations for a minimum one year, and a maximum of two and are therefore frequently working themselves out of a job.“I love the work,” says Petersheim, “but every calling has its cross. The cross in interim work is that you grieve the losses every year or two.”Petersheim notes the importance that intentional interim pastors stay with a congregation no longer than two years.“When you’re doing an intentional interim, particularly if things were conflicted, you’re addressing functions and power systems, so it’s easier for people to trust you in not being biased towards building your own future. You have more room to affect change when people know that you’re not a candidate for the long-term,” he notes.As for other challenges of the job, some intentional interim pastors build in sabbaticals at the end of each assignment to give themselves time to grieve the loss of relationships and transition well into the next position. And the frequent job transitions mean that health care coverage and regular paychecks aren’t always guaranteed.Intentional interim pastors from Eastern Pennsylvania gather together each month for prayer, support and brainstorming. The group, coordinated by Jenifer Eriksen Morales, Minister of Transitional Ministries for Franconia Conference, also meets quarterly for an all-day equipping time with a resource person. Last fall, four Mennonites conferences worked together to hold a week-long training for intentional interim pastors, an event that happens every few years in the United States and Canada.Training and support are important for interim pastors because they know that what works in one congregation won’t necessarily work in the next, and that in each situation, the pastor needs to enter as a learner, a partner and a listener.“Every congregations has a kind of personality and a soul,” says Petersheim, “and an intentional interim needs to know that personality, its dysfunctions and its strengths.”
