Transition

“Do what is required to finish well.” Sean Morgan is sharing with us today the keys to a successful transition in ministry leadership. If we’re being honest, transition in ministry is not often the beautiful baton hand-off we desire it to be. There are challenges and intricacies that can prevent churches from experiencing the ideal "smooth transition." Today’s episode offers insight behind the “why” of common challenges as well as guardrails for a better path forward.

“One of the best gifts we can give our churches is a healthy relationship with God and a healthy marriage.” Meet Jud and Lori Wilhite. As leaders in ministry, this couple gives us a healthy look at what pursuing God looks like in the context of church ministry and marriage. In the midst of negativity, our own idols of effectiveness, and the dangers of comparison, Jud and Lori bring us back to the basics of our faith…the most effective practices we often neglect.

“The church is God’s vehicle to get the answer to people’s longings in their heart to them, and if people have been without a church long enough, then I know their spirit is going to be hungry.” Meet Darren Youngstrom, Lead Pastor at New Vintage Church in Santa Rosa. Today’s conversation brings an authentic glimpse into the transition role of a lead pastor. Darren is honest and vulnerable about his trials and hardships. But he also sheds light on the many ways God is clearly on the move in the midst of it all.

“My advice to an executive pastor is: The output from your voice needs to be more questions than answers.” Meet Rich Birch, lead coach of the Church Growth Incubator, a community of churches actively working to grow through closely learning from the fastest-growing churches and applying those lessons to their churches. Today, we get to benefit from Rich’s stories, experience, and advice to Executive Pastors navigating the reality of their roles in relationship to Lead Pastors.

“God uses transition to connect us more deeply to the people around us.” Meet Clay Scroggins, author of the best-selling books How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge, How to Lead in a World of Distraction, and The Aspiring Leader’s Guide to the Future. In today’s episode, Clay gives a deep, personal look at what transitioning from a lead pastor role to an entrepreneurial, self-employed role has looked like for him.

“Connection is what brings production.” Meet Kyle Idleman, Lead Pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Kyle sits down with Sean Morgan to talk through his pastoral journey from a lonely church planter to now leading one of the largest churches in America. Through key voices in his life, welcoming him in, speaking wisdom into his role, and placing helpful boundaries around pastoral input and output, Kyle has great wisdom to share with us in regard to church leadership.

“My life has been a story of transition… I’m used to having to rely on the Lord and ask for His wisdom, guidance, and understanding.” Meet Sam Acho, a nine year NFL Veteran, ESPN Football Analyst, Humanitarian, and Author. Sam sits down with Sean to talk through each of the transitions in his life and what changed along the way. Through all of them, what remained the same was his commitment to Christ.

“Pastors moving into the Lead Pastor role need to ask, “What created this vacancy that God has called me to fill? People mistakenly assume that succession and retirement are synonyms. They’re not.”” Meet William Vanderbloemen, CEO & Founder of Vanderbloemen, an executive search firm. In this episode, William and Sean really lean in to combine their pre and post-transition experience, unpacking the top lessons from coaching churches through pastoral transition.

“It wasn’t until maybe four years into me leading the church that I really felt like, ‘Okay, now I have a good sense as to what it means to lead the congregation from here to there from a vision perspective.’” Meet Rich Villodas, lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiracial church in Elmhurst, Queens.

“Every leader has to rethink vision for every new season. Mission is the north star, but vision can and should be something that changes over the course of your career.” In today’s episode, we bring in two of the great leadership voices in ministry to unpack the recent Carey Nieuwhof vision winnowing and inspire leaders on forging ahead in the New Year. Carey Nieuwhof and Brad Lomenick join Sean Morgan in a vulnerable conversation about Carey’s crisis of vision this past year and how church leaders can find encouragement if they too are unsure about the road ahead.

“God uses so many types of leaders that are way different from each other. So, it makes sense that there’s going to be all kinds of succession stories that God can bless equally.” Today, we’re joined by Dustin Aagaard and John Hampton, both pastors in the midst of a Lead Pastor transition at Journey Christian Church in Orlando. With specific insight into their current transition season, we’re hearing firsthand, from both sides, the nuances and wisdom that play into healthy leadership succession within a church.

“We haven’t just had a change in culture in the last couple of years, we’ve had a cultural shift. We’re in a different playing field.” Many of you know Chris Brown, Senior Pastor and Teaching Pastor at North Coast Church in San Diego, CA. In today’s episode, Sean Morgan leans in with Chris on exactly how North Coast is innovating around online church and why it’s so important.

“Don’t be so busy trying to turn things around that you neglect the people you’re working with. Start tackling the small stuff to build up a resume and track record of success, then you can gradually start tackling bigger and bigger things that ultimately need to get changed as well.”

“Love the church you have. Not the church you wish you had.” Meet James Forsyth, Senior Pastor of Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, TN. James grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland where he met his bride and started his family. He came to the US to go to seminary and stayed stateside as God called him and his family through two leadership transitions. James is an expert on the topic of transition. On this episode he leans in with James specifically on the currency of trust and four key transition leadership principles.

“Humility must be the chief characteristic of the outgoing pastor. Their transition feels like death by a thousand cuts. This is what they’ve dedicated their ministry to, their lives to, and they are having to slowly let it go…”

“The fear factor of a transition is real. And it will hit you. But you have to remind yourself that that is literally what the devil’s plan is to do to you. Is to paralyze you. He wants nothing more than to get you on your heels and start to revert back. But the Gospel is going no no, if God is for you who can be against you? I got you. You need to walk forward in faith and be strong and courageous like Joshua.”

“We tell our staff… if you are happy or aligned with 70% of what we’re doing as a church, then lay down the other 30% and embrace what God is doing.” On this episode we welcome Mike Bodine from Central Church in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mike is gracious enough to invite us into his living room to discuss the health of Central’s staff, the health of their church, and the health of the relationship between Mike and his Lead Pastor, Jud Wilhite. Mike shares incredible wisdom on fighting for culture in your church and why it matters. As he so concisely summarizes, “Culture is everything.”

“Leaders are waiting around for their rooms to fill up, but newcomers to your church are waiting for you to make room for them.” In this episode, Sean leans into a question that so many church leaders and staff are wrestling with on this side of the pandemic… “when is our room full?”

“For most churches, if you take 50% of your givers off the list, you’re only losing 2% of the gifts… Rather than talking about fear and anxiety of the coming recession, what if we talk about the real issue? Being broken-hearted about the spiritual condition of our people when it comes to money and possessions.”

“The definition of what the Lead Pastor needs to be and do coming out of the pandemic has changed.” In this episode, Sean sits down with Dr. Warren Bird from ECFA to lean into the challenges pastors are facing coming out of the pandemic, and into recession and inflation.