A member of my team recently attended a Leadership Network conference about leadership succession. Some of the church’s leading voices shared valuable insight and advice about the process of transitioning to a new leader. Here are some highlights from the sessions:
- Succession is the intentional transfer of leadership from one senior leader to another (Dave Travis)
- There is a difference between a transition plan and a succession plan (Dave Travis)
- Churches should have an in-depth understanding of their culture during the succession process (Dave Travis)
- Churches should know what success will look like three years after a transition (Dave Travis)
- Every church will eventually lose its pastor (Dennis Gingerich)
- Seventy to eighty percent of all churches fail at their first attempt at succession (Dennis Gingerich)
- As you begin your succession process, involve your congregation at ground level. People buy-in to what they are part of (Jerry Hutchins)
- It is good to bring in a successor at least a year in advance so the people can see how he honors the current leader (Jerry Hutchins)
- Succession is not about finding a man…it’s about fulfilling a mission (Jason Meyer)
- The most expensive mistake a church can make is to hire the wrong successor (William Vanderbloemen)
- Don’t look for a pastor whose whole identity is tied to his job (William Vanderbloemen)
- Smart churches help the previous pastor find his role after he resigns (William Vanderbloemen)
- Wise churches figure out how to take care of the upcoming leader’s family if the succession plan doesn’t work out (William Vanderbloemen)
- Succession takes time, start sooner than later (Jeff Jones)
- Success in succession comes from building on systems, not personalities (Jason Gerdes)
