Finding a New Preacher as Soon as the Last Preacher Leaves

January 20, 2025 Jerrie Barber

Communication, Interim, Preaching, Search, Transition

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I received a call from an elder who wanted me to lead a Search Workshop for them. Their preacher, who had been with them for decades, was resigning on the first Sunday of the next quarter. He agreed to preach for another three months until they selected their next preacher. They wanted to start their search immediately.

I told him that would work out well. If they selected a preacher in the next three months to start on the Sunday after their present preacher finishes, it would be about the right time for me to work with them after the new preacher leaves.

He asked me to explain. I told him that the general rule is that after a long ministry, five years or more, a church will have an interim preacher for a short duration—either intentionally or unintentionally.

He then asked what I suggested they do.

I told him I’d like to relate a parable. Suppose your wife’s been sick for a few weeks. After going to the doctor and receiving many tests, your doctor tells you and your wife that she has stage four cancer and about three months to live.

I asked, “What would you do during those three months?”.

He replied, “I would care for her in every way I could.”

I followed up, “That’s great. That’s what you should do. Do you believe you’ll have a scriptural right to remarry after her death?”

He said he would.

I continued, “You might consider every week or two telling your wife on a Friday night, ‘Honey, I’m going to be gone for a few hours. I know I’m going to miss you. I’m taking a widow out for dinner and a movie. I’ll be back around 10 o’clock. I hope to find a good wife to marry after you die.’”

His next question was, “What do you think we should do during these three months?”

I was glad he asked. I made two suggestions.

You and your preacher are to be commended. You’ve worked together for many years, resulting from love and cooperation from both you and your preacher. The best thing you, the rest of the elders, and the congregation should do during these three months is to express over and over your appreciation to this good preacher for all he’s done in the Lord’s service. He’s preached the truth. He’s performed weddings. He’s preached funerals. He’s ministered in many ways. Thank him in word and action for his long and effective service.
My suggestion to this preacher would be to spend the next three months thanking the congregation as a group and people individually for the love that’s been expressed to him and his family. You’ve stood by him as he worked. You’ve encouraged him in his strengths and weaknesses. You’ve been with him and his family as they have experienced joy and sorrow.

Between Preachers: You Can Grow Through Interim Ministry has been released in audio format. You can listen to this book on interim ministry, preachers looking for a church, churches looking for a preacher, guidelines for leading a productive discussion, how groups, families, churches, businesses, and softball teams work, and contracts — whether you need one or not — and does an agreement need to be written or just discussed. Order yours from Amazon for 5 hours and 9 minutes about group dynamics. Listen while you shave, drive, or walk. bit.ly/40i9A5k

According to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul said that was all he preached to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 2:2.

My observation is that when a preacher search is underway during the last weeks and months of the previous preacher’s tenure, people get excited about the new preacher and forget the old preacher’s departure.

New beginnings begin with good endings. People get excited about resurrection, but I’ve heard few people get excited about crucifixion. We don’t waste time when we say goodbye well. We need to consider the process as well as the content.

I heard of one church that combined their going away party for their old preacher and the welcome to the congregation party for their new preacher into one Sunday potluck. You do indeed save one potluck by doing it that way. But the old preacher deserves a distinctive goodbye, and the new preacher deserves a unique welcome.

The general rule is that after a long ministry, you’ll have an interim, a preacher who stays for a short time. This interim could be intentional or unintentional. I’ve tried both, and my experience is that intentional interims are much more enjoyable than unintentional interims.

It’s discouraging to sell a house, buy another, and begin a ministry, only to be there for a few years and be bombarded with comments about your inadequacy because you aren’t like the last preacher.

This response is not necessarily preacheritis. Grief is normal when we lose something or someone important to us. It takes time to adjust to the absence of the departed person.

People ask, “Can you speed it up? ” I have observed that if you assign many women the same task, it will take each one about nine months to have a baby. It isn’t easy to speed up a process that takes so long.

Several congregations have smoothly transitioned from the old preacher to the new preacher without the interim time. Three things I’ve observed when this has been done well: