The Suck in Succession

Currently, I’m working with a church that has had a very difficult senior pastor succession. 

 

It was a perfect storm of events and leadership challenges. Then things went seriously south.

The pressure was so severe that the new senior pastor resigned.

In writing their report, I included the following personal story:

I have been on both sides of a megachurch succession—both were challenging for different reasons—one was successful but difficult, and one less successful, and problematic as well.

Several years before my own transition, Bill Hybels, then senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, decided to visit the Healing Center that we had recently opened on our campus—they liked the model and planned to build a Compassion Center of their own. Hybels hosted the Global Leadership Summit that we had simulcast into our auditorium for years as a leadership development strategy.

Picking him up at the airport, I casually mentioned that I was thinking ahead of my transition and told him I was considering taking a couple of months off to visit megachurches that had gone through successful successions. He laughed and responded, “You could do that in one weekend!”

In other words, he could only think of one in the thousands of churches in their network.

He then stated two challenging factors for lead pastors in succession. First, it was their “identity”, that is, they associated their intrinsic worth with their role. Untangling themselves from their calling was incredibly difficult. Second was what he called the “dirty little secret no one wants to talk about”: finances. For many, they were probably making the most income they ever had at this point and had not reserved enough for retirement, oftentimes because they had “cashed out” during key capital campaigns. Plus, many had opted out of Social Security.

He gave me the name of a senior pastor of a megachurch that had transitioned about a year earlier. The former senior pastor was still grappling with what he considered his loss. “The succession went fine and the church is doing great. But I’m not. I feel homeless,” he confided. He said what was surprising to him was how deeply it affected his spouse in negative ways. They were still struggling emotionally and feeling adrift.

Typically, succession is extremely emotional for the pastor transitioning out of what had been a successful run. When a pastor exits and completely pulls away, he/she experiences the loss of their community, the team they loved and lived with for years, and the critical sense of who they are. I thought I was above the identification issue Hybels referenced. For years I had told my church that my identity—my worth—wasn’t based on this position I held as senior pastor—my value was inherent in my relationship with Jesus. I would joke that He even loved me when I was a drummer!

Turns out that wasn’t true. Not that He didn’t love me, but that my identity really was connected in deeper ways than I imagined with the role that wasn’t just a job, but a calling for me.

Reorienting oneself—and in a practical sense, reinventing—is a difficult journey, and an acutely humbling one. But at a personal level—and after a dozen years since—I am so glad I did. My Father led me into something new and rewarding that I would never have guessed.

Sadly, years later, Willow Creek had their own disastrous succession for various reasons, including accusations of sexual misconduct. These transitions are never as simple as they look on paper. And even those who are considered exemplary, sharp leaders can miss it big time.

In succession, the planning, processes, and strategies aren’t necessarily the biggest hurdles; the single greatest challenge is the emotion connected with it—for the leaders, for the staff, and for the congregation.

And for exiting pastors, it’s hard to prepare for that.

Dave Workman | The Elemental Group

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