How to Tell When Your Pastor is Leaving
I’ve counseled and coached hundreds of pastors through transitions of church leadership. The more I do it, the more pronounced the patterns appear. In fact, I can tell when your pastor is leaving. The same goes for you, Pastor: I can predict when you’re ready to move from your current place of service to your next ministry position. Here are five tell-tale signs that a departure may be coming when your Pastor:
Starts a new program. Perhaps it’s an effort to add another bullet point to their resume or an attempt to “put out a fleece” (Judges 6:33-40) to see if God really wants them to stay put. Ministers on the move often create that program they’ve been wanting to start but didn’t have a good excuse to proceed. Starting a new program – mid-week Bible study, small group ministry, or mission partnership – provides the pastor cover to start searching for a new job. Observing pastors double-down is classic over-functioning based on anxiety.
Is unusually curious about numbers. Ministers looking to make a move or prepare for the search process need to refresh their resumes. Updating their resumes requires an audit of the numbers that would be attractive to search teams and prompt them to follow-up. Among the numbers ministers typically want to know are the historic metrics around budget, fiscal responsibility, average Sunday school and worship attendance, baptisms, and new programs created under their tenure.
Suddenly gets good at delegation. Handing over tasks to engage the gifts of a congregation is healthy. When pastors get too good at delegating, congregations should be concerned. Under-functioning can signal that a pastor is “over it”, “simply. can. not.” and ready to leave. Delegation is sometimes disguised as disciple-making or equipping the laity for the work of ministry. The notion that “giving them [church members] something to do and they’ll stay off of you” is not a bad idea; however, handing over too much creates a chasm over which pastoral leaders rarely return.
Becomes frustrated with the loud, stubborn few. Ask any pastor serving a congregation today to name their antagonist and they’ll laugh before staring stoically and calling their first and last name followed by an exasperated groan. When the name of this adversary appears in an email or over their mobile phone, it immediately darkens the pastor’s mood. Too often, churches are the first to turn on their own. Pastors feel the hot seat personally and would rather run away than fight grueling battle after battle against the same frienemies. Conflicts caused by vocal church bullies are a reason pastors peace out.
Begins pendulum preaching. Listening for God’s voice, studying for, writing, practicing, and delivering sermons is hard, disciplined work. The coveted Sunday afternoon nap is usually a non-negotiable for preachers young and old because the week’s duties eventually catch up. When pastors start preaching overly academic sermons OR hyper-relational sermons, they are inadvertently distancing from their current congregation using what I call pendulum preaching. The careful pastor will be disciplined enough to preach sermons good enough to get the attention of a search committee, but as their search drags on, their sermon styles begin to take a noticeable swing.
This is certainly not an exhaustive list; there are several other signs that I’ll keep to myself. Having a pastor who does these things should not be grounds for the church’s governing body to call a secret meeting and ask for a resignation letter (seriously, don’t be #4). Let this article be for you an excuse to lovingly check on your pastor.
Even if your pastor is hoping or planning to leave, it’s okay. Let them. Give them permission to take a different path, knowing that they will always be part of your church’s journey, and hopefully, your personal journey. The relationship between a pastor and a congregation is not a marriage, it’s a journey. Sometimes you will journey with a pastor for the long haul. Usually, you will journey with a pastor for a few seasons and a few chapters. Be faithful pilgrims on the journey while you’re together and encourage one another to live faithfully wherever your feet plod a path, knowing that one day we’ll walk the streets of gold together.