Part 3: Understanding Yourself

When a church becomes pastorless, a time of transition in the life of the church begins. Many of these churches need transitional pastors with experience, training, and ministry gifts that assure high-quality transitional leadership. Transitional pastors are prepared to lead these churches through any type of transition. The transition may be a smooth one, one that requires dealing with important and difficult issues, or one that is filled with crisis. Transitional Pastors are ready to meet whatever transition the church is experiencing.

Some of the skills a transitional pastor needs are: spiritual discernment, leadership, caring, proclamation, technical, listening, relating, and conflict management. The average time without a pastor in a Baptist church is nine to 18 months. Transitional pastors must commit to remaining with the church until they call a permanent pastor.