I have mixed emotions about reaching a milestone in my life.

[AverageJoe]

The church I grew up in had the pastor resign after nearly 40 years as Pastor....When he resigned he stayed as a member of the church. This did, indeed, cause some problems, though he didn't feel they were. The bickering behind the scenes got so bad that my wife and I finally left and went to another church in the area. I don't recommend any pastor who has resigned to stay as a member. I don't see how it could work to anyone's advantage.

 

[Baptist Renegade]

The church I grew up in had the pastor resign after nearly 40 years as Pastor....When he resigned he stayed as a member of the church. This did, indeed, cause some problems, though he didn't feel they were. The bickering behind the scenes got so bad that my wife and I finally left and went to another church in the area. I don't recommend any pastor who has resigned to stay as a member. I don't see how it could work to anyone's advantage.

In many Baptist congregations, this is sadly the case! Churches are so centered around their "Pastor" to the point that everything rises and falls based upon the pastor. We really need to get away from such a mentality! A Pastor should go in with the mindset that his objective is to "Work his way out of a job" to train up other men and see the flock (which God has entrusted to them) reaching full spiritual maturity and able to stand on their own! I am all for a plurality of elders and having a good number of men who are able to competently teach and preach the word of God! When a senior "Teaching Pastor" is no longer able to continue or just wants to step back and do other things, let him remain on the elder board and delegate the primary teaching and preaching responsibilities to another one of the younger elders!

I hope I am not coming across as disparaging to Tarheel or others who are in this situation. It probably is best for a former pastor in such a congregation to leave in order to allow the new pastor adequate liberty. I just see a real "Disconnect" between the congregation and "Professional Christians" who serve on Church staff in whatever capacity. When they have to resign or are let go for whatever reason, where are they to go? Should they not receive the same care from a Church congregation as anyone else?

 

[AverageJoe]

In many Baptist congregations, this is sadly the case! Churches are so centered around their "Pastor" to the point that everything rises and falls based upon the pastor. We really need to get away from such a mentality! A Pastor should go in with the mindset that his objective is to "Work his way out of a job" to train up other men and see the flock (which God has entrusted to them) reaching full spiritual maturity and able to stand on their own! I am all for a plurality of elders and having a good number of men who are able to competently teach and preach the word of God! When a senior "Teaching Pastor" is no longer able to continue or just wants to step back and do other things, let him remain on the elder board and delegate the primary teaching and preaching responsibilities to another one of the younger elders!

I hope I am not coming across as disparaging to Tarheel or others who are in this situation. It probably is best for a former pastor in such a congregation to leave in order to allow the new pastor adequate liberty. I just see a real "Disconnect" between the congregation and "Professional Christians" who serve on Church staff in whatever capacity. When they have to resign or are let go for whatever reason, where are they to go? Should they not receive the same care from a Church congregation as anyone else?

I believe that when pastors resign they should have already made sure they had their exit strategy in place...especially if they had been the Sr. pastor for many years. I have found that people who are attached to the "old preacher" will tell the "new preacher" that this wasn't the way so-and-so did this, or how it's always been done....Now, when a preacher or associate is fired/let go, they should consider other filling in for churches that have no pastor in their state or vicinity. There are a lot of them out there. Doing this will allow them time to look for a permanent position in another church.

 

[Baptist Renegade]

It was evident that people had come to hear the "celebrity" pastor (whatever that means), because attendance went from 4600 to about 2000 over 9 years. It does cause problems, but it should not.

Nothing wrong with a pastor being loved by his congregation but if he is the ONLY reason some are attending, something is seriously wrong! I would not want a Church to be built around "Little Ol' Me!" Such is tantamount to idolatry whether one intended it that way or not!

But this is far too often the IFB mindset of building a Church ministry. It is all about becoming "Mr. Personality" and getting people to "Love You!"

If I pastored a Church for a significant amount of time (20-30+ years), I would define my success (or the lack thereof) on whether there was a sizable number of good men in the congregation who could easily take over the teaching and preaching and I would be hardly missed after I had driven off in my Winnebago to "Go Fishing" or whatever!

 

[abcaines]

Nothing wrong with a pastor being loved by his congregation but if he is the ONLY reason some are attending, something is seriously wrong! I would not want a Church to be built around "Little Ol' Me!" Such is tantamount to idolatry whether one intended it that way or not!

The church I attended in California had a teaching pastor who was a very gifted speaker. I had a coworker who attended the church tell me once the only one she was ever interested in hearing was Pastor Tom.

One evening, Pastor Tom got up in front of the congregation and announced that calls to the church office inquiring who was teaching would be answered with, "God's man will be teaching God's Word." He said he's noticed a correlation between attendance and who is teaching. "If you're coming just to hear  me teach, then I've failed miserably. We have a staff of men who are all equally apt to teach. You need to hear from them as well."

 

[sword]

I've heard of many examples where the Sr. pastor becomes the Pastor Emeritus and continues to be an mentor and advisor to the pastor much like Paul was a mentor to many of the pastors in the early church. The Pastor Emeritus acts much like the non-executive chairman of the board does in a corporation.

I've also heard of several churches where the Sr. pastor became an assistant pastor and focused on visitation, hospital visits, funerals and weddings freeing the new Sr. pastor to focus on the rest of the pastoral responsibilities. This arrangement seems odd to me, but I understand it has worked out well for their churches.

For some reason the transition of pastors in churches can be very difficult for a church and does not always go well.