Starting to find a Successor
In December last year I, with Session’s support, took to Presbytery a request that they approve the creation of a colleague and successor position at Bundoora. A colleague and successor is a minister who is called to a parish by the congregation with the intention that he will become the senior minister when the current senior minister, that is me, retires.
The Coming Congregational Meeting
As part of the process in deciding whether to approve the position or not the Presbytery has to ‘ascertain the mind of the congregation’, that is find out what you think about the creation of such a position. The Presbytery has to satisfy itself of three things before it approves the creation of this position –
4.76.5 The presbytery may approve this application only if satisfied that:
a) the provision of such a minister is desirable; and
b) all financial requirements including terms of settlement can be met; and
c) the congregation or congregations agree to the application and, in the case of a colleague and successor minister, have been informed of his right to succeed to the office of sole minister of that charge. [PCV Code]
This necessary meeting with representatives of the Presbytery to allow them to consult with you has been called for 7:00 pm on Tuesday 21st March, and will be followed by our Annual Congregational Meeting at 8:00 pm
This is an important meeting, and I urge you to plan to attend. This is the first step in moving to appoint a colleague and successor and so is a significant step in the process of replacing me. Nobody has a right to retire, to unilaterally decide to leave the service to which the Lord Jesus has called them, and I consider that through the decisions of the congregation and Presbytery in 2001 I have been called by our Lord to serve as your pastor. But aging is a reality that cannot be denied and sooner or later, in a way that varies from individual to individual, aging effects not conviction but capacity. The congregation, in my experience, needs a senior minister who has significant energy and capacity to engage in the many responsibilities involved in being the senior minister of a multi-congregation, multi-staff church. The time is coming when my decreasing capacity means I should step aside for the good of the congregation, and it is right to anticipate that time and start now the process of finding a new senior minister.
Why a ‘colleague and successor’
I am also convinced that looking for a new senior minister must be given the time it needs and not be rushed, and replacing me should be done with minimal disruption to the life of the congregation and the work of the staff. That is why I and Session have settled on the pathway of calling a colleague and successor. Lord willing it will allow the work of the congregation to continue uninterrupted while the search for a new senior minister is going on, whether that time is long or short, and when such a person has been found it will allow a smoother transition to working together for both the new minister and the staff by giving the new minister time to settle in. But my conviction and Session’s conviction that this is the right course are not enough. Presbytery needs to know it is also the congregation’s conviction.
It is good that as many of you as possible engage with the process of finding a new senior minister from the beginning for both the process and its outcome is something we all need to be informed about and to have and keep a common mind on for it will affect us all.
The next steps
And this meeting is the beginning of that process. Should the Presbytery at this meeting be satisfied that a colleague and successor position is in the interests of the congregation, can be afforded, and has your agreement it will them move to create the position and appoint a member of Presbytery, called an interim moderator, to oversee all the congregational meetings involved in calling a minister. This can involve the creation of a selection committee made up of members of the congregation who will, after a consideration of the congregation and the kind of pastor it needs, search for an appropriate person to become senior minister and bring their recommendation to a meeting of the congregation for approval or otherwise. It is a process of unspecified duration and one which needs much prayer.
4.76.6 If it approves such an application the presbytery:
a) declares a vacancy in the pastoral charge; and
b) appoints an interim moderator to preside at all necessary meetings for the call of this minister; and
c) issues an edict of vacancy, and then proceeds as in the case of an ordinary vacancy, except that in calling an associate minister the minister of the charge is to be regarded as the senior minister.
Uncertainty in change
But the prospect of change can create uncertainty and make some of us anxious. We need to recognise that for uncertainty and anxiety can effect the way we think and behave. Some of us, for example, withdraw in the face of change, pull back on our commitment. Others can become focused on the details of the process and finding certainty in them, and frustrated when we cannot get exact answers. Others can see change as a reason or opportunity to seek to control the process. Little things can become big things, small irritants getting disproportionate reactions. Each of us needs to be aware of how the thought of change affects us so that we are not hampered in our participation in the process and we can love others in encouraging their participation.
Ensuring Continuity
And we should do what Christians do. We pray, pray to our Lord who gives pastors and teachers to His people [Eph. 4:11], pray with thanksgiving because our Lord loves and provides generously for the welfare of His people. We trust Him to keep us.
And we should recognise that continuity in the direction and culture of a congregation is not found in or dependent on particular individuals, although ministers have an important role in shaping both. Such continuity is found in our common commitment to our Lord’s agenda that we make disciples of all nations by preaching the gospel and teaching what He has commanded to each other and all He calls to Himself, and in our common commitment to live by His word, to practice the ‘one anothers’ consistently in our dealings with each other – to be loving, encouraging, admonishing, serving, speaking the truth in love to one another as we keep on meeting with one another. Our culture and direction depends on us all.
Love by participation
That being the case resolve now to love your brothers and sisters firstly by praying for the Lord to provide a faithful and capable new senior minister and sustaining all through the process, and secondly by patient involvement in the process yourself, attending the meetings, asking questions, and thoughtfully engaging with the decisions that need to be made.
And if at any time you have any questions about what is happening or being planned, come and ask.
