Church leadership is hard, but it can be exponentially harder when a church is without a lead pastor. Whether you are a church elder, board member, associate pastor, or department director, serving in a church without a permanent lead pastor in place can come with some major challenges.
Some churches in this situation choose to bring in an intentional interim pastor to help shoulder the burden.
What Is an Intentional Interim Pastor?
An intentional interim pastor (IIP) is a pastor who serves in a church in a temporary capacity. The church and the pastor agree on an arrangement that either ends after a specified period of time, or when a new, permanent pastor can be hired.
Some intentional interim pastors specialize in filling this type of role—traveling from church to church to serve in this capacity—while others might only serve as IIPs on rare occasions, in churches with which they are familiar. The latter type of IIP is typically a former or retired pastor who is filling the role to “help out,” rather than making it a career.
What Type of Intentional Interim Pastor Does Your Church Need?
Not all intentional interim pastors are willing or able to take on the same level of responsibility. For example, if the person you are looking to bring in as an IIP has another job, they will likely only agree to do the bare minimum. This might mean that they preach the Sunday sermon, but not much else. On the other end of the spectrum is an intentional interim pastor who takes on the entire role of lead pastor. This IIP will not only preach on Sundays, but will also provide leadership to the congregation and the staff, help evaluate current ministries and develop new ones, and facilitate the search for the next lead pastor. In certain cases, the IIP may also help the church address any internal issues and/or establish vision and mission statements.
It’s important to know what type of intentional interim pastor your church needs before you start looking for one to hire. Do you have other strong leaders in place, and only need someone to preach on Sundays? Or could your church benefit from an IIP who will help make some needed changes?
How to Find the Intentional Interim Pastor Who’s Best for Your Church
Recommendations from people in other churches who have worked with intentional interim pastors are always great, but what if you don’t know anyone who has experience with an IIP? There are actually organizations that place experienced intentional interim pastors in churches. You can work with one of these organizations to find the IIP who is the best match for your church’s needs and theological distinctives.
One such organization is VitalChurch Ministry, a nonprofit that has been working with churches to provide IIPs for more than 25 years. They provide a full range of services for churches in transition and have a large team of interim pastors ready to serve!
