MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACKING REVISED
Here is a new way to engage in Monday morning quarterbacking as you prepare a church for a new pastor. Instead of encouraging a congregation to reflect on the past, encourage them to imagine themselves standing in the future looking back. Instead of thinking about what they want from the pastor, let them think about the witness of the church itself. What you are trying to do is to encourage them to reflect on how they want to be seen as a congregation.
THINK ABOUT THE OTHER PERSON’S PERSPECTIVE
You have heard the decision of the search committee that they have a new candidate to propose as the congregation’s next pastor. There is a lot of excitement and anticipation. Inform the congregation that you want them to reflect on how they will be seen by the pastor rather than how the pastor will appear to them. Ask them, in preparation for receiving the new pastor, to each write a simple statement of what they hope the pastor will say about them as a congregation five years from now.
Tell them that all the statements will be gathered and shared anonymously as one picture with the congregation. It is a good idea to simply compile the statements and post them with as few editorial changes as possible.
Two things will happen. First, members will be reflecting on who they are as a congregation. Second, they will see that there are a large variety of expectations. This will help them appreciate the complexity of the task before the new pastor.
PASTORS ALSO HAVE DREAMS
Share with the new pastor what has been done and the results. Then ask the pastor to engage in the same exercise but from the pastor’s perspective. That is, ask the pastor to compose a few statements how s/he hopes the congregation will view him or her five years from now.
Of course the pastor has the advantage of viewing the multiple statements of members first, but it also provides him or her with a way to address the multiple parts of the body and to project ahead about the ministry s/he is about to enter.
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I am considering placing all these suggestions and some additional material in a booklet on the Gift of Interim Pastors. If you would like a copy of such a booklet, please let me know by emailing me Steve(at)smccuchan(dot)com.
