Interim Ministry: A Bridge to Span Between Pastors In the article
Choosing Your Next Clergy Leader, by Dan Hotchkiss, Senior Consultant at the Alban Institute, there are two mistakes made by search / call committees. The most frequent mistake made is that there is too much focus on the perceived weakness of the previous pastor. The search / call committee “works” to correct that weakness in the candidate with the “strength” they perceive is needed for their next pastor. The second mistake is to focus too much on the strengths of the departing pastor. “We want someone just like our beloved, departing pastor.”
Mr. Hotchkiss points out, “In both of these scenarios, the search/call process is too reactive: it is driven by the congregation's reactions (positive or negative) to past ministers rather than to signs, evidence, and spiritual leadings about leadership the congregation will need in the future.”
The interim period is that time between pastors when a trained intentional interim pastor, who feels a special calling to this work, prepares pastors for it through training, reading, and experience. The interim pastor serves as a bridge in-between for the congregation.
The interim thus becomes the full time pastor, plus. In addition to the day to day ministry of the congregation, teaching, preaching, administering the sacraments, visiting sick etc., the Interim is trained to help the congregation take a look at itself in-depth.
During this time, perhaps a year or more, members of the congregation and the interim begin to discover God’s intended future. Together they attempt to discern where they see the handprint of God in their ministry and in their future through prayer, reflection and study.
When the interim time is taken with interim pastor and people, the “bridge” is successful and the congregation is less reactive, healthier and also has a clearer sense of where God is leading them and who the next pastor God is leading them to call.
Interim Ministry and the Interim Ministry Association
The Interim Ministry Association (IMA) serves the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America by:
- strengthening and supporting excellence in interim ministry,
- promoting clarity regarding the practice of interim ministry,
- advocating high standards of performance for all who practice interim ministry, and
- providing support, voice and communication among those doing interim ministry.
History
The Interim Ministry Association (IMA) traces its origin to the Association for Lutheran Interim Pastors in Region 3 (ALIPIII). That regional group was the foundation for forming a national association, the National Association of Lutheran Interim Pastors (NALIP) in 1994. NALIP is a pan-Lutheran organization which includes the IMC the Interim Ministry of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod and the IMA the Interim Ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The IMA, an organization of interim ministry practitioners and supporters, was established in 2001.