Fecundity and
Transitions
I have always loved the word “fecund:” productive,
generative, creative, flourishing, inventive, and imaginative. The word calls to my mind the image of God’s
original creation, that lush garden for which we all were created and someday
will inhabit when God deems it is time.
Because God continues to create within our lives and congregations even
as we await the consummation of the kingdom, there are fecund moments in our
lives. These are times when opportunity
stands before us, when a choice can inaugurate some new and good thing in us,
our family, or our congregation.
Loren Mead, church consultant and founder of the
Alban Institute, was asked what he had learned in his 20 years at the helm of
the institute. At one point he commented:
We
learned that every congregation went through crises, and those crises were when
they were open to change. Probably the
major crisis that happens to any congregation is the change of pastors. Every time a pastor changes, a congregation
has an opportunity to change. We came to
see it as a critical point in the life of a congregation.
We see the arrival of a new pastor as the inauguration
point of change, but Mead observes that the biggest changes in a congregation
have already happened by the time the new pastor arrives. The congregation has already faced the loss
of a previous pastor and has made some decisions about where they want to go. In many ways, the congregation has cast their
future before the new leader is on the scene, whether the congregation realizes
it or not. Many congregations see the
interim period as something simply to get through before they can call a pastor. They see it as wasted time, like the wait in
an airport before the plane leaves. They
do not take advantage of the fecundity of the time. Some of the most creative moments in a
church’s life take place between pastors when the congregation must ask: “Who are we without Pastor Jane?” It can be a time of self-discovery and
learning new skills. Lay people take on
new responsibilities and uncover gifts they did not know they had.
If the
period between pastors is well done, the congregation is ready to go in some
new directions with their new pastor. An
interim pastor is someone who works with a church to accomplish a set of clear
developmental tasks that will prepare the church for a new day and a new leader
and a renewed vision of what God is calling them to do.
I hope your journey with your present pastor is
long and the partnership you share rich.
If, however, you should ever find yourself in a time of pastoral
transition, use it well. God is always
in the change, challenging us, equipping us, holding us. Times of changes, all types of changes, can
be fecund times when we trust ourselves and future to God and listen to what
God has to teach us.
Blessings,Jim Kelsey
