Paul Mentor: Well, Tim, are you ready to get started with the transition of the church?
Tim: You bet. What’s first, or should I say next?
Paul: Remember the goal, it will help you begin well. The goal is plural leadership, so you should begin with plural leadership.
Tim: Hmmm, start with the goal in mind, eh? That makes sense.
Paul: Yes, that’s it, and it means beginning with a team that will guide the church in making the transition to plural elder form of government.
Tim: A transition team?
Paul: Yes, read on.
Welcome
The decision to form a transition team does not assume a transition is inevitable. It simply begins the process that will lead the whole church in investigating BE and hopefully implementing it. This should not be something that a few people impose on the whole.
Here is why you need a transition team:
- The transition from a hierarchical, single-pastor model to a biblical elder structure with shared authority is a monumental change.
- A team approach to transition will model plurality, one of the central tenants of biblical teaching on church leadership.
- The transition team provides a proving ground for men to demonstrate and develop the qualities that will make for being good elders in the new leadership structure.
- No individual has the capacity or gifting to address all areas of the transition.
Getting Started
Changing any organization is challenging, and Scripture does not address how to change from a single-pastor model to a plurality of elders. But various biblical principles will help you approach the matter in a God-honoring, Scripture-informed, Spirit-led way.
The church is a living organism of believers indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but it is also an organization of people with concerns, fears, passions, and various interpersonal relationships. Most people tend to resist change, at least change that they don’t understand. Failure to understand this resistance can result in poor communication, unnecessary frustration, and counterproductive conflict—all of which could be avoided with sensitive understanding of the way people act and think in organizational relationships.
Books and studies on organizational change provide insights into human behavior that can help the church. Some may question whether it is appropriate to use principles from secular organizational experience. Our answer is that all truth is God’s truth. The Lord often uses “tools” from the secular world (such as health care) to accomplish his purposes. So in transitioning a church through a change of leadership structure, it makes sense to wisely use the tools of change management—principles that researchers have discovered to be useful in helping organizations change.
Develop a Provisional Purpose Statement
Before inviting people to join the transition team, define the purpose of the team and the general role of its members (this worksheet will help). Your purpose statement should include the idea of leading the whole church through a presentation, investigation, adoption and implementation of BE. When inviting potential team members, avoid any premature implication that BE is a foregone conclusion for your church. You don’t want to alienate people from an honest investigation. The decision to actually implement BE can’t be made by one person or even a small group of people. Gaining group buy-in requires a genuine decision process the whole congregation can take part in.
Invite Men to Join the Team
When assembling the team, share your conviction about BE with key leaders in your church. If they are on board, great! But if some feel threatened by or uncertain of BE, you would be wise to slow down.
Some people may not want to take part in the team for good reasons (lack of time, pressing responsibilities, etc.) Others may want to join for wrong reasons (control issues, fear of being marginalized). You will need to address these situations with honest, mature, and godly consideration. We suggest first inviting leaders you know will be sympathetic to BE and asking them how best to address others who may or may not be suitable for the team.
The composition of the transition team is critical for a smooth transition. Here are some things to take into account when setting up the team:
- Pray about the first person/people to approach. This ensures that there will be more than just you (one person) building the rest of the team.
- Build the team slowly and deliberately. The selection of the transition team could very well be the most critical task in the entire process.
- Include men who are not in full-time pastoral ministry. This is important because one of the biblical perspectives on BE is the removal of a clergy/laity distinction. This begins to move the church away from relying on the “professional” pastoral workers (i.e. clergy) and toward a more biblical functioning leadership, even at this early stage. We recommend that at least half of the team be non-pastoral staff. (Note: this is a non-issue in smaller churches that do not have a professional pastor.)
- Include key existing leaders and “influencers” in the church. Choose men who are committed to the transition process and can help influence the rest of the church body.
- Include some “process people” with the gift of administration (1 Cor 12:28). You will need men who can organize, think logically, guide a discussion/meeting, set goals, etc. Happy is the team who has at least one or two of these gifted men.
- How many? There is no ideal number, but all key people should be given the opportunity (subject to the following qualification).
- Focus on men recognized to be of “good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3). In other words, consider those who are held in good favor in the church, who show a genuine spiritual quality of life, and who exhibit good sense. This is obviously a judgment call.
- Think of men with a demonstrated commitment to the Word of God and to the church (its fellowship and doctrine in key areas).
- Avoid any man with glaring deficiencies in the elder qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. Admittedly, this is also a judgment call, but including the “wrong” men could derail the whole process. A detailed study of qualifications of elders will be laid out later.
- Look for men with the time and desire to be a part of the transition team.
Use the Transition Team Worksheet to help you assess and select transition team members.
Caveat: The transition team should not be thought of or referred to as the future elders or even “transitional elders.” While they may function like elders in the interim (particularly if the church is without a pastor), we recommend making a clear distinction. This will avoid the situation later where a man discovers after a full study of elder qualifications and functions that he is not qualified or ready for the full responsibility of eldership, and then needs to take an embarrassing “step down.”
Roles of Men and Women
Now would be a good time to determine your church’s stand on the role of women. In light of the biblical teaching that elders are to be men, consider how the gender composition of the transition team relates to the task of leading the church to an all-male eldership. Keeping the goal in mind (plurality of male elders), we recommend that the transition team be composed of men.
Formal Approval of the Transition Team
After assembling the transition team, take steps to formally empower the team to lead the transition. You will need the ruling council’s endorsement, but hopefully that has happened already because of how you assembled the team.
Depending upon your church’s current leadership structure, you may or may not need congregational endorsement to commission the transition team. As the saying goes, people will vote with either their hands their feet. In other words, if they are not involved in the decision making process, they will “vote” by either staying or leaving. We recommend involving the congregation early in the process to gain their informed endorsement. Leading does not mean ruling from on high, but acting in such a way that people follow! Wise leaders involve those whom they lead.
Three Things to Do
1. Conduct an initial informational meeting for the congregation.
We suggest someone from the current leadership structure, a person with good communication skills, present a brief outline on why BE is being considered. More in-depth teaching will be provided later.
Outline the purpose of the transition team: to lead the congregation in investigating BE and considering whether to adopt it, and then, if so decided, to guide the implementation.
Give copies of the 47-page Biblical Eldership booklet to all members of the congregation.
Make it very clear that a decision to implement BE has not been made. The current leadership is committed to pursuing BE, but embracing it is not a foregone conclusion. Change always goes smoother when the maximum number of people are involved and have real input into the process.
2. Obtain formal affirmation or endorsement.
We recommend following your church’s current decision-making protocol to authorize your transition team to begin the process. This shows respect for the authority structure currently in place, and models godly character on the part of the transition team—one of submission to authority in the church.
3. Put the affirmation in writing.
Clearly state the goals and the objectives of the team.
Define how long the team will function and when it will cease to exist (for example, when the church formally embraces BE with provisional elders in place).
From this point forward, the transition team is now authorized to lead the church through the transition process.
What Next?
The team now needs to focus its task. For this go to the next section, “Focus the Task”.