Ensuring the success of interim ministry
Ensuring the success of interim ministry- A paraphrase of Titus 1:5-2:1
The best measure of success for interim ministry is a healthy and committed congregation’s readiness to embrace a healthy and committed pastor.
The apostle Paul wrote letters to Timothy and Titus that we find in the New Testament, where he outlines how to go about this. In Christian traditions that rely on a hierarchical leader to select pastors, Paul’s words in Titus 1 carry a lot of potent advice. In Christian traditions that rely on the congregation to discern together who to call as a pastor, these same words are a reminder that all Christians are called to grow into maturity so that they can call leaders into ministry and pass a healthy congregation on to those who follow them. Paul’s words are useful either way.
Here is a loose paraphrase of Titus 1:5-2:1 prepared for First Baptist Beloit as some perspective for them as they go deeper into their pastoral selection process.
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So, you have a responsibility to give someone the responsibility for this congregation!
Make sure the pastor you call is without blame and that their spouse and children (if they have them) share a commitment to Christ and are without blame themselves. This frees them to focus on ministering among you.
The person you call takes care of the congregation on God’s behalf, so they should not put themselves in the way of the work. Nor should they quickly lose their temper or be under the influence of alcohol or be given to fighting. Neither should they be greedy for money. Instead, they should be welcoming, a lover of God, easily reasoned with, fair, serious about their faith and in control of themselves.
They need to have a firm grip on the word—not losing track of what they were taught so that they can teach accurately, effectively, and even correctively when needed.
This is important because there are many who rebel against these things, who love to hear the sound of their own voice and act deceitfully—even though they seem very religious when you first meet them. You need to keep them silent because they only upset the households of our congregation when they teach their errors, and then only because they are in it for the money.
Old Ben Franklin is not the first to have said, “God helps those who help themselves,” but it was good advice he gave us. Prove people like this wrong and put them in their place so that the faith God gave us may be soundly in them and in everyone else.
That way they will stop placing so much importance on celebrity and pop-culture which only leads them further astray. Mature people might be able to discern truth from fiction, but for those already given to rebellion, this junk only worsens the problem.
These people profess to know God, but you would not know it from watching them. They are an affront, the antithesis of a minister and worthless for service to Christ and his kingdom.
You who are now responsible to call people into ministry need to get these matters right!
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What do you think the apostle Paul would write to you if you were the one responsible for calling a minister?
-mark l vincent
p.s. For more on interim ministry, please see Arlen Vernava’s blog. He is the Director of Interim Services for Design Group International.
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All blogs reflect the thoughts of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Design Group International, Inc.