Why So Many Churches Are Dreading the Retirement Party

Many churches fail to plan for pastoral succession until it's too late, creating a leadership crisis when retirement arrives. When churches center everything around a single leader and don't develop a leadership bench, they make healthy transition nearly impossible.

• Succession planning should be a 5-10 year process, not a 6-month sprint
• The myth of the indispensable pastor creates vulnerability in churches
• Reactive succession leads to leadership vacuums, power struggles, and congregational decline
• Proactive churches invest in emerging leaders and normalize team teaching
• Start building your bench today whether retirement is 6 months or 20 years away
• Succession is spiritual formation—preparing people to lead after you're gone

If you need help moving from reactive to proactive succession planning, reach out to us at podcast@chemistrystaffing.com.

Have questions or comments?  Send to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com

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Transcript

The Unprepared Church's Succession Crisis

Speaker 1 0:08

What happens when your pastor retires and there's nobody ready to take the mic ? Many churches assume that they'll just cross that bridge when they come to it , but when they finally get there , they realize that the bridge isn't built and the water's rising . Stay with me , because if you want your church to have a future , this is optional . It's urgent and we're going to talk about it right here today on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast . Hi there , my name is Todd Rhodes . I'm one of the co-founders of GilbertChemistryStaffingcom and you're listening to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast .

Speaker 1 0:41

A lot of times you hear when churches call us , they say something like we thought we had more time . A lot of churches aren't planning to fail at succession , they're just failing to plan , and most pastors just don't talk openly about retirement until it's right around the corner . And that's partly out of fear , it's partly out of loyalty and it's partly because ministry doesn't always come with a clear finish line right . But here's the problem Succession planning isn't a six-month sprint . It really should be . In order for it to be a healthy succession plan . It really should be a five to 10-year marathon , and many churches are just now realizing that the clock ran out .

The Myth of the Indispensable Pastor

Speaker 1 1:30

There's a myth that I want to talk about here and it's the myth of the indispensable pastor . The pastor is a brand , the pastor is a visionary , the pastor as institution . We've built whole ecosystems around one person in a lot of churches , large churches and small churches alike and , honestly , most of the time that works until it doesn't . And when churches center everything around a single leader , they unintentionally make succession impossible . And when the time comes , the result it's panic , it's personal vacuums , it's congregational drift . If no one else has preached or led or made a decision in years , honestly , you don't have a bench . You've got an audience and , if we're really honest about it , getting ready to do a book here , a copy of here , getting ready to release a book called Silent Alarm , where I talk a lot about these types of issues and about raising a bench . But if we're honest , we didn't raise up a bench because it felt inefficient . We had the starters , they got stuff done , but bench building isn't about efficiency . Matter of fact , sometimes it feels really inefficient when you start to build out your bench . Building a bench is about future readiness and training up younger staff , sharing the pulpit , delegating the vision and responsibility . These aren't just extras , they're essentials if you're going to plan for the future and if you wait until retirement to start mentoring , I'm telling you it's already too late .

Speaker 1 3:10

I've seen it happen in way too many churches . So what happens when there's no succession plan , when succession is reactive rather than proactive and we work with a lot of churches through succession when succession is reactive rather than proactive , here's what we see

Consequences of Reactive Succession Planning

Speaker 1 3:27

in a lot of churches . The result is months or even years without clear leadership because there wasn't a plan . We see internal power struggles or elder board deadlock . We see that a lot because there wasn't a plan and you're waiting until the end and forcing it . We see staff departures due to uncertainty because they just don't know what's going to happen . When this leader that's been here and is the heart and soul of the church leaves , they don't know what the future is . We see a lot of times congregational decline because you're going through a transition and you don't know what the end game is . An eventual hire that feels like a Band-Aid but not a baton pass . We see this all the time and a lot of times if there's not a really good succession plan , that person that follows the long-term pastor oh boy , they can be a sacrificial lamb . You've seen that in many cases , I'm sure .

Speaker 1 4:25

So what I'm talking about here isn't just a theory . Okay , we've actually , at our work with chemistry staffing , we've actually walked with churches who didn't plan ahead . Some recover and some just don't because it's just so difficult . So what are the options ? All right , you got to start now , wherever you are . If you're 20 years away from retirement , you should start building your bench . If you're 20 years away from retirement , you should start building your bench . If you're six months away from retirement , in a lot of aspects it's too late , but you got to do what you got to do and the best time to start , the only time to start is right

Building a Proactive Succession Strategy

Speaker 1 5:00

now . So here's some of the things that we've seen proactive churches do differently than those churches that look at succession from a reactive way .

Speaker 1 5:09

Okay , so here are some things that you can start . You can start today . First of all , they invest in emerging leaders and they give real responsibility and coaching to younger generations . They start early , they start young and they , little by little , bit by bit , they start to build in and give responsibility and coach younger people in the congregation . They normalize team teaching so no one voice becomes too central . So if you're preaching 50 weeks a year , or even 45 weeks a year , or even maybe even 40 weeks a year . Share the pulpit , allow some people to . Maybe they won't be home runs , but you need to start normalizing team teaching so that you aren't the focus , that you aren't the one that holds everything together . And number three , you need to communicate the long game , not just when but how that succession will happen . And maybe you're not even sure , but you need to start that conversation today and you need to build in that decision making depth so that leadership doesn't grind to a halt when you step away .

Speaker 1 6:19

Okay , evaluate regularly who's growing , who's stuck , who's ready for more , and build into those people that are ready for more , because succession isn't about finding the next you . It's about preparing the church for whoever it is that they need after you . So bottom line for today whether you're a 65-year-old pastor , whether you're a 35-year-old staff member , it starts now . The clock is ticking now . Succession is spiritual formation and it's about preparing people to lead well after you're gone , well beyond your tenure .

Speaker 1 7:01

If this hits a nerve and you're like Todd , I've been honestly more reactive , totally reactive , in my succession plan rather than proactive . Help me get from being reactive to proactive . That's one of the things that we do . We love to do and walk with you and your church through succession planning . Reach out to me

Start Today: Planning Your Church's Future

Speaker 1 7:20

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Speaker 1 7:20

Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom . It is so vitally important that you start today , that you start early , and it will make a difference . It will not only give you peace of mind for whenever it is time for you to step away to know , just the peace of mind of knowing that , hey , I did what God wanted me to do and I left well and I set the church up for future success . If you need any help podcast at chemistrystaffingcom I'd love to hop on a Zoom call with you or your board and just walk through some of that and maybe some ways that we can walk together through your succession planning . All right , I hope this has been helpful . If you listen to this on a Friday , I hope you have a great , great weekend and actually , if you're listening , it is the 4th of July , so I hope that you're on your way to a parade or something , the lake or something fun . Okay , and join us again right here on Monday , right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast . You .