[S1EP4] The Board’s Role in a Healthy Pastoral Succession | Pastoral Succession

Tim and Holly get real about one of the messiest parts of church leadership: navigating succession with your board. They share stories from the trenches about what makes succession healthy (and what doesn't) and how to actually have those tough conversations.

🔑 What Tim and Holly cover:

• Why trust has to come first (and what to do when it doesn't exist)
• Who really gets to make the succession call - and how to get on the same page
• The "goalpost problem" - why pastors keep changing their minds about timing
• Having honest conversations without the whole board knowing (the "cone of silence")
• Should you find someone just like your current pastor or totally different?
• Two questions your board better ask before you start looking for anyone

💡 You'll want to listen if you're:

• An executive pastor watching this play out with your senior pastor
• A senior pastor trying to figure out your own succession timeline
• A board member who has no clue how to bring this up
• Anyone who's seen succession go sideways and wants to avoid that mess

🎧 Leading Smart Podcast - Episode 4: The Board's Role in Healthy Succession

Tim and Holly get real about one of the messiest parts of church leadership: navigating succession with your board. They share stories from the trenches about what makes succession healthy (and what doesn't) and how to actually have those tough conversations.

🎉 Fun Segments: Tim's pickleball obsession and Holly's surprise musical improv experience!

🤝 Special thanks to our partners at Michael Best, an international law firm specializing in church legal needs and succession planning support.

🎧 Next Episode: Internal successors - good idea or bad idea?

Subscribe for more episodes on healthy church leadership and succession planning!

church leadership, pastoral succession, executive pastor, senior pastor succession, church board, succession planning, pastoral transition, church governance, ministry leadership, pastor retirement, church staff, leadership transition, pastoral search, church bylaws, board relationships, ministry succession, church administration, pastoral leadership, church management, senior pastor search

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Chapters

• 0:19 The Board's Role in Healthy Succession
• 0:42 Building Trust Between Board and Pastor
• 1:55 Challenges in Board Dynamics
• 2:24 Lencioni's Functional Teams
• 2:56 Decision Making in Succession
• 3:35 Navigating Succession Conversations
• 6:41 Setting and Sticking to Succession Dates
• 10:59 Aligning on the Next Leader
• 13:40 Practical Steps for Healthy Board-Pastor Relationships
• 16:24 Questions for Boards Before Starting a Search
• 18:26 Rant and Rave: Pickleball and Musical Improv
• 24:24 Acknowledging Leading Smart Partners