Sunday I will begin an interim ministry with the Holmes Road church in Lansing, Michigan. During my years in Christian higher education, I did several interim ministries. Interim ministries are of varying duration, depending on the needs of the local church. The duration of my previous interim ministries has varied from about six weeks (until the new preacher arrived) to almost three years. What will distinguish this interim ministry is that we will spend only four weeks with the church, and that our ministry is not planned to last until the arrival of the next minister.
During those four weeks, we hope to help the church become aware of and process with personal applications what usually occurs in ministerial separation–disenchantment, doubt, identity questions, disengagement, and organizational turmoil. Despite the typical challenges, the absence of a regular, consistent pulpit presence allows a church to ask identity questions focused on the local congregation and the ministry context apart from ministerial influences.
This will be a time of finding future direction. We will facilitate a self-study to help understand how the church system has functioned in the past and to identify systemic strengths and weaknesses. The self-study will include a brief history of the church with special emphasis on system factors, identity questions, and mission (purpose) questions.
The self-study is designed to solidify the commitment of the church to renewal of its identity, purpose, mission and message, and healthy structures. The self-study will also provide a clear direction to the future based on current internal and external factors, thus contextualizing the ministry plans and providing direction for the search and call of the next minister.
If you would like more information about interim ministry dynamics, please contact me or check out my Interim Ministry Page.