Pastoral Transitions: Matt Davis on Best Practices in Moving Members Off Your Team

Thanks for joining the unSeminary podcast. This week we are talking to Matt Davis, the President and Chief Pastoral Officer at Pastoral Transitions. This ministry exists to help churches love and support their outgoing pastors and their families. They provides transition services to help pastors continue their life ministry for building God’s kingdom.

Every pastor serving in ministry is temporary; at some point each of us will transition out of our roles. How can churches prepare for staff transitions that will honor and love people well and encourage unity rather than division? Matt casts vision for how to care for pastors and their families well during this painful time in their life.

* Are they planted in the right place? // Before considering the transition of a staff member from your church, Matt says to look at the church as a garden. A lot of care has gone into planting someone in their role. However, sometimes that person needs to be transplanted to another space in the garden in order to thrive and grow the kingdom.

* Wear both hats. // Ministry is more than an employee/employer relationship and often develops into friendship. Sometimes you may need to wear the boss hat and talk with a person about their performance. Don’t surprise someone by immediately letting them go. Have an ongoing conversation about changes that need to be made. If there’s no change after three to six months, explain that you need to discuss a change in their employment. But then also put on the friendship hat and let them know that you care and how hard this decision is.

* Help with the transition. // Pastoral Transitions steps in on a pastor’s last day in a ministry role and helps a church’s leadership message the transition well. Matt writes the pastor a letter that welcomes them into the season of transition and lets them know that he and his group will be working with them to provide the practical and emotional support needed.

* Career, coaching, and counseling. // Pastoral Transitions works with the pastors in the areas of career, coaching, and counseling. In the area of career, Pastoral Transitions first looks at what it is that the pastors are equipped to do and what transitional skills they have as a pastor. Pastoral Transitions also does assessments with pastors to help them find any blind spots they need to address. They encourage pastors that there is life after ministry.

* Where is God leading? // The coaching aspect helps pastors focus on where God is for them in this season. In addition to life coaching, pastors work through leadership development with Townsend Leadership, and financial coaching with Thrivent.

* Work through the emotions. // Pastoral Transitions has a network of therapists across the country, not only for pastors, but also for their spouses and kids. Over six months Pastoral Transitions works with outgoing pastors to help them transition and work through the pain they may have from their change in employment.

* Beyond Severance. // Matt is offering the free download Beyond Severance: 3 Must-Have Resources for Ministry Transitions. This resource walks through best practices for offboarding and how to approach these transitions with empathy, grace, generosity, and a focus on unity.

Download the PDF Beyond Severance: 3 Must-Have Resources for Ministry Transitions and explore the other resources Pastoral Transitions offers, including their Life After Ministry podcast, at pastoraltransitions.com.

Thank You for Tuning In!