Call Process Booklet

Calling an Associate/Assistant to Senior Pastor
Several years ago, a sister synod tackled the difficult issue of congregations with
multiple pastoral staff wanting to call their associate pastor to fill a senior pastor
vacancy. These notes are to help other congregations in similar situations to think
carefully about this desire.
God’s
work.
Our
hands.
The bishop’s office does not make this decision for any congregation and these notes
are not a judgment of the gifts or leadership of an associate pastor. This reflection grew
out of a deep concern for congregations. Nationally, there is a 70% failure rate when an
associate pastor moves into the senior pastor’s office. In our sister synod, five
congregations thought they were the exception to the rule. One pastorate was too
recent to evaluate, one was a positive experience for pastor and congregation, and
three had a major crisis. In each of these three cases, (1) the senior pastor left under
duress (and in two the new associate left as well), (2) there was need for major conflict
management by the synod, and (3) each congregation required an extended period of
intentional interim ministry. The failure rate for this synod was 75%.
Why is there such a high failure rate? Generally, there are five issues: personalization,
unspoken assumptions, unexpected change, desire to avoid risk, and sin.
Personalization
“We have this person whom we love. The pastor buried our loved ones, has been at
bedsides, said something that gave me new insight, baptized or married a loved one,
and so on.” Everybody wants to have a pastor they like and many have experienced
pastors they have not liked. So when you have a good one why not keep them? The
problem is these memories may overshadow any questions regarding the pastor’s gifts
and abilities for the unique position of the senior pastor. The congregation is responding
to someone they like or even love and are not responding directly to a vision for the
future needs and mission of the congregation. Choosing a pastor for personal reasons
hinders a serious look at the ministry needs of the congregation in an open and
dispassionate way.
Unspoken Assumptions
The pastor may think, “They know me. They know what they are getting. I must be
what they want and need.” Wrong. (1) They know the pastor as an associate not a
senior pastor and these are very different roles. A senior pastor can be described as a
leader, a buck-stopper, a caretaker of the focus of the congregation’s spiritual vision,
and an administrator of staff. (2) It is not unusual for the congregation to like the
associate because the senior, as part of their call, has made decisions they do not like,
thus making the associate seem like a more reasonable pastor. (3) The associate who
Walking together † for the sake of mission † in God’s world
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