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What is Intentional Interim
Ministry?
Intentional Interim Ministry is a
process that a church can choose to use for the purpose
of improving the church's health in the interim between pastors. The "intention" is the intent of
the congregation.
The process involves a self-study
by the congregation that examines five developmental
tasks:
- Coming to Terms with History
- Examining Leadership and
Decision-Making Concerns
- Looking at Denominational and
Other External Relationships
- Clarifying the Congregation's
Identity
- Committing to New Clergy Leadership and the
Future
The methods of working with the tasks are unique to each church. The outcomes
of this work are a church profile and a
pastoral profile that will assist the Pastoral Search
Committee in finding a new pastor.
What is the Purpose of Interim
Training?
The time between permanent pastors is a critical time
for a church. Members give tirelessly to keep the
ministries operating at maximum capacity and make
decisions about the future direction of the
church. Interim training equips a pastor to
minister in the unique opportunities introduced by the
transistion from one pastor to another.
Training
Design
The Center for
Congregational Health® has designed a two-part training
program for interim pastors. The first course is
entitled Interim
Ministry for Today’s Church. It provides pastors an
introduction to important issues related to traditional
interim ministry, and their responsibilities during this
time.
The second course is Intentional Interim
Ministry Training. This course is designed to equip pastors
to lead congregations through the five developmental
tasks of Intentional Interim Ministry. Completion of
<>Interim Ministry for Today’s Church is required to be eligible to apply
for Intentional
Interim Ministry Training.
Intentional Interim
Ministry Training
The goal of the Intentional Interim
Ministry Training course is to equip a pastor to
lead a congregation through the Intentional Interim
Ministry process. This process provides a structure for
congregations to use the interim time in a deliberate
way to deal with issues or challenges that face the
church. Some of the issues that motivate churches to
engage in Intentional Interim Ministry
include:
- The departure of a beloved
pastor who served for many years
- Challenges presented to
the church by changes in the church community or
membership
- A loss of direction or
meaning
- Misbehavior by a former
pastor or staff
- Destructive conflict in
the church or its staff over certain
issues.
The training for Intentional Interim
Ministry is designed on the assumptions that
participants…
- completed Interim ministry
for Today’s Church
- sense the call of God to
work with congregations that want to use the interim
time productively
- have ministerial
experience in a local congregation
- possess essential skills
in preaching, leading, teaching, counseling and
administration as is appropriate to one or more styles
and sizes of congregations,
- believe churches have an
identity and mission that is distinct from the
pastor.
This training begins with
a five-day residential lab. Although participants spend
time addressing systems thinking, considering the
importance of healthy dialogue, and reviewing models for
handling conflict, the training concentrates on two
primary subjects: the Transition Team, and the
Developmental Tasks.
The Transition
Team is a group of trusted, spiritually mature
members who are chosen by the congregation to lead the
interim process. The interim pastor is very important to
the formation, orientation and guidance of the Team. As
the Team develops, it becomes responsible for the
intentional interim process of the
church.
The Developmental
Tasks relate to five different points of focus that
occur during the transition time. The Transition Team
finds ways to help the congregation address: Coming to
Terms with History, Examining Leadership and
Decision-Making Concerns, Looking at Denominational and
Other External Relationships, Clarifying the
Congregation’s Identity, and Committing to New Clergy
and the Future.
After completion of the
residential lab, the remaining training is focused
around fieldwork. Participants form Colleague Learning
Groups that assist one another in designing ways to
involve congregations in the Developmental Tasks.
Participants work independently on a Field Project and
then engage in a series of teleconferences to dialogue
about their designs and reflect on the effectiveness of
the designs. These calls are scheduled at approximately
30, 60, 90, 120, and 150-day intervals from the end of
the residential lab. The fieldwork experience assists
participants in learning how to convert the theoretical
learnings from the classroom into a practical
application for an interim congregation. Specific
details and requirements concerning fieldwork are
explained during the five-day lab.
At the end of this course
the participant will have completed more that 85 hours
of training in interim ministry, and receives a
certificate of completion from both the Center for
Congregational Health® and the
Interim Ministry Network.
Schedule (Interim Ministry for Today's Church)
Schedule (Intentional Interim Ministry
Training)
Faculty
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