At Multiply Vineyard, of course we love and value starting new churches. But we also love and value seeing existing churches continue to grow and thrive. We love it when we can help people discover that they are called to plant a church! But we also love it when we help them discover they’re not called to plant, but to something else—maybe leading a ministry, becoming a senior pastor, or being a lay leader and discipler out in the marketplace. We’re focused on planting new churches, but we absolutely love all aspects of church life and development.
Now, the reason I bring this up, is that we’ve started to hear occasionally from senior pastors around the country who are beginning to think about retirement, or who are facing a season of life that requires them to step back from leadership for a while. This can be a delicate topic for pastors, and they often don’t want to go public about seeking a replacement right away. They want to know if we know of any suitable pastors who would consider coming to take their place.
At the same time, we are hearing from women and men who know they are made to be pastors, but who aren’t necessarily called to plant a new church. They are asking us if we know of churches that need a pastor.
All in all, it looks like Multiply Vineyard might be rather well-placed to do a little matchmaking here! So we are going to start tracking these requests—pastors seeking churches, and churches seeking pastors. Here’s how you can help:
First, if you are a pastor thinking of retiring in the next 5 years or so, let us know. It takes quite awhile to work through all the details and relationships necessary for a healthy transition, and we can help to point you in the right direction—towards resources, others who have transitioned their churches well, and more. And we’re beginning to collect resumés from interested candidates. Give us a shout at [email protected].
And likewise, if you have some experience in the Vineyard and know that you are made to be a pastor, but know you don’t have the specific gifts or abilities necessary to begin a new church, let us know. We can forward your information to churches we hear of who are looking for a new senior pastor.
As always, we’ll keep the information confidential, and we’ll see if we can’t help make some connections.
Send your inquiries to [email protected].
