"Within four months after I arrived, it became perfectly obvious to me that this congregation had three choices before it," explained Jeff Adams, who had resigned after a 14-month pastorate at Calvary Church . Jeff had been asked to follow a one-year intentional interim minister and become the next "permanent" pastor after the end of a nine-year pastorate by an exceptionally effective minister. During those nine years, thanks largely to the attractive personality, preaching and high energy level of that minister, the average worship attendance had tripled from 85 to about 250.

Calvary Church had been founded in 1907 as a neighborhood church. It had peaked in size in the 1950s when attendance averaged nearly 300. One consequence was in the late 1950s, the congregation had purchased and razed the four houses adjacent to the church property, constructed a new sanctuary, added three new meeting rooms and paved a total of 78 off-street parking spaces.

The minister who had led that effort had arrived in 1937 and retired in 1962 at age 70. The next three decades brought a succession of seven pastors, each a shade less competent than the predecessor, according to several of the long-tenured and aging leaders. The annual reports revealed that the average worship attendance had dropped from 296 in 1959 to 243 in 1968 to 191 in 1975 to 134 in 1980 to 85 in 1992. One explanation was the increase in the competition from new missions and from two relatively new nondenominational mega-churches, one founded in 1977 and the second in 1982.

That nine-year pastorate referred to earlier that produced a flood of newcomers ended suddenly in early 2003. It was discovered the minister had been sexually involved with three different women among those new members. Jeff Adams followed a one-year intentional interim minister and arrived in June 2003. He left in August 2004.

"Those three choices, in my judgment, were to: 1) relocate to a larger site at a better location and construct new facilities; 2) expand the schedule from two to three weekend services in order to attract more people; or 3) purchase the other half of this block at a cost of more than $1 million in order to expand our parking and add new first floor meeting rooms," he said. "After six months of pushing the people to choose from among those three options, I had won practically zero support except from a couple of new members. So, I resigned, and that's why I'm now serving this congregation a hundred miles to the west."

What Happened?
A brief visit to Calvary Church added several relevant factors to this account. That nine-year pastorate had produced several consequences. One was a flood of new people who arrived at a faster pace than they could be assimilated. In retrospect, it appeared many had become fans of that attractive pastor. That fan club disintegrated when he left. By the end of that one-year ministry by the intentional interim minister, worship attendance was averaging 185, rather than 250.

A second consequence was that the workload of the paid staff had exceeded the size of the staff. In retrospect by 1999 or 2000, it was clearly understaffed. That 25 percent drop in worship attendance between early 2002 and 2003 partially compensated for the understaffing.

A third consequence was many of the older and long-tenured members had felt these younger strangers were determined to "take over our church and run it the way they want it." A larger number of the new members felt the old-timers were hanging on to their control and refused to share their power. The parking lot had been filled up on Sunday mornings, and the neighbors complained about strangers parking on the street and blocking driveways. The shortage of attractive meeting rooms frustrated the Sunday school teachers and placed a ceiling on the growth of the Sunday school. Most serious of all, of course, the events of early 2002 proved to all doubters that ministers cannot be trusted, especially those who bring rapid changes into old and comfortable institutions.

A few months later, a stranger, who had not experienced any of those feelings, arrived in the person of Jeff Adams. This future-oriented new minister looked around at what had become a smaller congregation and saw, first, a large number of people focused on the past; second, a congregation that had become too large for its physical facilities; and third, an empty agenda. He decided to fill the vacuum created by that vacant agenda with what appeared to him to be the three obvious options - relocate, expand the schedule or purchase additional real estate. When the people failed to rally around his proposed new agenda, this frustrated agent of planned change chose to resign.

Alternative Agendas
One explanation of what happened at Calvary Church was that intentional interim minister should have continued for at least another 12 to 18 months. That was a two-to-three-year assignment. One consequence was the new "permanent" pastor misunderstood his assignment. The first item on the agenda Jeff inherited really was to lead in completing the recovery from what had been a highly disruptive internal disaster. As a general rule, it is unwise for the widowed man to mourn the death of his wife at the Wednesday memorial service for her at the church and marry his new wife the following Saturday. That may save money by using the same flowers and the leftover refreshments at the reception on Saturday after the wedding, but it really is premature.

In other words, the vacancy at Calvary Church was not an action agenda. The most urgent need was for a loving shepherd who would take the time to complete the healing of those deep wounds and patiently help this congregation shift its focus from the past toward a new tomorrow. One component of that could include the fact that Calvary Church could and should build on its strength rather than continue to lament what many felt was a betrayal. After all, a congregation averaging 180 at worship is larger than four out of five Protestant churches in America today. Another alternative would have been for Jeff to reject the invitation by explaining, "I'm not the kind of pastor you need at this point in your history. I'm a doer, not a healer."

At this point, the finger of blame should not be pointed at the Reverend Jeff Adams. He was the innocent victim of a process that had failed to complete step one before moving on to steps two and three. Step one was the recovery from that internal disaster. Step two called for designing a ministry plan that would enable the leaders to make a wise choice at step three - finding a permanent successor. Jeff arrived before the completion of step one and assumed that marked the end of step three and the people at Calvary Church were ready to move on to steps four and five - choosing among alternative courses of action and implementing the appropriate one.

Another option for Jeff could have been to adapt to the role of healer and patient listener. His first priority would have been to complete the healing process. Overlapping that was an urgent need to earn the trust and confidence of the people and restore respect for the office of "our minister." A third was to listen to the people and seek to understand what they hoped the future would bring. Listening opens the door for the Pastor to ask, "What do we believe God wants Calvary Church to be and to be doing in the years ahead?" Concurrently Jeff would have been well advised to enlist the views and build support for a new tomorrow from among at least seven to 10 widely respected and influential members. Ideally, that support would include at least three who had joined Calvary Church before 1992 and at least three who had joined in the 1993-2001 era.

Instead of inviting the Reverend Jeffrey Adams to follow the brief tenure of that intentional interim minister, the leaders at Calvary Church could have suggested to the members, "We are a strong congregation with an open-ended future. What do you folks see as viable options?"

While there is no guarantee this would have occurred, that list of options easily could have been increased from three to 10 or more. Obvious possibilities include:

1. Enter into a two-year contract with an experienced professional interim minister to lead in completing an unfinished agenda.

2. Invite two part-time retired ministers to share a co-pastorate for a year or two. One would fill the role of the loving shepherd, while the other would work with a Long Range Planning Committee to design a ministry plan for the next five years that also would provide the context for designing a new staff configuration. The two could share the preaching and teaching responsibilities.

3. Investigate the potential expansion of this site.

4. Investigate the relocation of the meeting place to a larger site at a better location.

5. Look into the possibility of adding a second site and becoming a two-site congregation.

6. Investigate the possibility of joining with another church to become a two-site ministry under one name with one governing board and one staff.

7. Consider expanding the schedule to offer three or four worship experiences every weekend.

8. Contract with a professional intentional interim minister for a year or two and concurrently contract with a parish consultant who would work with Calvary 's planning committee in designing a ministry plan for the next five years.

9. Agree their future role probably called for a niche ministry with a clearly defined constituency that could produce a "comfortable" size congregation averaging 135 to 150 at worship with a full-time resident pastor plus a part-time church secretary and two part-time lay program specialists. Then, begin the search for a minister who would fit that role.

10. Study the feasibility of a major remodeling or replacement of the 47-year-old physical facilities.

For more than four decades, Lyle E. Schaller has served as a parish consultant to hundreds of congregations and scores of denominational agencies. His recent books include From Geography to Affinity and The Ice Cube Is Melting . The author's newest book, A Mainline Turnaround, will be published by Abingdon Press in May 2005.

Copyright © 2005 Lyle Schaller