Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven: (NKJV)
Yesterday I began what I am calling "Lessons from the Road, for young pastors and not so young pastors". Some lessons Ive learned in my 37 years of ministry but were reinforced 4 years ago on my 1,500 Mile "Bike for Haiti" ride to New York City. (yesterdays post. http://guymelton.typepad.com/my_weblog/2015/05/seasons-of-ministry.html )
May 10, 2011 , my 10th day on the road and just entering South Carolina God showed up in one of the Biggest ways I had ever seen Him prior or since. In Chapter 12 of my book "Lessons from the Road" I tell the story of meeting 4 young guys , literally at a fork in two highways 40 miles south of Charleston. That morning neither I or the group ever expected this meeting. They were ending a 3,100 mile Bike Ride for "Haiti" yes, Haiti from California and I was just 500 miles into my ride going north to New York City.
That day was a special "Season" It was a short season but a powerful one. It is one that marked me for the rest of my life. We road 50 miles that day through Charleston, and to the Atlantic Ocean where they celebrated the ending to a phenomenal trip and accomplishment.
I got to be a fly on the wall that day as I watched the ending of an incredible journey of guys who I did not know but had the same heart for Haiti as I did. It was a short season but a powerful one.
As Pastors we will have "Seasons" with staff that are short and some long but all will mark us.
That short season of one Day I experienced what many of us do in ministry as we have seasons with various staff and ministry leaders.
* We celebrated each others stories and each others journeys.
* They elevated me, encouraged me and challenged me.
*We sweated together, we rested together, we had a brief time of community that only we could understand because of what we were doing.
* They marked me for life.
* We bonded in that short season of only 50 miles. We bonded as if we had known each other for years.
* I learned from them. I learned from their experiences.
* I got to celebrate their Victory and their accomplishments of their journey.
* They included me even though they did not know me.
* They celebrated me and my journey.
* I grieved having to leave. It was a lonely ride the rest of the day. It was hard to say good bye.
All these things happened in a day but it seemed as if we had been being prepared for a lifetime for this day.
As Pastors there are seasons with Staff and leaders just like this.
At Oasis we are just beginning what I have called my "3rd Season". The first 2 seasons, 23 years were incredible and were spent with some of the greatest men and women I could have ever served with. They are the ones who helped bring Oasis Church to where it is today.
But their season is over at Oasis. We have parted ways and now there is a new Team Oasis.
Every pastor must learn to deal with this . If you are young and in a church plant you might think those who are with you now will all be with you in 10 years. Very Unlikely more than a few will if any.
Our first team, in season #1 had members who helped plant Oasis and were with us for 14 years, 2 of them, one for 12 years and another for 10 years. Our second Season had team members with us for 7-10 years. Now as we enter into the transition of our 3rd Season of our Oasis Team I still find myself never getting used to saying good bye to a team member. Its always hard, its always personal and there is always grieving. (Ok some confession here, NOT ALWAYS, there have been a few Ive been glad to see them leave. But you will never know who they were. )
Why did I pick this subject to open with? Well #1 it fit with my Bike Day 10 story where I wanted to begin.
#2, this is one of the hardest things for a pastor and a church to deal with.
Most pastors fight it, get discouraged by it and many leave their church from losing staff and having to begin with new staff so they move on somewhere else where the same pattern will repeat itself.
I say once you grieve, you say good bye, you celebrate what God did with the person who left your team , pivot and EMBRACE a new season. If you are a pastor of one staff member , whether part time or full time or one of a 100 member staff. Embrace the Seasons. Seasons Change.
I would say while we have had incredible staff come through Oasis that cause me to be incredibly humbled and thankful God blessed me with them, I also know people need to move on. Seasons change and each person that leaves one field of service and moves to another takes with them lessons learned as a better person.
Each Season God has led Oasis through has been one that has allowed us to move to another level. What God uses in one season is not what He will use in another season. Don't fight it pastor. Embrace it.
This is hard for all of us as Sr. Pastors, lead pastors , church planters to accept but the average staff person stays 2 1/2 - 4 years. I feel blessed God has allowed Oasis to have our journey with most staff double and even triple that tenure in some cases. But you show me a church who never has staff change and ill show you a church that is probably in a rut, complacent and is dying.
Don't get me wrong, I preach long term ministry and staying where you are "Planted". But the reality in a world where Social media and the lure of greener pastures is greater than EVER in history for staff members it is going to happen more than ever and so a Pastor should be prepared that you will only be one Chapter in a Staff persons journey. So what do we do to cope with this Seasonal change?
*Embrace it
*Pray through it.
*Don't panic.
*Celebrate the time they spent with your church family.
*Thank them publicly and privately so your church can celebrate them and grieve over their lose.
* Understand you WILL lose people that love them , but understand the new team member will also bring new people with them in other ways. (Rarely is the impact of those that leave greater than the ones reached by a new team member. New members will bring new energy and passion too. Be patient. Its not personal. Its not about you. )
* Prepare your Church family that staff come and they go. God calls them and God leads them to other kingdom service just as most left somewhere else and came to your church.
* Its OK to grieve. Just dont stay there.
I truly believe as hard as every staff change is for me personally that Oasis would not be the church it is today if we had not been willing to let Go, celebrate and then move on.
Its not a time to change your Vision, Mission or DNA. Do not compromise your Calling just to keep someone or to appease someone.
Too many pastors are afraid to lose someone whether they are a lay person or staff member which is just the normal part of Seasons in all our lives including a churches life. If you aren't able to lose someone you aren't a leader.
So pastor, church planter, young or not so young. Prepare for it. It will happen and I hope for you that you can stay so long that you get to see multiple Seasons of change on your team , which means God is working and you and your church are richer for them being a part of your team.
Ill say more in another Day of the Ride about how to say good bye and why its only biblical, healthy and right to Give up staff and even to Bless their leaving. Healthy for them and your church.
One of the blessings of the 23 years of ministry as Pastor of Oasis is I have learned, Seasons change, its hard but you will survive and God will bring you new team members for just the "Season you are in". I know I have lived it, living it and hope to live it for many years to come.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven: (NKJV)
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