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From
one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and
he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the
places where they would live, so that they would search for God
and perhaps grope for him and find him--though indeed he is not
far from each one of us.
—Acts 17:26-27
I was always amused at
the Kenyan definition of “not far” when I lived in
Kenya
for my seminary internship. If you walked up to a Kenyan and asked
for directions, they would either walk you to the place you were
going or give you very good ones. But everything was always “not
far.” “Not far” meant any distance from the next block to
the distance which you could walk in a day.
As I look at my time
as the transitional pastor of your beloved church, I realize we
have “not far” to go. “Not far”—a short distance because
you have a wonderful base of faith and of witness already in place
that is a firm foundation. “Not far”—a long distance because
there are several transitions that need to happen to get us from
here to there.
Here are some of the
transitions I see taking place at Las Placitas.
A
transition of culture.
We are very much a community church, but a community church with a
culture that changes and expands with each new family who comes to
live here. The transition is to find ways to accept the variety of
people and understandings that are now part of Placitas without
losing the essential Spanish/small village culture that has been
the identity of Las Placitas Presbyterian Church for over 100
years.
A
transition of size.
Las Placitas has moved from being a family size church to being a
pastoral size church in
just 25 years. In a
Family
Church
, the pastor is less important in leadership than the matriarchs
and patriarchs of the church. The pastor’s most important
function is pastoral care, the ‘parents’ of the church take
care of the rest. In many ways it is one large, extended family
community.
A
Pastoral
Church
has a far stronger pastor leadership. There are so many
“parental types” around there has to be someone at the center
to oversee things. A smaller circle, made up of the pastor and a
group of lay leaders, replaces the patriarchs and matriarchs of
the Family Church. The
power and effectiveness of the leadership circle depends upon good
communication with the congregation and the ability of the pastor
to delegate authority, assign responsibility, and recognize the
accomplishments of others.
A
Pastoral
Church
expects that most of its spiritual and pastoral needs will be met
by the pastor. Yet the Pastoral
Church still maintains the Family
Church intimacy of everyone knowing who everyone else is.
We are growing at such
a rate that we are now moving towards being a small
Program
Church
. At this level, the
need of the congregation for spiritual growth and development as
well as some degree of pastoral care becomes the work of the lay
leadership.
The pastor becomes the
one to oversee that leadership, help develop new programs and
small group ministries, and administer far more complex office
staffing and systems. The pastor still is available for pastoral
emergencies, but much of the day-to-day care of the congregation
happens in programs or small groups.
The pastor spends more
time in meeting the needs of the lay leaders, who then meet the
needs of the rest of the congregation. The congregation may still
know many of the other members (but not all). They will find their
church ‘family’ within the small group that they are a part
of.
This can be a
wonderful transition; it can keep the sense of family within small
groups and also provide far more avenues for spiritual growth
through expanded programs. Yet Las Placitas has moved very quickly
from 100 years of being a
Family
Church
to being a
Program
Church
. We need to honor and recognize that Christ is the head of all of
his churches —no matter what size or style. We need to rest easy
in that knowledge and the direction of the Holy Spirit.
What this also means
for Las Placitas is that you will be looking for a different type
of pastor for a
Program
Church
than for a
Pastoral
Church
. It will be helpful to be farther along in this transition before
that search begins.
A
transition of identity.
Much of what I have already written is about transition of
identity. Yet, as we become a church with a significant percentage
of members being those who have retired early, there are other
transitions to consider. How do we reach out and use the
tremendous potential of our new members? How do we continue to
enthuse and inspire our longer term members to reach their
potential?
In a church where many
members will be here for only 10 to 15 years before moving back
closer to family, how do we keep our sense of history and place
alive and vital? What is the identity of this part of the larger
Body of Christ? What is the work we are called to by God for this
time and this place with these members?
A
transition of pastoral
leadership. This is truly the last transition. When Las
Placitas has a good understand-ing of where you come from and
where you are headed to, then you can then seek a leader who will
assist in that forward movement and vision. If you move to call an
installed pastor before these transitions happen, you may call
someone who cannot lead you forward.
So how long is the
journey a church will take with a transitional pastor?
Well, it’s “not
far . . . . ”
Traveling Mercies,
Elizabeth
Note:
Some of the background material on church size transitions comes
from the work of the Alban Institute on Ministry in Different Size
Churches, specifically Roy Oswald’s contributions.
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The Session of Las Placitas Presbyterian Church and its Interim Pastor
Search Committee is pleased to announce the hiring of the Rev.
Elizabeth Lyman, a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and a
specialist in transition ministry to be our “Transitional” Pastor.
Elizabeth will begin work on January 15, 2008, and will preach for the first time
on January 20.
