Navigating Transitions in Ministry
By Glenna Marshall
Transitions in ministry can be both exciting and anxiety-inducing. Are you leaving a church? Planting a new one? Retiring from ministry? Merging? Replanting or revitalizing? Is your husband moving from part-time to full, or vice versa? Are you stepping away from ministry for a while? Going on sabbatical and wondering if the plates will keep spinning in your absence? We often think of ministry in a “daily grind” kind of way, but we face all kinds of transitions even if we never leave our current church. Perhaps you’re welcoming a new baby or working through an adoption or foster care placement. Maybe you’re launching a child into the world after graduation and acclimating to adult children living outside the home. You might be taking on the care of an aging parent and welcoming them into your already busy life. Even family transitions can have major effects on ministry life with a ripple effect we might not expect.
Transitions can be ones we long for or ones we dread. Either way, it’s good to be reminded as ministry families that our life circumstances will often change. We might be bogged down in “daily grind” kind of work at church and at home, but it’s wise to hold on to our sense of normalcy with open hands. Seasons change, crises ebb and flow, new normals are established over and over as our families grow or change, our churches grow or dwindle, programs begin or end, church members join or leave. Suffering can be a transition you don’t expect. It may come in the form of ministerial hardship or something like a diagnosis or death. You’ll have to reorient yourself afterwards. Whatever the transition, you’ll have to start anew and learn what ministry looks like after the criticism, after the illness, after the death, after the forced resignation, after the slander, after the move.
Transitions may feel, and indeed be, out of our control, but there are truths to hold us steady in the midst of ministry and life changes. The Lord is steadfast and unchanging. He is also sovereign and in control. He not only saw your transition coming, but He has also prepared you for it—even if you weren’t aware of the preparation at the time. He has equipped you to persevere in spite of your transition because His plan is to make you more like Jesus and He has given you what you need to become like Christ. He will use your transition to sanctify you.
It can be easy to let the most important things slip through the cracks when we’re going through a challenging or new season in ministry. You might be so excited about the next phase in life or ministry that you don’t feel we need to look so much to Jesus for help. Or, you may be so discouraged by what’s going on in your church that you can’t even lift your head to look to Him. Either way, holding fast to Christ will keep you afloat through every transition in ministry. In the midst of your current upheaval, ask yourself some questions to make sure you’re keeping Him front and center in your life—not so you can check a list but so you can feel anchored to the Lord through a challenging or new season.
Am I spending some time in the Word each day to remind myself what is true about God? Circumstances change, but God never does.
Am I carving out some time to pray through our current circumstances so that I can pour out my worries to the Lord instead of just swallowing them?
Am I holding on to bitterness regarding our last place or season of ministry? Have I confessed that to the Lord and prayed for His help in uprooting that bitterness?
Have I been holding on to my desires for our life and ministry too tightly? How can I hold things loosely and entrust my life and work to the Lord?
What have I learned lately about the Lord’s character?
Are my husband and I on the same page about our current life and ministry season? If not, can I schedule a time for us to talk through it?
Do I have someone in my life who is safe to talk to? (If not, please contact us at PSW!)
Am I placing all my hopes for contentment and joy on the next phase of ministry—or on Christ?
Have I idolized certainty and predictability in life or ministry? What would it look like to trust the Lord without knowing what comes next?
Whether you’re looking forward to what’s next in ministry, treading the same water continuously, or fighting fear of upcoming changes, your source of security isn’t your ministry. It’s Jesus.
Though life can be uncertain, though our plans can fall apart before our eyes, though the future seems either bright or bleak, our Jesus never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is our sure and steady anchor—the One who holds us fast in every shift or transition in life and ministry. He will carry you through what’s next. He is your friend and your advocate. Hold steady, sister. The Father loves you, Jesus is praying for you, and the Spirit is with you.
Glenna Marshall is married to her pastor, William, and lives in rural Southeast Missouri where she tries and fails to keep up with her two energetic sons. She is the author of The Promise is His Presence: Why God is Always Enough (P&R) and Everyday Faithfulness: The Beauty of Ordinary Perseverance in a Demanding World (Crossway).