Pastoral & Ministry Transition

We also share an emphasis in the importance of pastoral/ministry transition-- specifically, how it may be done well.

By pastoral transition, we mean any of the following:

• Candidacy and placement for a pastoral role
• Transitions to a first pastorate or ministry
• Transitions from one pastorate or ministry role to another
• The work of a Search Team / Pulpit Committee
• The effect on a congregation of losing a pastor and/or getting a new pastor

Our desire is to see pastoral transition occur as infrequently as possible, and to be done well by all parties when it happens. We offer a growing set of resources to facilitate effective pastoral & ministry transitions:

Pastoral Transition & Placement Reflections is a blog written by Ed Eubanks. Ed began researching the mechanics and dynamics of pastoral transition in the summer of 2004, and started writing and reflecting about his research the following winter. To date, Ed has composed over 300 posts on pastoral and ministry transition.

We have a growing set of Placement Tools that will help you in your transition process. These are available for free as PDF downloads.

Our Placement Links collection is a growing set of links to other websites that offer information and/or resources for making effective pastoral transitions. If you are seeking opportunities to explore, you’ll find a rich resource in these links-- perhaps the largest collection of its kind.

While most of our resources are focused on pastoral ministry (within a local church), we recognize that the Lord calls many into service in campus ministry, Christian education and school ministry, and in a variety of parachurch contexts. We hope that much of what we provide here will be useful to all of these.