A Change of Pastors ... and How it Affects Change in the Congregation Paperback – January 9, 2012

Having been on a Call Committee a couple of decades ago and not having much guidance at the time, I think this book is quite helpful. I'm not on a Call Committee now, but I do know that this book will be helpful to everybody in the congregation. After losing the pastor we had for nearly 30 years it is hard to have to wade through the whole process. I find this book very helpful toward understanding the process step by step and why we have to be very patient with the committees' working to get to the point of choosing the Call Committee and let same proceed as needed.The book is well written and easily understood whether having been involved or not in the process of calling a pastor.

A Change of Pastors... was recommended to our congregation at River Hills Community Church by our intentional interim pastor recently after the resignation of our senior minister. This book is a wonderfully well presented overview of a logical process involving an intentional interim minister, selection of a transition team and other details prior to selecting a search committee. For many members there is a natural tendency to desire an immediate move to a search committee so that a senior pastor can be located, but this book outlines reasons that explain just why the process of a pastoral search should not be rushed and why a period of healing and "cooling-off" is prudent and logical.This book is very helpful for any church going through a change of ministers. I recommend it highly.

This is a very insightful book and gives good food for thought that most congregations will not have thought about in such specifics. It helps to take away some of the anxiety one might experience when your pastor leaves, especially with little notice or after a long term of service. It's even more useful if the congregation has an interim pastor who guides the leaders and congregants in line with the process suggested in this book. I give it a five star rating.Review by Patricia Baker (not Mervin Baker)

It was an extremely helpful book; it was so good and insightful that I purchased one for a friend who is going to the mission field to be an interim pastor of a church in Ireland. I plan on using this book in my intentional interim ministry.

Mead proposed a great process that I have used with two different congregations as an intentional Interim pastor. In retrospect I now realize that doing the mission discernment during the interim period separates the next pastor from the spiritual and experiential knowledge of this process.He correctly notes the potency of this time for making changes in the missional thrust of a congregation and proposes a useful process. However, other sociologist (notably those using Appreciative Inquiry) have discerned that involvement in the process in far more important than the often pithy statements produced. Mission discernment during an interim ministry sets up the next pastor for problems as the congregation has experienced the process, but the new pastor has not.

This is a very useful tool for congregations navigating through the transition of a pastoral change. I hope people take advantage of it.

This book answered a lot of my questions as a new interim pastor for a church that is experiencing more than one kind of transition. This is a new way of being a pastor for a church. More should read this.

Loren Mead's book is solid, easy to read and short (99 pages,) plus an into, with extensive end notes. I'm serving as an interim, and will use it with the council. However, it may be a bit dated since it was first published.