When to Leave - Preparing for a Healthy Transition

This episode shares essential strategies for preparing a healthy ministry transition with a focus on communication, planning, and celebrating achievements. Preparing for departure is a profound journey that involves honor, transparency, and careful planning for both the individual and the church community. 

• Importance of transparency when communicating your decision to leave 
• Creating a transition plan outlining key tasks and responsibilities 
• Documenting processes and insights for the successor 
• Significance of celebrating milestones before leaving 
• Investing in relationships with key stakeholders 
• Importance of prayer throughout the transition process 
• Action plan for drafting transition plans proactively

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

Hey there, welcome to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. My name is Todd Rhodes and I am the co-founder over at chemistrystaffingcom and I'm glad you're here with me. Today we're winding down our series. Today we're talking about preparing for a healthy transition. We've talked about that a little bit here on the podcast, but this is all part of the last three weeks. Actually, we've been dissecting Wade Hodges' book. It's called when to Leave, how to Know when it's Time to Move On Before you Stay Way Too Long and we've been going through this for about the last three weeks. We've got today and tomorrow left.

Speaker 1: 0:47

Today we're talking about preparing for a healthy transition and if you would like a free copy of Wade's book, you can get one right now chemistrystaffingcom. Slash when dash two, dash leave. And also we're doing a webinar very soon on this topic when to leave and discernment on whether 2025 would be a year of transition for you. You can join us live. You can find the times and the dates over at chemistrystaffingcom. Slash learn. Okay.

Speaker 1: 1:22

So leaving ministry. We've talked about on this series when to leave, how to know when it's time to move on. But if you've made that decision, leaving a ministry role is never easy, but it can be done in a way that honors God, even in an unhealthy transition. There are ways that you can do this, that honor God, that honor your church and honor your legacy. A healthy transition, as we've mentioned before, doesn't just happen. It does require some planning and some communication is really key and it requires a good amount of grace as well. We've talked about the need to communicate and, again, be sensitive. I take a lot of calls and if you would like to discuss this with me, you can reach out to me. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. But how do I communicate that I'm leaving? I'm afraid if I say too early that I want to start looking, or that God's calling me somewhere else, that it's not going to bode well for me and in some churches absolutely that I want to start looking, or that God's calling me somewhere else, that it's not going to bode well for me, and in some churches, absolutely that's the case. But as best you can communicate, be transparent in your communication and if your church is healthy, man, that's the, consider yourself blessed, because not every church is healthy. But in a healthy church, once you're certain about your decision to leave, be transparent. Share that with your ministry team. Give them ample time to plan for the next season and when you communicate again, we're talking in a healthy church.

Speaker 1: 2:56

You need to be honest but not overwhelming. You need to share your reasons for leaving, but keep the focus on the future. It could be that all your reasons are very positive. It could be that some of the reasons you're leaving are negative. Be honest where you can be honest, but don't be overwhelming. You don't need to share all of your burdens with everyone. Keep the focus on the future. Avoid overloading your team with too much emotional detail and if you do that correctly, then you're in the position to really be able to help with the handoff and, if possible, if possible, be a part as much as you can in making sure that the next person that comes in maybe you'll know who that person is. Maybe there's somebody on your current team that's going to move into your position. Maybe it's somebody that you've never met, that they're going to do a search for, but, however, you can help lend a helping hand in that that is really helpful and set up a clear line of communication as best you can and I realize you can't do that all the time but in healthy situations, have a healthy relationship with the person that is your successor, so that you can provide insights and context and support them. It will help them immensely and it will help your church immensely. And last, two things celebrate the journey and leave. Celebrate the journey, reflect on those wins and those milestones, create opportunities to celebrate what God has done and then finish strong. Continue on. Don't check out early. Continue to give your best efforts, even until the very last day of your tenure. All right, we've talked about some of the practical applications again, but I just want to go over these again because it's really important Create a transition plan and outline the key tasks and responsibilities and timelines for your departure.

Speaker 1: 4:46

And a transition plan is very important. We talk a lot, we do a lot at Chemistry Staffing as far as succession, both particularly lead pastors and senior pastors that maybe have been there long term and that are transitioning, and they want to plan for their succession plan, and the one thing that we tell them is the same, whether it's a succession plan or a transition plan, is that it's not a plan until it's on paper. So make sure that you outline your tasks and your responsibilities and timelines and make sure that your leadership team is on board with that Document everything. Leave behind a detailed record of your processes and your contacts and your key information, any insights that you might have. This will really help your successor hit the ground running. Sometimes your successor and they're there before you leave and you can do this in person, but sometimes you leave and the successor's not there yet.

Speaker 1: 5:45

Make sure that you were getting ready to do a presidential transition, and it's kind of tradition that the outgoing president always writes the incoming president a letter and leaves it on the desk. That's what we're asking you to do here A document for your next person. And then invest in relationships. Take time to meet with key leaders and staff and volunteers. You're going to say goodbye, but also express your gratitude and encouragement for the future. And even if you're leaving an unhealthy situation, leave well and as many leaders as you can sit down and talk to and clear the air.

Speaker 1: 6:20

If you need to clear the air, believe me, the ministry world. It might seem like it's a large world, but it's a small world and you never know when paths will cross. So you always want to leave as well as you can, just from a personal standpoint, but also from a biblical standpoint. If there needs to be reconciliation or restoration. Try to do that to the best of your ability on your way out and then pray for the next season, pray for your next season, pray for the church's next season, but cover this transition in prayer, asking God's guidance for you and blessing on you and your family, but also blessing on the church and the next leader. All right, so this week's action plan if you've come to the point where you're sure that God's leading you to take a different role during 2025, this week's action plan is start drafting that transition plan. Even if you're not leaving right away, even if you're a year away, it's not too early to start writing this transition plan. You don't have to share it with everybody, but you need to start writing it so that you have it in place and, believe me, it will reduce stress and ensure some clarity when the time does come.

Speaker 1: 7:28

I'd love to hear from you if you're preparing a transition, if you need some help with your transition, if your church needs help with staffing or transitions or hiring or firing. I would love to be a resource for you. You can reach out to me anytime. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. All right, thanks so much for joining me today. We're going to come back tomorrow, on Friday, we're going to finish this series and then I'm going to announce a brand new series that we're starting next week here on the podcast, and I'll give you a little hint it has to do with our friend and author, wade Hodges. All right, we'll talk to you soon. Have a great day.