The VitalChurch team of interim pastors is growing! We are pleased to announce that Pastor Steve Ignash has joined our team as an Associate and will be serving as an intentional interim pastor in churches throughout the country who are experiencing a season of transition or crisis.
It has always been one of the goals at VitalChurch to raise up the next generation of church leaders who can carry on the legacy of the organization’s founders. This means training new intentional interim pastors like Steve in VitalChurch’s church revitalization process.
Steve worked with two of our seasoned interim pastors on a training assignment in the Midwest earlier this year. Prior to that, he served for several years alongside the diagnostic team to help conduct church health assessments in California, the Pacific Northwest, and New England. Recently, Steve was assigned to a church in Hillsboro, Oregon for his first solo interim pastorate position.
A Little Bit About Pastor Steve Ignash
Although Steve will be working all over the country as an interim pastor with VitalChurch, he calls Southern California home. He is a graduate of Talbot School of Theology, and has served in California churches large and small. He also works with an outreach ministry that plants churches in transitional living facilities. Apart from his ministry positions, Steve has worked as a paramedic, and in his free time, he enjoys reading, spending time outdoors—especially at the beach, and working out.
Steve is a great fit to serve with the VitalChurch team of intentional interim pastors because he is passionate about building up leaders in the local church. According to Steve, “It seems that many of our young pastors want to preach well. While it is inspiring to watch leaders whose podcasts touch the hearts of thousands, the core of what we do as intentional interim pastors is develop leaders in the churches in which we serve. I enjoy assessing where people are and helping them find that next level to help them grow their churches. It’s a remarkable thing to watch people flourish when they are placed in the right roles and given some guidance!”
Steve is excited for his new role as an intentional interim pastor and for his first solo assignment. He says, “It is my hope and prayer that the church will embrace this season of revitalization as they prepare to call their next lead pastor who will serve them into the future.”
He understands there will be many challenges in his new role and says that one of the challenges he anticipates is learning how to be patient through the change. He says, “As a relatively young pastor, I like to jump in and try to make things happen quickly. But I’m learning that it’s often more effective to be patient and guide the process as it unfolds instead of forcing it along. Transition is such a challenging and dynamic process. It takes moving quickly on the agenda, but understanding that changes from that agenda often need time to take root.”
We are excited for all of the gifts and talents Steve brings to our organization and are looking forward to how God will use him in churches around the country.
If your church is in need of an intentional interim pastor, we’d love to talk with you. Our pastors have experience working in churches of many different denominations, as well as in non-denominational churches, large and small. Contact us to learn more about the services we offer.