Our organization gets calls and emails from a variety of churches. Some are in a season of transition and want our help in making some changes before they enter their next phase of ministry, while others are in the midst of something more serious. Occasionally, we get contacted by an individual who is very vague and seems hesitant to tell us what is really going on at his or her church. We know there can be privacy concerns and we don’t need to know all the details upfront, but there are … [Read more...]
VitalChurch Ministry - Blog Posts by Author
Interim Pastors and Other Resources for Churches in Rochester, NY
In a city of approximately 200,000 residents, located in a metropolitan area with more than a million people, Rochester has its share of Christian churches. Throughout the area, there is a wide range of denominational churches, as well as many non-denominational congregations. At one time or another, most churches will find themselves in need of some outside resources, whether that be an assessment, a church consultant, or an interim pastor. VitalChurch Ministry is a Christian nonprofit … [Read more...]
Announcing Our New Executive Director: Tom Wilkens
VitalChurch Ministry is excited to announce Tom Wilkens as its next executive director! Tom succeeded Mike Merwin, who retired from the executive director role in July 2021. Thank you, Mike! Mike served as the executive director for six years and was instrumental in helping VitalChurch define itself as a new ministry organization. Under Mike’s leadership, VitalChurch received its nonprofit status with the IRS, rebranded as VitalChurch Ministry and launched its website, firmed up our mission … [Read more...]
Should Our Church Do a Pastoral Search on Our Own?
Losing the lead pastor at a church is never easy. It doesn’t matter if it was due to a sudden loss (a death or an abrupt resignation or firing) or one that you saw coming (a planned-for retirement or a resignation with plenty of notice). There are still challenges. A church that has seen a string of short-tenured pastors can have a very difficult time when it comes time to find their next senior pastor. Repeated pain, loss, and missed expectations can cause a church to suffer analysis … [Read more...]
VitalChurch, An Interim Pastor Ministry, Names Women to Key Leadership Roles
As VitalChurch Ministry continues to reach more churches in need, we have been growing our team in response. More interim pastors have been hired and trained and sent out to churches throughout the country. Our staff and volunteer team have been expanded and people already within the organization are taking on new responsibilities. We’d like to introduce you to two women who have recently taken on key leadership roles in our organization. The first is Rosemary Lukens, who was named as a … [Read more...]
Why Does a Church Need an Intentional Interim Pastor?
In one of our recent blog posts, we talked about exactly what an intentional interim pastor is, and what it isn’t, according to VitalChurch Ministry. It was a great post for those looking to get a better understanding of interim pastor ministry and how churches can benefit from it. In this blog post, we wanted to dive a little deeper into the subject and discuss the situations in which a church might consider using an intentional interim pastor. When There’s an Unexpected Vacancy in the Lead … [Read more...]
A Follow-Up to Our Year-End Fundraising Campaign
If you follow this blog or are on our email list, you probably heard about our year-end fundraising campaign. To end the year 2020, we were looking to raise $25,000 for our Compassion Grant Fund, which directly supports churches who need the services that VitalChurch provides, but are unable to afford the full cost of those services. In the past, Compassion Grants have been given to churches to help them pay for diagnostic assessments, as well as our interim pastor services. We established our … [Read more...]
What Is an Interim Pastor?
As our team travels the country working with churches, we’ve found that not everyone has the same idea of what an interim pastor is and does. Of course, they have a general idea, just based on the name, but there are some variations on the types of pastors who serve in churches without a permanent lead pastor. We thought we’d take some time in this blog post to clear up some of the confusion surrounding phrases such as “interim pastor,” “intentional interim pastor,” “transitional pastor,” and … [Read more...]
Year-End Giving Campaign for VitalChurch Ministry’s Compassion Grant Fund
DONATE VitalChurch Ministry is excited to announce the launch of our 2020 year-end giving campaign! As a nonprofit organization, we rely on the generosity of donors to help fund our organization and ask that you prayerfully consider a year-end donation to VitalChurch. The majority of the recurring charitable donations we receive throughout the year go to funding the salaries for our interim pastors when they’re in between assignments—when they’re either on sabbatical, spending their time … [Read more...]
Interim Pastors Gregg Caruso and Dave Miles Interviewed for Vanderbloemen Podcast
Recently, two of our interim pastors, Gregg Caruso and Dave Miles, appeared on the Vanderbloemen Leadership podcast. They were interviewed by Sarah Robins, VP of Sales and Client Relations at Vanderbloemen. Vanderbloemen is an organization based in Houston, Texas that works with churches around the country on succession planning and executive staffing. Over the years, the work of VitalChurch Ministry and Vanderbloemen have overlapped more than once. On several occasions, Vanderbloemen has … [Read more...]