When you’re in a church without a permanent pastor, there can be a lot of pressure to “get it right” when it comes to finding the next pastor that will lead your church. The interim pastors at VitalChurch have walked many churches through the process of searching for a new pastor and have learned some valuable things along the way. One of the things we have discovered is that what churches do before they even begin the search process may be the most vital to ensure they end up with a pastor who … [Read more...]
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VitalChurch Interim Pastors Serving Churches Across the United States and in the U.K.
The work of an interim pastor is never dull! Our team members are constantly finding themselves in new places with new groups of people as they perform the important work of church revitalization. Here’s where our intentional interim pastors are serving right now and a little bit of information about the work they are doing in their respective churches. Gregg Caruso Gregg is currently serving as the intentional interim pastor at Christ Community Church in East Taunton, Massachusetts. Since … [Read more...]
Experienced Interim Pastors Who Have Pretty Much Seen It All
There is a series of commercials on television right now by Farmers Insurance that features the tagline “We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two.” The commercials tell stories about actual insurance claims that the company has covered over their years in business. These stories from their “Hall of Claims” are meant to reassure customers and potential customers that they are prepared to handle any kind insurance claim, no matter how bizarre or unlikely. Here at VitalChurch … [Read more...]
The Role of an Elder Board: Recommendations from Intentional Interim Pastors
In our last blog post, we talked about how VitalChurch Ministry can come in to help a struggling elder board in a church in crisis, or in one without a permanent pastor, and that post got us thinking about the role of an elder board. In our many combined years of ministry, the interim pastors at VitalChurch have seen many different types of elder boards. Some are intimately involved with every decision being made in the church (even having the final say on the type of carpet being installed … [Read more...]
How VitalChurch’s Interim Pastors Benefit Elder Boards
As intentional interim pastors, we have worked with many elder boards in churches all over the country, and even in other parts of the world. In fact, it is often a member of an elder board that makes the initial call or sends the initial email inquiring about the services we provide at VitalChurch Ministry. That first conversation with the church elder usually goes something like this: “Our senior pastor just left/was let go, or is about to leave/be let go. We need an interim pastor to fill … [Read more...]
Alliance Church in Central Washington Benefits from VitalChurch Interim Pastor
The interim pastors at VitalChurch are hard at work all over the country, and even in other parts of the world, working with churches going through times of transition or crisis. One of our interim pastors just completed his interim period at one of those churches, and we wanted to recap the work he did there so you can get some insight into what it’s like to work with the VitalChurch team. VitalChurch Hired to Complete Church Assessment In the spring of 2016, VitalChurch was contacted by a … [Read more...]
4 Reasons Why Your Church Isn’t Giving
Giving seems to always be a touchy subject in churches. Churches need money to keep their doors open and their staff paid, but pastors are often reticent to teach on giving, possibly because they don’t want to be lumped in with those notorious televangelists (and others) who have exploited the Bible’s teachings on stewardship for their own personal gain, or simply because it’s an uncomfortable topic to bring up. If regular giving is something your church struggles with—and as interim pastors, … [Read more...]
Our Approach to Preaching and Teaching as Interim Pastors
The gospel: it’s a term that’s taken on a meaning in certain Christian circles that’s not quite complete. These days, when people talk about “sharing the gospel,” they are usually referring to “witnessing,” with the goal of bringing someone to a place of acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Savior. And while the gospel is the good news that brings about salvation, it is able to do so much more than that! As Gregg Caruso, one of our VitalChurch interim pastors, says, “The word gospel means good … [Read more...]
VitalChurch’s Church Health Assessments Reveal Most Common Areas of Struggle for Churches
We talk a lot on our website about our biblically based, three-phase process of church revitalization. It’s really what sets VitalChurch Ministry apart from other organizations and individuals providing interim pastor services to churches, and it has served churches well for many years. The process always begins with a church health assessment, which we call a “diagnostic analysis” or “diagnostic assessment.” We’ve refined this assessment over many years, creating a tool that gives a church … [Read more...]
VitalChurch Interim Pastor Concludes His Time at King’s Harbor Church in Southern California
King’s Harbor Church in Torrance, California was a church not unlike many of the churches VitalChurch Ministry works with. The 19-year old church had experienced a couple of major setbacks, and in early 2015, the church found itself without a senior pastor. Fortunately for King’s Harbor, seven pastors from neighboring churches stepped in to serve as temporary elders in those first critical weeks. Shortly thereafter, those pastors contacted Pastor Gregg Caruso. Gregg, one of the interim … [Read more...]