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...]
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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...]
After the Interim Pastor Leaves: What Our Follow-Up Phase Looks Like
As you look around our website, you’ll read a lot about our three-phase process of church revitalization, which includes a church assessment (the diagnostic phase), the interim pastor phase, and the follow-up phase. When church leaders call or email us to talk about our services, they don’t often ask about the third phase—follow up—but it is a very important part of our process. Usually, when someone from a church contacts us, it is because their church is in some sort of crisis or in a … [Read more...]
Using Titus 1:5 as a Guide for Interim Pastor Ministry
Our last blog post centered on the biblical support for an intentional interim pastor. We referenced the book of Titus, and specifically Titus 1:5, which says, “The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.” Titus 1:5 is a verse we often reference internally at VitalChurch Ministry because it offers us six things to keep in mind when we are serving as interim pastors and working with churches in … [Read more...]
Is There Scriptural Support for the Role of an Interim Pastor?
At VitalChurch Ministry, we believe we are called to the work of serving as interim pastors in Christian churches around the world. Scripture obviously supports the role of pastors, but what about interim pastors? What does the Bible have to say about them? While the term “interim pastor” is not used directly in scripture, there are passages that support the concept of an interim pastor, and that help guide the work we do in struggling churches around the world. Nehemiah: The First Interim … [Read more...]