Metaphorically Speaking…

The new paradigms in interim pastoring can be hard for people to understand. The “new wave” interim pastor isn’t an intern, a fill in, a substitute or something less than a “real” pastor; I’m thinking of the visitor who heard me a couple of Sundays and then told me that I was good enough to be a “real pastor”! It doesn’t help that those of us who practice it can’t figure out which term to use – transitional, transformational, strategic, redevelopment, restoration, interventionist – I’ve used them all right here in this blog. 

A lot of people are helped in understanding this confusing new type of ministry by the use of the following metaphors.  I hope you’re blessed – and “unconfused” – as you read.

The Strategic Interim Pastor Is Like:

A “This Old House” crew member – If you’ve seen the long-running Public TV show you know the routine: A couple of homeowners sit down with the “This Old House” leaders and share their dreams for the remodeling of their home.  After listening attentively, the crew members inspect the house carefully from bottom to top.  After some figuring, they sit down with the homeowners again and tell them about things that need to be done to their house that they may not have known about.  It’s often kind of a shock to the homeowner who wasn’t dreaming about a new furnace or roof, but after some “reality therapy” and discussion, a plan is agreed upon.  Then everybody gets up from the table and the “This Old House” staff gets to work and transforms the old house.

In much the same way, the strategic interim pastor listens to the dreams of church members, studies the church carefully and then presents an action plan for what needs to be “remodeled” (not usually the building itself but sometimes the building reflects the condition of the church).  The willingness of the church members to let God change their church and to work hard with God in the process is the equivalent of the cash the “This Old House” homeowners are willing to spend. Ideally, everybody gets to work (with God) and a year or two later “This Old Church” often ends up significantly transformed. 

This metaphor is solidly grounded in Scripture, as Jesus said He would build His church (Matthew 16:18), Paul described himself as an expert builder who laid a foundation when he planted the Corinthian church (I Corinthians 3:10) and spoke of other Christian leaders building on this foundation (I Corinthians 3:12).  The strategic interim pastor, in Paul’s metaphor, would be an expert remodeler.

A Dog or Horse Whisperer – Cesar Milan, The Dog Whisperer (on the National Geographic Channel) doesn’t believe there are any bad dogs.  He believes that many good dogs have been poorly trained and managed by their owners.  Thus, he says, his job is to “train humans and rehabilitate dogs.” 

My viewpoint is that there aren’t any bad Christians because Christians have been regenerated by God and God doesn’t make any junk.  There are Christians who behave badly and many churches are dysfunctional (in need of rehabilitation) because Christians who behaved badly or foolishly have made them dysfunctional.  My passion is like that of the Apostle Paul who wrote in I Timothy 3:14, 15 “…I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” When Christians get trained in how to “do church” God’s way, their churches get rehabilitated. At the end of one of our interim pastorates a wonderful and spunky little lady exclaimed to me “You really straightened us out!” – and it was a meant as a warm compliment.

A Special Forces Unit – This one comes from our son Jesse, who was joining the Army at the same time we were going into strategic interim ministry.  His observation was that what we were doing was like a special forces unit which parachutes into a dangerous situation, gets a difficult job done and then moves on to do it again elsewhere.

A Surgeon – A surgeon is not your normal, long-term physician.  Instead, at a time of special need, your family doctor “hands you over” to the surgeon who makes significant changes in your body and then hands you back to your long-term physician when he/she is through.

An Emergency Room Physician – Some interim pastorates require decisive, drastic action taken right away to save the church.  The ER physician doesn’t have to have much for bedside manner; he/she needs to be knowledgeable, confident and decisive. Fortunately, most of us interim pastors don’t have to act like ER physicians in most churches – but we do in some.

The Harbor Pilot – The harbor pilot is not a ship’s captain, though he could be.  Instead, with all the skills of a captain, he becomes an expert on a particular, dangerous, harbor (often a river mouth).  When a ship reaches the harbor entrance, the pilot climbs on board, exchanges pleasantries with the captain and then temporarily takes command of the ship, guiding her through a perilous channel.  He does the same when the ship leaves the port a few days or hours later, joyfully handing the vessel back to the captain.

The interim pastor seeks to be an expert on the dangerous waters of pastoral transitions.  This metaphor breaks down where the pilot hands the ship back to the captain, as the church has secured a new captain when it leaves the port. 

The Middle Relief Pitcher – When I was a kid (Twins fan) I only knew about two kinds of pitchers: starting pitchers and relief pitchers.  As in so many fields, there are more specialists than there used to be.  The interim pastor isn’t a starter (church planter) or a closer (nobody wants to do this!) but something like a middle reliever who “gives it all he’s got” for a couple of crucial innings in the middle of the game.

“The Miracle Worker” – I’m not saying that the interim pastor is a miracle worker, I’m talking about the extraordinary Anne Sullivan who moved in with the dysfunctional Keller family and took over the care of the very troubled and troublesome blind and deaf family member, Helen.  After transforming both Helen and the functioning of the family, Anne packed up and went her way. 

Some of our churches have members who are as out-of-control and unpleasant as Helen.  No one has taught them how to behave.  They are allowed to disrupt the entire church and scare away its guests and all of this is done in the name of “grace” or “unconditional love.” Interventionist interim pastors are used by God to restore such churches to peace and harmony for the glory of God.

“Nanny McPhee” – Nanny McPhee is the unusual nanny with supernatural powers in the movie of the same name.  She’s sort of like Mary Poppins on steroids.  She is hired by a desperate widower with a houseful of nasty children.  Initially, she looks extremely ugly to them, but as their attitude toward her changes, her appearance changes as well.  By the end of the movie the kids don’t want her to leave.  The key line of the movie (at least I thought it was) was Nanny McPhee’s statement: “When you need me but don’t want me I must stay; When you want me but no longer need me I must go.” This is exactly how some of our interim pastorates work out so I call what I do “Nanny McPhee pastoring.”

I hope these metaphors have helped you to understand what interim pastors do.  Does your church need one of these specialists to help it through a troubled time? If so, it will be some interim pastor’s great joy to help you.