Leaving a pastoral charge can be hard. Staying can be hard, too. And deciding to stay or go is more complicated the longer one serves. Deep relationships, familiar patterns of worship, well-worn spiritual practices, and hard-won battles loom large before you.
In my autonomous church circle, the pastor, his wife, and maybe his closest friends are involved in the decision over staying or going. His elders or other leaders may become involved later. The pastoral process of staying or going calls for deep reflection, prayer, research, and waiting on God. What might that look like?
Aim for Longevity
Long pastorates give time to work through transitions in polity, leadership, worship development, mission impetus, and pastoral training. Short pastorates generally don’t allow roots to grow deep among a people—roots that should make the thought of leaving feel like tearing up the heart’s soil. So aim for longevity and then develop the following:
Develop a healthy spiritual walk. A pastor lacks strength for ministry’s rigor if he has failed to train himself for godliness, to devote himself to the Word and prayer, and to watch his life and teaching (1 Tim. 4:11–16). Develop good roots in the congregation. “Know well the condition of
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