Coaching For Interims

Using a Laidback Approach As a First-Time Transition Minister - Rev. Liz Miller. Episode 103

Transitional ministry has many of the tasks of settled ministry, but with more urgency, especially if the congregation is anxious. This can lead the transitional minister over functioning by doing things the congregation can do themselves. And yet, effective transitional ministry that leaves the congregation in a healthier place, requires that the congregation have ownership for ministries past and present, as well as new ideas. In this episode, Rev. Liz Miller, shares her experience with this challenge in her first-time position as a transitional minister in this episode titled, “Using a Laidback Approach as a First-Time Transitional Minister.”
For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Coachingforinterims.com website. In addition, subscribe to this podcast series if you want to be notified when additional podcasts are available.

Moving from Burnout to Bonfire - Rev. Liz Miller. Episode 102

For a pastor who admits having been burned out early in ministry, embracing the bonfire metaphor for her ministry now seems dicey. Yet, Rev. Liz Miller offers this bonfire metaphor to describe a vibrant new stance and perspective for her ministry where she’s close to the heat of things, but no longer consumed by it; paying full attention, yet not holding tightly to particular outcomes. Listen to her lessons learned and new wisdom in this episode titled, “Moving from Burnout to Bonfire.”
For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Coachingforinterims.com website. In addition, subscribe to this podcast series if you want to be notified when additional podcasts are available.

Why I Wrote: "Only Work Sundays: A Laidback Guide to Doing Less While Helping Your Church Thrive" - Rev. Liz Miller. Episode 101

Many pastors give a lot to their ministries – much of their life and identity – in their efforts to be a “good pastor.” It works well…until it doesn’t. But then what? In this episode, Rev. Liz Miller speaks to what she discovered after experiencing severe burnout – what she calls “laidback” ministry. It’s a peak into her recent insightful book title, “Only Work Sundays: A Laidback Guide to Doing Less While Helping Your Church Thrive,” which she says came out of her experiments, failures & successes with a more laid-back approach to ministry;
For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Coachingforinterims.com website. In addition, subscribe to this podcast series if you want to be notified when additional podcasts are available.

Assessing the Long-term Health Prospects of a Congregation from the Legacy Perspective - Charlie Kuchenbrod. Episode 100

An important part of the work of an intentional interim minister entering a congregation is to assess its health.  In this episode, “Guidance for an Incoming Interim Minister: Assessing the Long-term Health Prospects of a Congregation from the Legacy Perspective” Legacy Church Specialist, Charlie Kuchenbrod, offers helpful parallels with what we’d look for in people: Are there acute life-threatening illnesses? Chronic illnesses? Toxic behaviors? In the absence of any immediate threats to the health of the congregation, Charlie offers additional easy-to-understand parallels between the health of an individual and that of the congregation such as diet, relationships, exercise, social engagement, rest, family history, and mental health, that can used for framing useful conversations with the congregation about its future.
For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Coachingforinterims.com website. In addition, subscribe to this podcast series if you want to be notified when additional podcasts are available.

The Church As an Ecosystem: A Model to Help Churches See How They Fit into Something Larger than Themselves and Why This Matters for Legacy - Charlie Kuchenbrod. Episode 99

Every local church congregation, like the people who comprise it, has a natural life cycle. Some last longer than others, but they all pass through the same stages – formation, adolescence, adulthood and completion. And just like many individual humans, congregations often struggle to come to terms with the end of their natural life. Consequently, people are unfairly burdened, precious resources are wasted, and opportunities for celebration and recognition of faithful ministry are missed. In this episode, Legacy Church Specialist, Charlie Kuchenbrod, shares how when congregations imagine the wider church as a forest and their individual congregation as a tree within that forest, they are better able to embrace the guidance of the Holy Spirit, appreciate a life well lived, and plan for their legacy in ways that bless what is past and what is to come.
For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Coachingforinterims.com website. In addition, subscribe to this podcast series if you want to be notified when additional podcasts are available.

The Four Paths: Helpful Language for Congregations Considering Legacy - Charlie Kuchenbrod. Episode 98

Congregations, like people, have natural lifecycles, and when they forget this by presuming their local church will last forever, it doesn’t turn out well. People are unfairly burdened, precious resources are wasted, and opportunities for celebration and recognition of faithful ministry are missed. In this episode, Legacy Church Specialist, Charlie Kuchenbrod, shares from his depth experience with congregations facing the likely end of their historic way of doing church, and how the language they use to understand their current reality shapes the options they see – or don’t see – for what’s next. It’s an episode for Interim Ministers and other leaders of transitional ministry to return to again and again for valuable guidance in serving churches in this emotionally charged stage of their lifecycle.  
For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Coachingforinterims.com website. In addition, subscribe to this podcast series if you want to be notified when additional podcasts are available.

What to Do When You Can’t Afford even a Half-time Pastor? - Rev. Quentin Chin. Episode 97

When congregations get to that point where even a half-time pastor is no longer sustainable, is there any hope? Yes! Actually, there is a lot of hope! But it first requires letting go of being preoccupied with the dream of returning to how things were – the glory days. Once they do that, everything changes and hope and positivity can return. Now they can move forward in a way that's both faithful to the ministry that they have had, and that also respects all the good things they probably still do have – a path which honors the Holy Spirit, and maybe even has some of that initial energy and vision of those very early followers of Jesus! It’s a path that will likely look different from their past, yet still be very faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ and have a real life-giving impact on their community and on themselves.
For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Coachingforinterims.com website. In addition, subscribe to this podcast series if you want to be notified when additional podcasts are available.
It’s not about “saving” the congregation, per se, but about buying the time for serious thinking about what the cong. wants for its future.
Discerning what form of ministry is faithful to the basic values & resources that you have now?
Guidance for how lay leaders can work productively with a very part-time pastor;
A targeted approach that equips and empowers the laity can do themselves:
Specific recommendations for how the laity can create and lead worship, for congregational care, etc.
Helping the congregation to reclaim the church as it was in the first century.

How the Interim Minister Set Me Up for Success with My New Congregation - Rev. Heidi Johnston. Episode 96

As an Interim Minister, have you ever wondered about the rest of the story? You know – feedback about the impact of your ministry on the congregation after you left? In this episode, settled ELCA pastor, Rev. Heidi Johnston, expresses her gratitude to the Intentional Interim Minister who preceded her, including specifics of how the IM set her up for success.
Particular things the IM did to set me up for success –
The IM expressed clear boundaries about the number of hours/week she would work & equipped laity to negotiate the use of pastoral time and energy - focusing and prioritizing;
IM didn’t work beyond her stated limit of working hours when temped to do so – and helped the congregation understand why and adapt;
Two, she led leadership through honest sometimes hard conversations about their current reality – and its implications for calling next pastor;
IM presented new limitations as opportunities, not losses, which led to a new joy in opportunities for more hands-on ministry for lay people.
Three - The transition conversations nudged people beyond all the ways the past was more abundant – celebrate the wonderful things of the past, and also name past hurts and conflicts – helped me not to get blindsided by issues the congregation may be sweeping under the rug.
For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Coachingforinterims.com website. In addition, subscribe to this podcast series if you want to be notified when additional podcasts are available.

The Work of the People: Telling the Story of the Congregation Through Worship - Rev. Anna Tew. Episode 95

Have you found your church caught in a pattern where worship is seen as a show performed by the pastor with the congregation being the audience? If so, you have a lot of company. The good news, however, is that worship services can be created that have that added spiritual crackle and energy that often results when more people are involved in leading worship. In this episode, Rev. Anna Tew shares some specifics of how her congregation has intentionally evolved in this direction.  
Examples of how creative worship components can resonate with the particularities a congregation;
Shifting from worship as just clergy-led to really being the work of the people;
Thinking about worship structurally as individual “Sundays” or “Seasons”;
Examples that tie the sacrament of Baptism and worship services to your own locale;
For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Coachingforinterims.com website. In addition, subscribe to this podcast series if you want to be notified when additional podcasts are available.

How My Part-Time CrossFit Coaching Job Made Me a Better Pastor - Rev. Anna Tew. Episode 94

As a pastor, having a part-time secular job on the side can bring added joy and satisfaction to your life. It can also provide an economic buffer in a changing church world. But where to start looking? What skills does a pastor have that would be valued in a secular job? In this episode, ELCA pastor Rev. Anna Tew tells how she came into a part-time coaching job at her CrossFit gym that is blessing her, and them, on multiple fronts!
For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Coachingforinterims.com website. In addition, subscribe to this podcast series if you want to be notified when additional podcasts are available.