Consultants can serve many valuable purposes for businesses and other types of organizations. They can provide a valuable outside perspective, they can contribute expertise in areas in which internal staff aren’t experts, and they can offer fresh ideas or insights that may benefit the organization. Consultants, in general, can add a lot of value, without costing the organization a ton of money—at least when compared to hiring a full-time employee, or multiple full-time employees. But sometimes, bringing in a consultant isn’t enough to move the needle, either because an organization is too entrenched in their ways or because they don’t have the staff on hand to implement the changes or advice presented by the consultants.
Just like businesses or other organizations, churches can benefit from consulting services, but they also need the infrastructure in place to be able to make the recommended changes. Not all churches have this and therefore may need more than just church consulting to move past certain issues or become more effective in their ministries.
One option for churches that need services beyond what church consulting firms can provide is to bring in an interim pastor. An interim pastor can provide many of the benefits of a consultant (an outside perspective, expertise, fresh ideas and insights), but do it in a pastoral role. They invest in the congregation as a pastor would. They care about the church’s people and its community, but unlike a typical pastor, interim pastors do these things temporarily, for a defined period of time.
VitalChurch Ministry is an organization that provides interim pastors for Christian churches throughout the United States. They have a team of experienced pastors who see it as their ministry to aid struggling churches and churches in transition.
According to the VitalChurch Ministry website: “The intentional interim pastors at VitalChurch function not as consultants, but as pastors, with each bringing his own pastoral gifts and strengths to bear on the intentional interim process. Our pastors are not looking to maintain the status quo, but to act as Christ-centered agents of change for churches facing difficult circumstances.”
An intentional interim pastor from VitalChurch Ministry will typically spend a year or more at a church. During that time, he will lead the church just as a permanent lead pastor would. He will provide preaching but may also work to develop other areas of the church. Here is a list of some of the services the interim pastors at VitalChruch Ministry are able to provide:
- Governance upgrades
- Leadership training
- Ministry team development
- Discipleship process development
- Mission and vision establishment
Unlike a church consultant, the interim pastor will be in the trenches with the church’s leaders, its staff, and the congregation. He will help the church work through its struggles and pray alongside them as they seek God’s guidance.
There isn’t really anything comparable to an interim pastor in the business setting. VitalChurch Ministry explains why: “A church and a business are not the same. VitalChurch’s intentional interim pastors treat the church as a body—a living organism indwelt by the Holy Spirit—where people’s lives come before the financial or organizational bottom line.”
To learn more about VitalChurch Ministry and their team of interim pastors, visit their website: https://vitalchurchministry.org/
