My personal mission statement is that I will live my life in a way that brings hope to those in times of change. Actually, the statement changes slightly every time I write it. Guess my MBTI type!

Of course, what I consider "hope" is often not hopeful for those on the transition journey. When church leadership change occurs, I often observe the "holding on" to how things have been.



Sometimes the hold is a way to honor the last leader - create a legacy for her/him. Other times it appears to be a fearful "grasping" -a "if I let go, nothing will be the same" kind of perspective.



You may experience a number of variations on these themes. On my way to share hope I several times took a painful spill called "fault finding".



I didn't realize that in a tender transition, a simple question like, "tell me about the Christmas Eve Service" is heard as, "Bob hates our service and is going to change it from our beloved tradition. Nothing was broken until he got here." I'm not sure there are easy answers. I do have some ideas based on my experience.

• Be sensitive. The fear is as real as the loss the church experienced. The push back is about protection from more hurt.


• Be positive. Maybe if I had tried, "tell be what you love about your Christmas Eve service may have softened the edge that fed the fear.


• Empty your agenda. If you have a great idea that will "help" these folks, it probably is not a good idea because it is not "their" good idea. That agenda stinks all the way to heaven.


• Listen for the message. As you probe, listen not only to the words but what it is they are saying, "I'm afraid", "don't fire me", "we love the Christmas Eve tradtion, it binds our people as one".

Those are some of my thoughts as I consider my practice of interim ministry - S short stop on the way to God's future.



Bob Anderson